Danny Way is still recovering from a nasty spill in his only practice jump before clearing a 61-foot gap over the Great Wall. AP

Here's some good news. After a decade, the X Games has dropped in-line skating. In the early years, the sport was so hip that it needed four disciplines -- downhill, street, vert and vert triples. Last year competitive in-line skating was downsized to vert skating and this week it's been demoted to an exhibition.

Personally, I'm glad because I'm not a big fan of the aggressive in-line skaters who hog the running lane in Central Park and weave erratically between runners. On to the highs and lows of this week's 11th Summer X in Los Angeles.

Highs

Danny Way -- It's been a busy summer for the banged-up skateboarder. Last month he jumped the Great Wall of China five times, nearly missing the landing ramp on his first try. His right ankle swelled to the size of a baseball. Still recovering from that injury, Way, 31, tweaked his ankle on a practice run at Staples Center earlier this week. Hobbling around on a cane and an ankle-supported brace, Way says he'll be ready to compete in the big-air Mega Ramp contest, which will feature 10 other riders and be broadcast live Aug. 7.

Bucky Lasek -- The defending champ, burrito shop owner and father of two is going for his third straight skateboard vert gold medal. Lasek, who launched Bucky's Burritos outside Boston in May, won the Gravity Games last month and currently leads Shaun White in the inaugural Dew Action Sports Tour, a five-event series that ranks riders on their cumulative performance.

Christian Hosoi -- After spending five years in a San Bernardino jail for possession of 1.5 pounds of crystal meth with intent to distribute, makes his X Games debut as an announcer for the four skate disciplines.

Girls intent on beating the boys -- Following the Michelle Wie route, skater Lyn-z Adams Hawkins, 15, and wakeboarder Dallas Friday, 18, have both said they'd like to go up against the men. Since women's skate vert was introduced in 2003, Adams Hawkins has placed second and first. This weekend she hopes to take both the vert and street skating disciplines and eventually compete in the men's big-air comp. Last November, she became the only female to successfully clear the 50-foot gap of Danny Way's Mega Ramp in Temecula, Calif. Friday, who will be going for her third straight title, has won every stop on the women's pro circuit this year. "It'd be cool to kick some guys' butts," she said.

Lows

Surfing First -- The contest -- a nonsensical battle between Florida and California/Hawaiian surfers -- started before the Games on Aug. 2. It's held 720 miles south of L.A. in Baja California's Puerto Escondido. Finally, top-ranked surfer Kelly Slater, who's in South Africa surfing, e-mails organizers three days before the contest to say he can't make it because of a sinus infection.

Injured Freestyle Moto X Riders -- A good health insurance plan is a must in this sport. In May, Brian Deegan crashed while doing a backflip for a segment of MTV's Viva La Bam. Deegan lost four pints of blood and a kidney, but says he expects to compete in the best trick comp, which he has won three times. Mike Metzger also crashed-landed doing a backflip at an exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland last December and lost a testicle as a result. Metzger has passed on this year's Games, but made a comeback at the Dew Action's tour stop in Denver in July. Then there's the injury-plagued Travis Pastrana who won't attempt the highly-anticipated double backflip because he's spent the year healing his left wrist, right shoulder and right knee.