Local Stratton Mountain protege Mr. Forest Bailey threw down a sick couple of runs at the Winter X Games in Aspen, CO this week. And wouldn’t you know it, he took home the gold — not bad for an X Games Rookie.

“I definitely can’t believe it,” he told ESPN after Thursday’s final.

Bailey lead after Round 1, making it into the five-man final with Ryan Paul, Nick Visconti, Ethan Deiss, and Phil Jacques. His 270 to frontside on the cargo container was a highlight of the competition, and his win was doubly impressive because — in true snowboarder fashion — he missed practice on Wednesday and showed up on course just one hour before Thursday’s elimination round.

“I never thought I’d even come to X Games in my whole life, but I guess we’re here and I guess gold will do,” said Bailey.

Smooth, Forest. Take a look at the highlights from Snowboard Street and plan on catching Forest back at his home mountain for the US Open in March, unless he forgets to put it in his planner.