And gold is what she got.

“I’m so excited,” Bleiler said. “It’s just unbelievable. After my knee injury, it’s been hard to come back confidence-wise. But everyone supports me here so much, and tonight it just clicked. I owe it to Aspen and all of the valley, honestly.”

Bleiler has other tricks up her sleeve other than the Crippler and 720s. She just recently learned the 900, which she attempted in front of a crowd near 25, 500 people during her second run at the X Games. She will try the 900 again at the U.S. Grand Prix at Mountain Creek, N.J, Feb. 4-5.

“I’m so bummed I didn’t land that,” Bleiler said. “But next time.”

With the other competitors bringing tricks like the 900, McTwists and Haakon flip, Bleiler knew she needed one good clean run.

“I needed to throw my run with amplitude and confidence and the rest would fall into place,” Bleiler said.

Throwing a perfect run is exactly what Bleiler did in her first of two attempts. Starting with a Crippler 720 followed by three consecutive 540s and ending with a frontside 720, Bleiler landed a score of 89.00 from the judges.

“The comeback means more to me,” Bleiler said. “It took a lot more. The first one clicked and I was on a roll and I could feel it. This one I had to work for. That was my career highlight. It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had.”

France’s Dorian Vidal threw a Haakon flip, an inverted 720, in her second run bringing the crowd into an abrupt silence in anticipation of the judges score.

“Dorian has been riding so well, her Haakon flips are amazing,” Bleiler said. “I was definitely holding my breath waiting for her score.”

She did not have to hold her breath too long because the judges gave Vidal a score of 88.00, just one point below Bleiler’s first run.

“I never thought I’d be doing a victory lap,” Bleiler said.

The crowd’s favorite trick of the night, however, was 2002 Olympic gold medalist Kelly Clark when she threw a spectacular 900 and landed it clean.

“Kelly’s 900 was the biggest I have ever seen, so props to her,” Bleiler said.

Bleiler is not letting her injury hold her back. She is learning new tricks and crediting the injury to benefiting her performance. The injury allowed Bleiler to come back to the sport with a refreshed outlook.

“I’m so happy with the way I rode tonight, but there’s so much more I feel like I can do,” Bleiler said. “I just learned a 900 a week ago and that’s something I want to throw into my run. There’s so much work to do, I’m always working and always progressing. I’m never quite satisfied, event though I’m really happy tonight.”