Steep. Nasty. Icy. Big. Burly.

STEEP. NASTY. ICY. BIG. BURLY.

Snowboarders often display a unique vocabulary in describing the superpipes where they perform amazing stunts. And at the 2002 Mountain Dew Pro Nationals in Breckenridge, Colorado, the winners of the men’s and women’s divisions both showed great respect for one of the toughest pipes in the world.

Norwegian Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas put together an awesome initial run to score 91.3 points. And it was a good thing she did, because in her third run, Buaas took a gnarly spill and smacked her head on the ice. But before being carted away to the emergency room, Buaas’s huge frontside 540 melon grab and a massive air-to-fakey earned her the gold. France’s Dorian Vidal tallied in the low 80s for second, while Anne Molin Kongsgaard of the United States finished third.

On the men’s side, it was a clean sweep for the United States. Luke Wynen nailed his first run to score 88.3 points and hold on to first. Steve Fisher earned 88 points, and judges gave Rob Kingwell 87.8 to round out the top three. Wynen, who scored big with a McTwist indy grab, frontside cork 720 melon grab, and cab 540 stalefish, crashed on his final run but wasn’t hurt.

EXTRA < < < < < < < < < < < < < <

POINT After winning his superpipe gold, Luke Wynen said the huge pipe had worried him all week. His goal was to just land on his feet—instead of on his back or head.

Staying on your feet is a good idea in life, too. Sure, we all mess up and fall. But God can help keep us safe and standing tall. The Bible says God can make us pure and new, without any wrong in us. That means he cleans us up when we make mistakes. When we ask his forgiveness through Jesus Christ, God saves us from our sins and helps us stand before him like gold-medal winners.

GOAL! Next time you snowboard, count how many times you fall. Multiply that number by a thousand and that’s probably not even close to how many times you’ll sin in your life. Thank God for his saving power that makes a Christian clean before him.