Photo by Tim Zimmerman / Red Bull
While driving back from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Wednesday afternoon, Summit County snowboarding legend Chad Otterstrom reflected on the Natural Selection competition he just judged and contextualized what the acclaimed event could mean for the sport moving forward.
“I haven’t had my eyes peeled to a contest like that since I first started watching snowboarding as a kid,” Otterstrom said. “It gave me that kind of excitement.”
Twenty-four hours earlier, Mark McMorris of Canada and Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of New Zealand were crowned champions of the two-day tournament. During the competition, Otterstrom a veteran judge of X Games, Burton U.S. Open and Dew Tour joined Sandy MacDonald and Connor Manning as the event’s judging triumvirate.
If you’re tuned into the core snowboard community, you know the value of a proper switch method and from the moment Mikkel Bang took the win over Pat Moore in the Quarterfinals with a switch Method, one thing was abundantly clear Natural Selection is a competition for your favorite snowboarder’s favorite snowboarder.
The judging might have had the masses scratching its collective head here and there, trying to decipher trick differences and what constituted a stomp, those sorts of details, but in the end, most of it made perfect sense, and the finals day went down flawlessly.
The men’s quarterfinals kicked off the day with matchups that couldn’t have been better on paper Austen Sweetin vs. Blake Paul, Ben Ferguson taking on Sage Kotsenburg, Mikkel Bang and Pat Moore facing off, and two riders who may go down as G.O.A.T’s, Mark McMorris and Travis Rice going head to head.
Like the H.M.S. Beagle cresting waves in the Pacific Ocean, a mob of pro snowboarders punched through new snow and made waves of their own underneath Moran Faces for the
Staff
The opening day of the Natural Selection tour was a revelation: the best, most diverse field of snowboarders ever assembled gathered at Jackson Hole and charged Travis Rice’s dream course with the world watching. Now, Day 2, and 50 inches of fresh powder await along with some of the most historical matchups ever in snowboarding competition. Try Mark McMorris vs. Travis Rice, Ben Ferguson vs. Sage Kotsenburg, and Pat Moore vs. Mikkel Bang. On the women’s side, Elena Hight goes up against Marion Haerty and Hana Beaman takes on Zoi Sadowski-Syn. Day 2, Finals Day gets rolling at 9:30 a.m. MST from Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Thirteen years in the making, Travis Rice s dream for the ultimate snowboard contest finally came true in Jackson Hole, Wyoming – get the lowdown right here.