VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- It should be fairly obvious to observers of the Olympics that snowboarders neither seek-- nor require -- anyone's respect.

Check out the media relations guy. Typically, these ambassadors for their national sports are dressed in formal wear, stuffy to the extreme. This one stands at the podium before 500 or so reporters in a T-shirt and jeans.

Check out Hannah Teter, Olympic gold medalist four years ago in the halfpipe and recent Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, at the same news conference: "I'm donating all of my contest money this season to Haiti relief. ... So, um, yeah, there's that."

After the room busts into laughter, she continues ...

"And I do sell maple syrup. I have underwear coming out for charity. Get some 'Sweet cheeks' underwear at sweetcheekspanties.com."

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If anyone knew what she meant, it was not readily evident. But it was a reference to her selling underwear to raise money for Doctors Without Borders.

Above all, check out Shaun White.

The fledgling sport's star and flame-haired former garage-band guitarist will be snowboarding for gold in the men's halfpipe tonight on Cypress Mountain, an event that might be one of the most watched of these Games in the U.S.

Doubt it?

Consider that NBC will be broadcasting it live in prime time, a first for snowboarding. Or that White regularly amps up ESPN's ratings anytime he performs in the X Games. Or that the "Shaun White Snowboarder" video game has sold more than 3 million copies.

Be certain that he is seeking neither attention nor respect.

More relevant, White, 23, is the best at what he does: He was the Olympic gold medalist four years ago, and he has won 15 golds at the X Games, as well as four of his past five international events. The latter included a grand prix gold last month in which he registered a 49.50 -- narrowly missing the sport's first perfect 50, and seven points higher than the silver medalist -- by doing a "trick" he calls a Double McTwist 1260.

The McTwist involves a backside spin with three horizontal rotations inside two vertical flips, and it served as a challenge to the rest of the halfpipe field.

"It's been an amazing finisher for my run," White said. "It's something I'm proud to say is the best trick I've ever done. For me, every single season, I kind of look at what I've done on the previous one and think of how I can beat it. Usually, it just comes from within. I have to get inspired. I have to get motivated."

As with any sport, there is danger in pushing the limits, and snowboarding learned that painfully in December, when U.S. halfpiper Kevin Pearce sustained a serious head injury from a fall while attempting a double-cork move. His recovery is expected to be a long one.

Following that, some have called for risky moves -- including White's McTwist -- to be banned.

White was asked about that.

"I don't know," he replied. "Being the guy who has had a big hand in inventing these tricks, I would say that's outrageous."

He laughed.

"Obviously, there have been injuries that are very close to us and it's under a magnifying glass because we're at the Olympics and all this. It is just a big part of what we do. We fall, we get back up and try again and, I don't know, that's the best part of our sport. We drive a car. That's dangerous. I'm pretty excited about the new tricks. I think it's the way that the sport is heading, and I just happen to be in the driver's seat for it."

Part of the problem of being in that driver's seat, as White acknowledged, is the stardom. He trains mostly independently, and he is almost solely responsible for coming up with his material.

"The downsides are obvious," he said. "You're a rider on your own attempting tricks that have never been done before. It's only in your own mind to motivate yourself. It's just you up there. You're all alone. I know that, in other sports, you have to be with other people to get that motivation and to get that hype. It's strange because it is the exact opposite of skateboarding."

Sounds serious enough ... well, to be taken seriously. No matter how they dress, talk or behave.

Gretchen Bleiler, a halfpiper, relayed the story of noted skier Picabo Street visiting a wide group of U.S. women's skiers in the Olympic Village. Street urged all of them to have fun, with one notable exception.

"Picabo looked over at our halfpipe team and was like, 'I'm not really talking to you guys because I know you guys are going to have fun.' " Bleiler said. "So, I think that discovering the heart of snowboarding is all about having fun and being with your friends and having that camaraderie. I think it's awesome to be able to bring that to the Olympics."

The women's halfpipe will be Thursday.

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