Natural Selection released images of the venue for stop two of this year’s Tour (or sort of stop one, but it’s event two), the Yeti Natural Selection Revelstoke. The zone is called Boulder Park and is steep and loaded with pillows and cliffs.
The window for Revy opens tomorrow, March 4th, and will run through the 11th. The opening ceremonies are tonight and you can watch on Natural Selection’s Instagram at 7-8pm PST.
If you haven’t finished watching the Duels, don’t read this part, because it’s a spoiler–but also you should catch up before tomorrow, when the NST Revelstoke window opens, because duh.
Here are the riders that qualified through the Duels and will be ordered into the brackets at Revelstoke (brackets to be announced):
MEN
Mikkel Bang
Blake Paul
Jared Elston
Ben Ferguson
Dustin Craven
Torstein Horgmo
Travis Rice
Mikey Ciccarelli
WOMEN
Kimmy Fasani
Elena Hight
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott
Hailey Langland
Here is the official news from Natural Selection:
Revelstoke, BC (March 3, 2023)—The window is now open for the second stage of the 2023 Natural Selection Tour, the YETI Natural Selection Revelstoke. Viewers worldwide can tune into the livestream as twelve of the world’s top snowboarders progress the sport in head-to-head competition. The action from deep in interior British Columbia’s Selkirk Range will stream live on NaturalSelectionTour.com and Natural Selection’s YouTube. This highly-anticipated, global snowboard event is slated to run on the one day Mother Nature calls during the March 4–11 competition window, starting at 9:30AM PT.
Rider brackets setting up the head-to-head competition will be determined in a blind draw during the YETI Natural Selection Revelstoke opening ceremony on Friday, March 3 at 7PM PT from the Revelstoke Performing Arts Center. Watch the opening ceremony live on Natural Selection social media. Then follow Natural Selection to be notified when Mother Nature calls the day.
NST COMPETING RIDERSThis year’s line-up is made up of an incredible mix of Olympic and X Games medalists, Tour Champions and backcountry freestyle masters. For the women competing at Revelstoke, it’s a battle of all-mountain experience with 2022 Tour Champion Elena Hight (USA) and backcountry legend Kimmy Fasani (USA), sharing the drop zone with the Tour’s two youngest competitors Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (NZL) and Hailey Langland (USA), who bring contest-fresh freestyle skills to the backcountry. The men’s field in Revelstoke includes 2022 Tour Champion Travis Rice (USA) and inaugural 2021 Tour Champion Mikkel Bang (NOR), along with Blake Paul (USA), Jared Elston (USA), Ben Ferguson (USA), Dustin Craven (CAN) and Torstein Horgmo (NOR). Mark McMorris, won his DUEL, but is unfortunately out due to an injury, the Tour wishes him a quick recovery. Mikey Ciccarelli (CAN), who challenged McMorris in the DUEL, will be riding Revelstoke in McMorris’ place.
Olympic and X Games Slopestyle Gold Medalist Zoi Sadowski-Synnott returns to the Tour this year after winning the 2022 TAE Natural Selection Baldface and finishing third overall, she says, “I’m really looking forward to riding in Revelstoke, I hear the snow is all time. I can’t wait to see the zone and who I’m up against. It should be sick!”
The competing field of eight men and four women snowboarders earned their place on the second stage of the Tour by winning their Natural Selection DUEL. DUELS, the 2023 Tour’s first stage, is a series of twelve head-to-head backcountry competitions, which are now streaming on-demand at Red Bull TV. Must-see highlights include Travis Rice and Red Gerard dropping technical spins in dramatic Jackson Hole heli-access terrain; Hailey Langland and Leanne Pelosi trading jabs in the Whistler backcountry; Ben Ferguson and Nils Mindnich going blow for blow in the Whistler backcountry; and Torstein Horgmo and John Jackson linking up clean transitions in the Colorado Rockies among many others.
NST EVENT VENUE
On Saturday’s scope day, riders will get the first, up-close glimpse of the new Revelstoke backcountry competition zone, being referred to as Boulder Park. “This venue reflects the incredible artistic formations that snow can take on in the heart of the Interior of British Columbia. Here the hydrological cycle meets sensational terrain with optimal elevation at its finest,” said Travis Rice, pro snowboarder and co-founder of the Natural Selection Tour. “Riders will have to bring everything they have ever learned to excel, because this venue will challenge the creativity and skills riders are bringing with them in ways no other competition has before. This event is going to be ridiculous! Don’t miss this thing when it is live, and the world’s best get a shot at laying down what are potentially some of the best lines ever ridden.”
For scale, the new Boulder Park venue is four-times the size of previous Natural Selection live events guaranteeing unique lines and fresh landings throughout the four-hour live event.
NST LIVE BROADCAST TECHNOLOGY
In its third year, the Natural Selection Tour has established a new standard for online event broadcasts including the EMMY-nominated high-speed racing drone angle. Revelstoke will mark the Tour’s first event to go LIVE fully relying on REMI, or Remote Integration Model, where content is captured live at a remote location while production is performed at a main studio. Six cameras including custom-built racing drones and high-definition camera systems will beam to a studio nearly 2,000 miles away from the helicopter-accessed, backcountry terrain to a studio in Santa Monica and then out to the world with only a minute in lag time. The crew must overcome unpredictable lighting, weather, snow conditions and rider/judging logistics in real time to change the game in winter sports competition viewing experience, once again.
NST EVENT FORMAT
Riders will compete in a two-run, head-to-head format with judges scoring each riders’ overall run and rewarding risk, flow, creativity, tricks and control from top to bottom. The event will be judged by the Natural Selection judging panel including Connor Manning, Chad Otterstrom, Bryan Fox, Giom Morisset, and Jody Wachniak. Winning riders will advance through the brackets into the finals resulting in a men’s and women’s event winner.
“Our third year as a title sponsor of a Natural Selection Tour stop takes us to Revelstoke, a place that represents the best of the wild–beauty, remoteness and insanely challenging. This year’s competition is going to be the fiercest and we can’t wait to watch what these superhuman athletes have in store for us,” said Paulie Dery, CMO at YETI. “Ski and snow communities run deep to YETI’s core, and as an official sustainability partner of the NST, we share in the Tour’s commitment to helping keep the wild, wild.”Revelstoke Mountain Resort is a natural fit for the Natural Selection Tour with challenging terrain and North America’s most vertical (5,620 feet). The contest will take place about 20 kilometers outside of town, within the Selkirk Tangiers Heli Skiing tenure. This Revelstoke tour stop will highlight and celebrate the authentic spirit of the Revelstoke’s mountain community with support from Tourism Revelstoke and the Province of British Columbia.
ADDITIONAL ON-SITE & STREAMING EVENTS:
Friday, March 3: Opening ceremony and seeding event at Revelstoke Performing Arts Center, 7pm–8pm PT. Watch livestream on NST Instagram, all ages tickets on sale now. Buy tickets.
Wednesday, March 8: YETI Film night at Roxy Theater, 7pm–9pm PT, all ages tickets available at Roxy Theater or Skookum Ski shop.
Friday, March 10: Closing Ceremony at Roxy Theater, 7pm–8:30pm PT. Watch livestream on NST Instagram, all ages tickets available at Roxy Theater or Skookum Ski shop.
Saturday, March 4–Friday March 10: Après DJ Sessions Presented by Red Bull at Rockford Patio, Revelstoke Mountain Resort, 2:30pm–5:30pm PT.
Sign up now at NaturalSelectionTour.com to be notified when Mother Nature calls the day. Follow the Natural Selection Instagram for updates.
THE FINAL STAGE: Natural Selection Alaska
All 12 riders competing at the YETI Natural Selection Revelstoke will move on to Natural Selection Alaska in an all-new Natural Selection Tour super final venue outside of Valdez. During the March 25– April 1 competition window, riders will go head-to-head on the iconic steeps and spines of Alaska’s Chugach Mountain Range in a quest to claim the Tour crown. The Natural Selection Alaska will broadcast “as live” on NaturalSelectionTour.com in mid-April 2023. A manifestation of snowboarders’ wildest dreams, the Tour’s innovative format reveals riders’ full creative expression and requires a deep knowledge of all-mountain conditions to reign supreme.
Like-minded partners have come together to help develop and support the Natural Selection Tour. YETI is back as the title sponsor of the Revelstoke event. Backcountry returns as the Tour’s outerwear partner with NST Freeride 3L outerwear kits available now. Pacifico, TAE, Burton, Red Bull, Black Rhino, Sendy.io, Kodiak Cakes, Oakley, Wheel Pros, GoPro, Ski-Doo and Dakine are also Tour partners this season. To get involved please contact the Natural Selection Tour’s Partnership Team.
The Industry Alliance marketing platform, where endemic brands are able to directly support the events and their team riders competing on the Natural Selection Tour returns in 2023. The Tour is proud to have Union, BOA, Lib Tech, GNU, Jones, Capita, Arc’teryx, Norrona, Sandinista, Coal, Salomon, Giro, Flatline Van Co, K2, Handout Gloves, Mons Royale, The North Face, Slash and Protect Our Winters on board this season. Alliance members receive brand presence on the live-stream, social media and on-site at events, along with access to content and social assets from the Tour.
