Travis Rice and the Natural Selection Tour are on a a roll. Ask any snowboarder in the competitive world (or even skiers) what their favorite contest format in the sport is right now, and most agree: the NST. Rice and the Natural Selection crew aren’t standing pat. They continue to tweak the format and bring on more big name riders. Kimmy Fasani, an icon who recently recovered from cancer treatments, and Olympian Red Gerard highlight a supremely talented field.
Hailey Langland, Nils Mindnich, Gigi Rüf and John Jackson will also compete this year. They’ll join Mikkel Bang, Dustin Craven, Jared Elston, Ben Ferguson, Marion Haerty, Elena Hight, Torstein Horgmo, Mark McMorris, Blake Paul, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Rice. It’s a stacked field, to put it lightly.
The format is also being tweaked. Jackson Hole and Baldface aren’t part of the tour this year. Instead, competition will start with “Duels” in February. This from a recent NST release:
DUELS will showcase varied terrain, as the riders pre-qualified from the 2022 season including Olympians, big mountain icons and rising stars go head-to-head with the invited riders from across the global snowboarding spectrum. The fully edited and judge-scored runs from each DUEL will be broadcast first and exclusively on Red Bull TV.
Red, left, and Kimmy, two new additions to the NST.
The NST crew tells us that essentially, “one rider will scope out a zone,” and with whoever they’re matched up against, they’ll meet in good conditions to compete. Unique to say the least. In March, the eight men and four women that make it out of the Duels will meet at Revelstoke Resort in British Columbia where they’ll utilize the terrain from Selkirk Tangiers Heli Skiing. That contest window is March 4 through 11.
All the riders will move on to a new “Super Final” venue in Valdez, Alaska March 25 through April 1. The Chugach should provide for this epic group of riders.
“This event is so exciting to watch as an onlooker, and just the thought of being surrounded by so many of my favorite snowboarding peers, back in the mountains, gives me the biggest smile,” Fasani said in a release about her inclusion in the event. “All the challenges I’ve been through over the last few years have reminded me how special snowboarding with friends is – and being invited to be a part of the Tour is such an honor.”
Damn straight. The Natural Selection Tour continues to set the bar for viewable snowboarding comps. Stay tuned.
