No medals were on the line in the Jeep Snowboard Slopestyle elimination round at X Games Aspen, but that didn't diminish the statement made by Mark McMorris ahead of Shaun White.<br />With months of anticipation finally playing out Thursday under gray skies on Buttermilk Mountain, McMorris posted the No. 1 qualifying score -- 88.66 on his first of two runs -- while White struggled to land his jumps cleanly and finished seventh (67.33). Neither rider attempted a triple cork, which has fast become snowboarding's most technical and electrifying trick and likely will determine Saturday's champion. Eight of the 16 competitors moved on to the final, with a number of big names missing the cut.<br /><br />Mark McMorris on his way to his first-place finish in the Men's Slopestyle qualification round. The finals are on Saturday.<br />"I am just so glad I got the first run out of the way," said McMorris, the defending champion, after coasting through a subdued but stylish second run. "Now I can just build on that. X Games is so anticipated. I had more to bring, but it was pretty tough light today. I stuck with my game plan and did the run I wanted to do."<br />That run included an impressive rail sequence up top with switch and forward tricks, then a jump sequence that featured a cab double 900, frontside double 1080, double wildcat and backside double 1080.<br />White, a five-time X Games Slopestyle champion who last won in 2009, began his rail section with the same trick as McMorris, a cab 270 on the down rail, and landed a switch backside 1080 on his first jump, but he hand-touched on two of his landings and later said it "was not my best run."<br />On his second run, he hip-checked a landing on the third of four jumps and skipped the final jump, possibly saving his energy for the SuperPipe elimination round Thursday evening. He is the five-time defending champ in that event.<br />Peetu Piiroinen qualified second with an 81.33, while X Games rookie Max Parrot was third (75.66). Torstein Horgmo's struggles in Aspen continued as the dominant Slopestyle rider now has made six appearances with no medals. Sebastien Toutant, a gold medalist in 2011, and last year's silver medalist, Sage Kotsenburg, also were eliminated.<br />"Not our day, man," Horgmo said to Kotsenburg in the finish corral.
