A few weeks ago, we posted a question on our Facebook asking who the best snowboarder on Earth is. We received over 70 responses, with many different snowboarders being mentioned. From the best competition riders of today like Mia Brookes and Dusty Hendrickson to freeriding legends like Craig Kelly, the comments featured a variety of riders who have contributed so much to the sport. Despite the variety, there was one name that came out on top: the famous Travis Rice.
Out of the 75 total comments, nine said the Jackson Hole native Travis Rice is the best in the world. While that number may seem small, the runner-up in votes was the late Craig Kelly, who received two votes.
Travis Rice has been one of the biggest names in snowboarding for years, and one realm of snowboarding that he has dominated was contests. Rice holds two X Games gold medals, a bronze medal, and a silver medal. He competed in both slopestyle and big air, making him a well-balanced rider who could hit the toughest rails and biggest jumps. In addition to X Games, Rice has won multiple US Open competitions, another incredible feat for a snowboarder who had already proved himself on the biggest stages multiple times.
Rice did not just dominate in competitions, but in backcountry filming as well. This is the realm where Rice truly proved his greatness on a snowboard. Rice’s That’s It, That’s All part featured the world’s first double cork 1260. The Art of Flight won Rice Snowboard Magazine’s and TransWorld Snowboarding’s Rider of the Year in 2012. To this day, Rice continues to put a beatdown in the backcountry, producing video parts with mind-blowing tricks.
In 2012, Rice decided it was time to create a backcountry competition, and thus Natural Selection was born. Everything started at Baldface Lodge in British Columbia, Canada, where Rice was the Natural Selection’s first champion. Today, Rice has grown Natural Selection into one of snowboarding’s biggest spectacles. Each year, the Natural Selection Tour travels to the best resorts in the world, where the best riders battle it out in the backcountry. Natural Selection events feature pristine powder, huge natural jumps, and some of the best snowboarding in the world.
To this day, Rice continues to show why he is widely considered the best snowboarder in the world, and the mark he has left on snowboarding will be remembered for years to come. His competitions and video parts of the past have already cemented his name in snowboarding history, but his continued dedication to the sport through Natural Selection has only broadened his impact. Even as snowboarding progresses and new riders begin to make names for themselves, there is no doubt that Travis Rice’s influence will be felt in snowboarding forever.
