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‘Twas a beautiful day for a slopestyle competition here in Aspen, Colorado. The sun was high in the sky as the boys came out swinging, tossing themselves down the burly and always massive X Games course. From the get-go, it was anybody’s game throughout the qualifying rounds, but only eight of the sixteen competitors would move onto Saturday’s final.

At the end of the contest it was Tom Wallisch atop the leaderboard heading into finals. The “Pretzel Man” held his own in his first contest back from knee surgery last season, proving that he still has what it takes to dominate the contest scene. Wallisch’s run included a right 270 on, pretzel 270 out on the first rail feature, a lip 450 on to switch out of the second rail feature, a gap 450 onto the third flat-down rail, a left double cork 1260 mute on the first jump, a switch right side double cork 1080 Japan on the second jump and a switch double cork 1080 Japan on the final jump.

Olympic champion and all-around American stud Joss Christensen captured the second spot in today’s qualifying round. Christensen locked up second place on his first run, including a 270 on to 270 out of the first rail feature, a switch right 270 on, pretzel 270 out of the second rail, a switch gap to 270 on to 270 out on the third flat-down rail, a double cork 1260 mute on the first jump, a switch right side double cork 1080 safety and a switch double cork 1080 tail on the final jump.

Rounding out the top three was Canadian Alex Bellemare. Bellemare stomped a switch 270, pretzel 270 out on the first rail, a switch 270 onto the wallride feature, a 450 on, pretzel 450 out of the third rail, a right side double cork 1260 mute on the first jump, a switch double cork 1260 double Japan and a double cork 1260 safety.

Official Results:
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To catch more of the high flying shenanigans at this year’s Winter X Games, be sure to tune into @FREESKIERLive on Twitter and ESPN via your television. Click here for a complete schedule of the 2015 Winter X Games.

Related: Check out the 2015 X Games slopestyle course from Gus Kenworthy’s POV