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Cactus Nemec thought she had it.

After watching his girlfriend, Erin Simmons, go through the start gate and take the lead in Saturday's Snowboarder X finals, he thought she was going to win it all.

"I was freaking out," Nemec said Saturday from Aspen. "I ran over to the tent to watch it. It was so close."

Simmons' second-place finish in the X Games was her third silver in five years and brought the Canadian rider an iPod and a $10,500 cash prize she hopes to use as a down-payment on a house someday.

Simmons, 28, also is a coach with the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club.

"I wanted gold," she said. "I was in the front."

But realistically, just five months after knee surgery, Simmons set a goal of being in the top four. The top six make the finals.

"I had to be in the finals in my head," Simmons said. "Last year, I got seventh. I wanted to be in the top four because I'd gotten fifth and seventh and didn't want to feel sixth. I felt so strong."

Simmons came out of the start gates near the lead Saturday but didn't pass eventual winner American Lindsay Jacobellis until farther down the course.

"I came into the hip and had my line, it was so cool, it was the best line," Simmons said. "That's where I passed Lindsay and had her the whole rest of the way down. Just right at the end, I didn't want to give away the right side line. She took a different line and got her board down quicker and passed me right at the end."

The Snowboarder X semifinals and finals were broadcast live on ABC on Saturday, and Simmons said many of the children she coaches called immediately after the race from Gnarly Charlie's, where they watched her win silver. Many of her colleagues called, as well.

"I want to thank everyone in Steamboat who watched," she said.

The 2005 Winter X Games is Simmons' third competition since knee surgery in August. She picked up an 11th-place finish at the World Championships in Canada before heading to Aspen for the X Games.

Simmons said she expected to have a cheering section in Aspen, and she gave her fans plenty to be happy about Saturday.

"It was one of the closest, most exciting finishes ever," said Jon Casson, a fellow snowboard coach with the Winter Sports Club.

The Winter X Games continue in Aspen through Tuesday with competitions in snowboarding, skiing and snowmobile and motorcycle riding.