Travis Rice, admiring his own creation. Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
And just like that, the world of competitive snowboarding was forever changed. As I sat on my couch watching the events of the day unfold, it was easy to see. The Natural Selection was actually entertaining to watch — even my skier friends were messaging me.
“Leave it to the boarders to make competition cool.”
No, I thought – leave it to Travis Rice to make competition cool. From the filming to the competitive format to the field of competitors, it was clear from the first few runs that Natural Selection was a different beast. It doesn’t hurt that they were graced with perfect snow conditions, either. The day started off with Gigi Ruf dropping in, and as the announcers noted, taking one for the team — the course was no doubt going to be more difficult to ride with fresh takeoffs and landings. While his first few tricks were far from stomps, it was the last hit of the course that kicked things off — an ultra-stylish 720 that rang the bell and lit the fire on a session to remember.
From there, the competition just got better and better as the likes of Austen Sweeten, Blake Paul, Nils Mindich, and Sage Kotsenburg, and of course Travis Rice proved they were right where they were supposed to be. The men’s field was stacked with a mix of former and current slope competitors who impressed (Mark McMorris had perhaps one of the best showings of the day) and backcountry stalwarts who did what they knew best (Chris Rasman also had a standout day, very nearly taking out Travis Rice).
The head-to-head format, smooth transition between riders, and stacked crew of announcers anchored by the one and only Salema Masekela providing excellent color commentary was truly exciting for any longtime snowboard fan, as it seemed that the formula for enjoyable competitive freeriding has finally come to fruition – we’ve seen Natural Selection before, but this time, all the elements were in place.
On the women’s side of things, it was experience in the backcountry that stood out, with Hana Beaman taking down X-Games medal hog Jamie Anderson, Elena Hight winning over Hailey Langland, and Freeride World Tour champion Marion Haerty winning her heat with solid showings in both runs. The big surprise of the day was Robin Van Gyn, widely considered one of the world’s best female freeriders, losing to slopestyle rider Zoi Sadwoski-Synott. Such is life in competition — especially when there’s deep snow and variable takeoffs and landings in the mix.
In the end, it couldn’t really have been a better opening day. Each rider on course had a racing drone follow cam, making the viewing experience truly immersive and unique. There were no weather delays, no waiting for the rider to drop, and unique athlete interviews (and reality television moments like Rice and Rasman talking trash) that made the moments between action (which were not often) enjoyable and interesting.
So, what’s next? We wait. There’s no doubt after a flawless day one, the organizers will wait to run finals day for a refresh of the course, as it seems the fresh snow is an absolutely integral part of this event. After that, it’s simple. Matchups like Sage Kotsenburg vs. Ben Ferguson (two former Olympians) and Travis Rice vs Mark McMorris (two of the GOATs in their fields), will dominate the figurative airways, and the action…it’s real and the course looks like something us mere mortals might actually want to ride. Natural Selection’s first real re-boot, televised and all, aced the test — and I can’t wait to see what’s next.
