Over the weekend a collection of incredible and globally acclaimed snowboard riders descended upon Jackson Hole Mountain Resort at the invite of Travis Rice, Yeti and Red Bull. They say it's the highest echelon of competitive snowboarding, we tend to agree.“The Natural Selection Tour is designed with Mother Nature as the main character, and with mutual respect for and from snowboarding,” said Travis Rice, pro snowboarder. “Women’s snowboarding is progressing so fast and we are thrilled to have both men and women riding in the tour. I’m beyond excited to witness what is possible in snowboarding when riders of this caliber are able to build off of each other’s progress in real time on some of the absolute best riding venues. The opportunity for our team to share it with the world is humbling and a true honor.”Leading up to stage one of this unique event Travis Rice spent time spotting and prepping the natural zone found off the Tetons lift at JHMR. What topped it off was a great storm rolled through just before the event and left feet of delicious Wyoming powder making the zone a back country playground full of kickers, cliff drops and powder stashes.
“The Natural Selection Tour is designed with Mother Nature as the main character, and with mutual respect for and from snowboarding,” - Travis RicePic Credit - Natural Selection Tour How does the Natural Selection tour work? Debuting in February 2021 with stops at Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Baldface Lodge, British Columbia; and Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, Alaska; the Natural Selection Tour will feature the world’s top freeride snowboarders competing on the most epic terrain in all-time conditions. Beyond crowning male and female world champions in snowboarding, the Natural Selection Tour’s mission is to inspire people to forge a deeper relationship with the outdoors.STOP ONE — JACKSON, WYA manifestation of Travis Rice’s wildest dreams, the Tour’s innovative format will reveal riders’ full creative expression and require a deep knowledge of backcountry conditions to reign supreme. All events will run within seven-day windows to ensure that the terrain is in peak season conditions. Starting off at the YETI Natural Selection at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort there will be sixteen men and eight women dropping into the venue, a complex zone, rich with natural features, which represents one of the most rugged pieces of inbound terrain at Jackson Hole.“This terrain was only recently opened to the public and is truly ideal for this event. Builders have been working hard to accentuate the natural features and enhance the rideability and safety of this terrain,” said Rice. “The goal of our work is to provide endless opportunity for the creative expression of these master riders with limitless variations of contest runs.”
Pic Credit - Natural Selection Tour
Pic Credit - Natural Selection Tour Want to check out more details on the riders? See all their information and bios on the Natural Selection page.Tune into the live streams here on Youtube. Make sure you follow us on our socials!
About the author
Michael Fulton
Melbourne-based skier and snowboarder with 50+ resorts across 5 continents. Specialises in Australian resorts and international resort comparisons.
