Natural Selection time is back! For the first time, the Natural Selection Tour now feels like a tradition. Returning to the booth with Todd Richards, Mary Walsh, and Ed Leigh to kick off another year in Revelstoke was a welcome sight on the TV as the Midwest deals with 70°f. The snow up in British Columbia looked insane, the course had some new additions, and the ad reads with Stan right off the bat made the event feel like the actual Super Bowl of snowboarding (with a little less creative commercials). You can watch the full replay on Red Bull TV anytime before finals!

Crystal clear visibility for the first half of the day was met with some new snow moving in, but the riding kept getting consistently better throughout the contest. Overall, the new group format was a bit confusing because we kept thinking the riders’ chances were over to advance but with three rounds, a good amount of the field of 24 advanced to finals day.

The call was made to run the qualifier day early in the window due to a big storm landing in Revelstoke this week. The full course was open for the first time ever on day one, with the hope that the storm will allow for a total reset before finals kicks off. Highlights included Brin Alexander going back to his watering hole from last year and backflipping into the flat off a massive cliff, Blake Moller putting up a complete run on his second drop, Šárka Pančochová’s 720 and high score on the day for the women, and Miles Fallon adding a little magic on the final run of the day… although it wasn’t enough for him to advance to finals. All around, the event was a success. Now that we have had a few years at this venue, it feels a little familiar and a bit easier to know where the riders are on the face, even if the riders themselves get lost from time to time. Yuki Kadono admitted that he was a bit lost after riding into the coral on his final drop, but still had a few of the more exciting runs on the day. Some big names that will be left out of finals after failing to qualify include last year’s winners in Stale Sandbech and Spencer O’Brien, as well as the founder of the event, Travis Rice.

The champs are still yet to be named with one more full day of competition ahead where it will be moving back to the head-to-head format.

Riders advancing to finals below:

Women-

• Šárka Pančochová
• Zoi Sadowski-Synnott
• Billy Pelchat
• Madison Blackley

Men-

• Nils Mindnich
• Mark McMorris
• Gigi Rüf
• Torstein Horgmo
• Mateo Massitti
• Blake Moller
• Jared Elston
• Brin Alexander

See you in a few days with a fresh layer of snow and a field looking to take it all home!