Snowboarding Icon Travis Rice discusses his latest groundbreaking project.
As an athlete, when you can say you are the best at your sport that means something. To say you are the “world’s fastest man” or the “heavyweight champion of the world,” there is no bigger accomplishment that you can add to your resume.
Thanks to Travis Rice and his newly created Natural Selection Tour, a snowboarder will now have the opportunity to say they are the best snowboarder in the world.
“Whoever is standing on the top of the podium after the final race in Alaska without question can say, I am the best snowboarder in the world” said Rice.
The Natural Selection Tour, combines the world’s top riders from Olympians to big mountain film icons, where it will debut live, exclusively on Red Bull TV from Jackson Hole Mountain Resort this February 3-9, 2021. The Natural Selection Tour is a manifestation of Rice’s dreams. The Tour features an innovative format requiring riders’ full creative expression and knowledge of backcountry conditions to win. All events will run within seven-day windows to ensure that the terrain is in peak season conditions, according to Rice.
“This is a proud moment to see how far we have come, but the for the possibility of where we are going with this tour,” said Rice. “The amount of hurdles we have overcome, the amount of coordination needed, to take an event that was a one off contest and turn it into a live event, and to see how solid the team we have created has become, has created some of the biggest feelings of reassurance. Plus to have so many brands come together like Red Bull, Yeti, Backcountry and others support us is huge.”
The invited riders will compete on natural and naturally-enhanced terrain in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Baldface Lodge, British Columbia and Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, Alaska. Top finishers from each stop will go head-to-head in Alaska, where the best men’s and women’s all-mountain freestyle riders will be crowned in late March.
But unlike other projects Rice has involved himself in, when the cameras go live, there is no “Cut. Take two.” Live TV can be complex.
“We are as prepared as we can be,” said Rice. “We have accomplished and learned so much from projects in the past and now we are ready to raise the stakes. We have been working extra hard in the lead up, but to have the wild card of live tv leaves me excited.”
Travis Rice poses for a portrait at Hangar-7 in Salzburg, Austria on March 23, 2017 // Lukas Pilz/Red Bull Content Pool // SI201706071759 // Usage for editorial use only // 
Travis Rice performs during the making of the movie The Fourth Phase, March 20 2014 // Scott Serfas / Red Bull Content Pool // SI201511120124 // Usage for editorial use only // 
Travis Rice rides the ‘Pillow Line’ in the Kootenay Valley of British Colombia, Canada, on 1 March, 2019. // Tim Zimmerman/Red Bull Content Pool // SI202010130033 // Usage for editorial use only //
So who may have the advantage? The invited athletes range from contest athletes to big mountain riders, where the knowledge of how to perform under the live format pressure comes face to face with the skill of descending the terrain.
“This terrain was only recently opened to the public and is truly ideal for this event,” said Rice. “No matter what, everybody has the same nerves in the starting gate. The competitive side of the contest will favor those athletes for sure, but I think the ability and experience the big mountain riders have, and the ability to take a deep breathe and understand how to adapt to variable snow conditions will prove invaluable. Builders have been working hard to accentuate the natural features and enhance the ride-ability and safety of this terrain. The goal of our work is to provide endless opportunity for the creative expression of these master riders with limitless variations of contest runs. The variety is what is what makes it so exciting. We have at least a 20 year span in age from the riders competing, all with different backgrounds.”
Live Link To Contest
For 2021, Elias Elhardt, Ben Ferguson, Sage Kotsenburg, Nils Mindnich, Mark McMorris, Chris Rasman and Gigi Rüf are among a few announced competing on the men’s side. Jamie Anderson, Marion Haerty, Elena Hight and Robin Van Gyn will be dropping in for the women, along with several others. Rice, however is not just the creator of the event, he will be lining up next to the other invited athletes.
“It creates an interesting dynamic to have the level of OCD I have in creating this event so very specifically versus to just have the care free show up and ride side of this,” said Rice. “It was an internal debate for sure on whether to compete or not. My first priority was the success of this event from an operational standpoint. But the invited riders pushed me to compete. This will be the greatest snowboarding contest out there and I am so excited to witness it from the starting gates as well.”
Even though it is the athletes that make the contest legendary, it is the sponsors that help to make it go.
“I wouldn’t be where I am without Red Bull,” said Rice. “They are such a dynamic and unique company that put endless amount of resources to all of their athlete projects globally have helped push all sports to a new level. The concept will be proven this year and I know this contest and future versions of this contest will elevate snowboarding each time.”