The Natural Selection Tour Has Dates, Venues, And Athletes Announced
In the era of COVID-19, competitive sporting events have been canceled one right after the other, for good reason and the snow sports world is included in that. But, the world of pro-snowboarding has had a wicked glimmer of hope as the athletes, tour stops, and dates have been announced and confirmed for The Natural Selection Tour.
The tour is set to make three stops across North America. The first stop will be giving the home-field advantage to snowboarding legend Travis Rice, who also came up with the concept for an all snowboard, all backcountry competition. Stop one, which will be held from February 3rd to the 9th in 2021, will be at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. From there, the tour heads north to Baldface Lodge, B.C. for a stop in Canada in the first week of March and then finishes out at Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, Alaska, March 20th through the 27th.
“There are so many realms for creative expression, and that is a big reason why I think snowboarding has continued to be relevant and has continued to thrive in its many different iterations,” Rice said in an interview with Forbes. “What we’re trying to do wasn’t possible 10 years ago, wasn’t plausible five years ago just due to the sheer cost to do a live event in the remote backcountry. It’s this unique crossroads we are at in snowboarding, along with an elevated respect for wild spaces and new technology, that has gotten us to the place where a contest tour like the Natural Selection is now possible.”
This competition, similar to the Freeride World Tour, another backcountry/freestyle competition, will have both men and women competing for top spots. For the men, we'll get to see Elias Elhardt, Ben Ferguson, Sage Kotsenburg, Nils Mindnich, Mark McMorris, Chris Rasman, Rice, and Gigi Rüf. As for the women, we'll get to see Jamie Anderson, Marion Hagerty, Elena Hight, and Robin Van Gyn. A real who's who of snowboarding talent, this is only the first wave of invites. More riders, both male and female will be announced in January.
For those looking to witness this tournament in all of its inaugural glory, keep an eye out on Red Bull TV for the live broadcast of the first event in Jackson Hole, as well as the following events being hosted as highlight shows for on-demand viewing, also on Red Bull TV.
All the other information you could ever want can be found on the tour's website at https://www.naturalselectiontour.com/ or by following the tour's social media pages for updates and information.
Photo Credit: Natural Selection Tour/FB
Comments
Post a Comment