After last year’s event captured the attention of viewers around the world, Revelstoke Mountain Resort (RMR) is set to host the Natural Selection Tour (NST) again in 2024, including the expansion of the live competition from one day to two.
It’s been roughly nine months since Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Travis Rice climbed atop the podium as the two gold medalists in the Natural Selection Tour final, hosted in Revelstoke. The two riders emerged victorious after a full day’s riding in the Selkirk Tangiers heli-ski tenure just 20 km outside of town in the backcountry. On Wednesday (Nov. 1), the tour announced not just that they were coming back but expanding the competition.
When Travis Rice spoke to the crowd that had gathered in the Rockford Plaza at Revelstoke Mountain Resort after winning the event, he spoke about a few different things, but he made a point of talking about the future of the tour.
“We’ll be back,” he said at the time to the cheering crowd.
YETI Natural Selection DUELS
The NST will return to Revelstoke from March 10–17, but before riders get to town, there will be another series of ‘DUELS’.
The DUELS last year were a series of one one-on-one competitions to decide who would travel to Revelstoke to compete in the finals. One rider was given a “home advantage” and got to choose the venue.
Although the DUELS return in 2024, the format has shifted slightly with 18 of last year’s riders already punching their tickets to the Revelstoke event in March, leaving 12 riders to compete in this year’s round of DUELS to earn the remaining six spots.
This year’s DUELS will also include new locations from across the world. From Switzerland to Rossland, B.C., riders will take on all sorts of terrain to maximize creativity and style to earn a place at the final two events in Revelstoke.
The DUELS will happen over the coming months, with the video edits to be released in February, which will also serve as the announcement of who goes to the finals in Revelstoke.
YETI Natural Selection Revelstoke
Last year’s event could best be described as ‘all-or-nothing’.
The riders that took on the wild backcountry near Revelstoke had the entire competition in just one day, but this year will be different. Once in Revelstoke, riders will have two possible locations that they will be competing in. One will be an unknown location in the backcountry in Selkirk-Tangiers tenure and the other is a new addition from last year. The second location in Revelstoke is on RMR sidecountry (slackcountry), where naturally enhanced features will be embedded into the terrain.
Natural Selection takes its name seriously, meaning the format will be like last year’s.
“Our goal is to double-down on Revelstoke with two new venues, two live event days and more ways to bring the global and local community together,” said Carter Westfall, NST CEO.
There will be 24 riders who will take on one of the two venues on the first day, but only half of those riders will compete in the final, which will be on day two. Both events will be streamed live.
READ MORE: Natural Selection Dissection: A review of Yeti Natural Selection Revelstoke