Silver looks great on Erin Simmons' racing helmet, but not around her neck - at least not anymore. Simmons wants gold, and the Steamboat Springs resident is considered a favorite to win the Women's Snowboarder X at the upcoming 2003 X Games on ESPN and ABC.

Petite in stature but fiery in nature, Simmons, a two-time silver medalist in the X Games, is eager to race in Aspen on Thursday, representing a struggling sport she longs to inject with life. "I hope it does get recognition," she said. "I definitely think having it in the X Games will make the average Joe Blow more interested."

Cactus Nemec, freestyle snowboard coach for the Winter Sports Club, compared Snowboarder X, or boardercross, to auto racing. Speed is a necessity but crashing is a possibility in both.

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