Action goes mainstream; spotlight shone brightly on alternative sports in 2006

By: SCOTT BAIR - Staff Writer | Monday, January 1, 2007 11:18 PM PST ∞

This might have been the biggest and best year in the history of action sports.

Records were set in almost every discipline, from the surf to skate, on halfpipes constructed of both wood and snow. Progress, as action sports riders like to say, has been made. Individual feats and season-long accomplishments, many of which were attained by local riders, combined to produce a year that few will soon forget.

Here are the top 10 action sports stories of 2006.

1. White gold

Carlsbad native Shaun White took the world by storm by winning a gold medal in the halfpipe competition at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. His performance elevated action sports into mainstream consciousness, and his personality turned a beloved local into a media darling and an international superstar.

White appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, was a guest on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and temporarily became a member of the Hollywood "It" list. White took it all in stride and never lost his carefree attitude during the post-Olympic media onslaught.

"The (fame) has gotten a little crazy, but I love it," White said shortly after returning to Carlsbad in April. "I think it's cool."

White came close to giving his fans an encore at the summer X Games, where he nearly landed an unprecedented 1080-degree turn on a skateboard during the Best Trick competition.

2. Pastrana's double backflip

Once again, Travis Pastrana performed the impossible. I was at Staples Center during the X Games' Moto X Best Trick competition and I didn't believe what I saw. Pastrana started moving ramps around, and the crowd began stirring in anticipation of the oft-rumored attempt.

Always the showman, Pastrana prepared himself atop the launch site and took off toward the ramp. He shot into the air and flipped backward not once, but twice amid the blinding flicker of flashbulbs. When he came down, Pastrana had landed a trick once thought impossible.

Pastrana followed it with X Games gold in the Rally Car and Freestyle Moto X competitions. And after all that, he revealed that he performed those feats with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. In a word, wow.

3. Slater wins 8th world title

Kelly Slater won his eighth World Championship Tour overall title with relative ease, proving once again that he is the best surfer of our time and should be considered among the best athletes in any sport.

The 34-year old has returned to top form after spending three years away from the WCT. The former "Baywatch" star is one of the few athletes who actually lives up to his overwhelming hype. Here's the scary part: Slater might be getting better with age.

"This has definitely been my most consistent year ever," Slater told reporters after clinching the title. "I've been much more relaxed this year. I've just been cruising and having fun and haven't put so much pressure on myself."

4. Way drops bomb

Daredevil extraordinaire and skateboarding legend Danny Way performed what might be his craziest feat yet on April 6 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The Encinitas resident who skated over the Great Wall of China performed a "bomb drop," in which a skater jumps off a platform on his skateboard and lands on a ramp below. Way jumped off the Hark Rock's guitar marquee and landed on a quarterpipe 28 feet below.

After successfully landing the trick, Way, true to his nature, climbed back up to the 82-foot launch site and gave the Las Vegas crowd an encore performance.

5. Beachley wins No. 7

Australian Layne Beachley is the Slater of women's surfing. Beachley eked out another world title at the Billabong Pro Hawaii and proved that she's still at the top of her game. Beachley won her first title since winning six in a row from 1998-2003.

"It's surreal, absolutely surreal," she told reporters. "It's just been such an amazing journey this year. Not having to actually fight for it, but almost just having it given to me. It's one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. It's probably one of the most rewarding and satisfying world titles I've ever won."

6. Lasek's big 2 Dew

Encinitas resident Bucky Lasek might not have the flair of skaters like Way or Bob Burnquist, but he is the most technically polished active skater of our time.

Lasek, however, secured his Dew Action Sports Tour's overall skateboard vert title with some flash. He clinched it on the final run of the year's final contest. Lasek bested Tas Pappas at the Playstation Pro in Orlando, Fla., to win both the contest and the overall crown.

"Winning another Dew Cup is such a great feeling, and I'm still in shock," Lasek said in a press release. "I wouldn't be able to push myself every day without all of these pro skaters."

7. Robinson's double flair

BMX superstar Kevin Robinson would have been the talk of the X Games if not for Pastrana. The Rhode Islander performed a double flair, a move that incorporates consecutive blackflips, during the BMX Best Trick competition, which occurred on the same night as Pastrana's feat. Robinson's accomplishment, however, shouldn't go unrecognized given that it too was once thought impossible.

8. Twitch's great fall

This is the first downer on the list. Winchester resident Jeremy Stenberg was on the verge of becoming one of the elite riders in freestyle motocross when he broke both legs and shattered bones in both feet during a fall in the Dew Action Sports Tour's first stop of the season. The horrific accident, in which Stenberg -- commonly known as "Twitch" -- fell 35 feet, kept him out all season, but he'll be back in 2007 in an attempt to regain championship form.

9. Machado wins U.S. Open

Cardiff resident Rob Machado isn't bound by tour schedules. The surfing legend and former world No. 2 competes whenever he wants, normally choosing a few contests per year to enter. Despite the limited recent contest experience, Machado hasn't skipped a beat. He powered through the talent-laden lineup and won his third U.S. Open title in front of a huge crowd in Huntington Beach in July.

10. Jacobellis' great fall

Snowboarding superstar Lindsey Jacobellis was in cruise control and a virtual guarantee to win a gold medal in the women's snowboardcross at the Turin Olympics.

Jacobellis did a flashy board grab on the final jump before the finish and fell upon landing.

Switzerland's Tanja Freiden sped past her at the end to take the gold medal.

Jacobellis recovered to win the silver. In an impressive reaction, Jacobellis kept her media commitments and refused to make excuses for her mistake.

-- The Action Sports Column runs every Tuesday. To report local events, suggest story ideas or offer general comments, contact staff writer Scott Bair at (760) 739-6642 or sbair@nctimes.com. Comment at sports.nctimes.com.