She was deliberate with her axe strikes and methodical in her route-plotting. Not surprisingly, she also was the first competitor to reach the top -- something none of the six previous climbers, nor the next three, could manage.

	Kim Csizmazia waves to the crowd after clipping in atop the ice wall.

So Csizmazia, the 30-year-old who hails from Sandy, Utah, sat comfortably in first place, having scored a perfect 46.00 in height for having clipped into the final caribiner -- barehanded, as she had discarded her gloves on the dry section -- and with a strike count of 67 (the number of times she used her ice axes).

"I wasted about eight strikes right at the beginning," Csizmazia said later. "I really messed up."

Still, she had a commanding lead, and it would be another hour before her strike count would become relevant.

With the snow falling harder and the snowmobiles on the adjacent course revving up for their preliminaries, most observers were hoping for a quick finish to the competition followed by a quick presentation of Csizmazia's inevitable gold medal and then an all-out sprint to anywhere warm.

But then Jum-Sook Kim stepped to the base of the wall, and it wasn't long before all eyes were on the 31-year-old Korean.

Kim and her husband, Seung-Chul Choi, had both competed in last year's X Games, with Kim taking seventh in the difficulty ice climb. But this year, she came to Crested Butte without Choi -- on Sept. 28, 1998, he was killed in an avalanche on Mt. Thelay Sagar in the Himalayas.

Kim elected to return to the X Games despite the painful reminders.

With that as a backdrop, and with Csizmazia's clear lead and the worsening conditions facing her, Kim began her ascent.

Slow and steady in the early going, Kim reached the 45-degree overhang with little difficulty. But so had every other climber. Some even scaled the dry-climb section and sunk their tools into the ice above. But only Csizmazia had made it up and over.

Until Kim.

The two-time Korean ice-climbing champion managed to find dry holds for her axes and clip her rope into the first of the two safety clips in the section, at one point dangling precariously by the tips of her tools as she scrambled to get her feet back on the wall.

She then dug her left-handed axe into the ice above the dry section, prompting the crowd and the venue announcers to began chanting "Kim! Kim! Kim!"

She reached her right-hand axe above the dry section and found a hold, allowing her to clip into the final dry clip before the home stretch.

	Jum-Sook Kim learns from her coach that she finished second after a courageous climb in difficult conditions.

But those last 15 feet were obviously the most difficult. Kim was tiring, and her 12-minute time limit was in danger of running out. Scrambling on her knees, trying to get her boots dug into the ice, Kim inched toward the final clip.

Once it was within reach, it was all she could do to raise her arm to it and force her numbed fingers to manipulate the rope and the cold metal of the clip. It took three agonizing tries -- agonizing, as well, for the suddenly electrified crowd that had rallied behind her -- before Kim completed the task and the climb with only 17 seconds left on the clock.

Spectators, venue organizers, security personnel, VIPs from the nearby hospitality tent, even snowmobilers parked across the road whooped and hollered.

Now all that remained was the strike count. She had attained the same height as Csizmazia, but had she done it with fewer strikes?

Alas, no. Kim used 74 strikes to reach the top, taking the silver medal behind Csizmazia by seven but capturing the spirit of the competition and the adoration of the crowd with one of the most courageous and inspiring performances the X Games has seen.

"She was one of the people who, in my mind, I thought would do well this year," Csizmazia said, "and I'm happy that she did. It was really cool. You could tell that there was some motivation in her climbing. You could tell there was something, like a mission. That was a climb that showed what we can do, what she can do. It was very special."