Industry News
Natural Selection changed the face of competitive snowboarding when it came on the scene. What started as a dream shared by Travis Rice and friends soon became a reality of backcountry booters and a live snowboarding event that captured all of the inventiveness, excitement, and creativity of an epic shred video part.
This year, RED Mountain, in Rossland, BC, will be the only Canadian stop within the 6 worldwide DUELS Qualifiers for the 2024 Natural Selection Tour. On RED’s hallowed, powder-blasted slopes, 2 athletes will compete 1-on-1, battling for the highest score to advance. RED’s famous steeps, undulating terrain, and plentiful winter snowfall make this a perfect venue for the riders to express their wildest imaginations and everyone at RED is stoked for the opportunity to be a part of the progression. Natural Selection is so-called not just as a nod to ol’ Darwin, but because the event goes down on natural and naturally-enhanced terrain; true survival of the fittest.
“We are thrilled that world-class snowboarders will bring their absolute best to RED’s world-class terrain,” says Howard Katkov, RED’s CEO. “The Kootenays have always been a sacred location for ski and snowboard athletes thanks to our deep snow, creative terrain, and wonderful community. Seeing these riders battle it out live will be a true highlight of the season.”
The competition window for the RED stop of the YETI Natural Selection DUELS showdown will commence at the end of January, and will stream globally in late February. More details on the inaugural RED-hosted stop will be released next month.
To make Natural Selection even better, the DUELS week aligns around the same time as the famous Rossland Winter Carnival—now in its 124th year! The future of snowboarding meets the region’s deep winter-sports history and unabashed independence.
