NATURAL SELECTION

from Method Mag Issue 22.3

by Method Snowboard Magazine

GOT THE SHOT

22.3

ELIAS ELHARDT

LAST WINTER, TRAVIS AND THE NATURAL HAD TO CONSTANTLY DUE TO COVID, BUT THIS FROM PULLING OFF THE SELECTION TOUR WITH

RICE, LIAM GRIFFIN SELECTION TEAM ADAPT THEIR PLANS DIDN’T STOP THEM INAUGURAL NATURAL STOPS IN JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT, BALDFACE VALHALLA, AND THE TODRILLO MOUNTAINS OF ALASKA. THE HEAD-TO-HEAD KNOCKOUT FORMAT MADE FOR SOME SURPRISING RESULTS, WITH SOME BIG NAMES DROPPING OUT EARLY. MIKKEL BANG AND ROBIN VAN GYN TOOK THE TOP SPOTS, BUT IT WAS ANYONE’S GAME UP UNTIL THE VERY END. UNLIKE MOST MAJOR CONTESTS, THE NATURAL SELECTION WAS ACTUALLY EXCITING AND ENTERTAINING TO WATCH, AND WE’RE STOKED TO SEE HOW THE SECOND YEAR OF THE TOUR UNFOLDS. WE GOT TRAVIS ON THE PHONE TO GIVE US SOME INSIGHTS INTO WHAT WE CAN EXPECT TO SEE, AND WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE THIS THING HAPPEN.

INTERVIEW. THEO ACWORTH. PHOTO. NATURAL SELECTION/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

So you’ve got year one under your belt. How are you feeling coming to the second year of Natural Selection?

Last year was tough. In Jackson, we couldn’t even talk about the Baldface, Valhalla event because of the sensitivity of Canada’s COVID policies. So it felt a bit like a broken tour. This coming season is a direct three-stop tour, and the stakes and demands of the terrain get notched up at each event. Last year we built the foundation, which was exactly what we needed to do. It wasn’t what we originally envisioned, but all things considered, from the crazy COVID year we found ourselves in, I think we did damn well. It was a great setup, and this season all three of our venues will be much more interesting. We’ve rounded them out a lot more. Jackson Hole was already a pretty epic venue, but running into last winter, we were only at about 65% of where we wanted to be. Now I think we’re more in the 85% range.

What’s going on with Baldface? Will you be on the same Valhalla tenure as last year or somewhere di erent?

We’ve got a couple of things going on in Baldface. We went in this summer and cleaned up, added and re ned features from the original Super Natural 2012 venue. We’ll be running on that venue, and there’s also a wildcard bonus venue there that we’ll talk more about after the Jackson event.

Sounds good. How’s Alaska looking?

In AK, we have a much better venue than last year. Last year’s faces were sweet, but they weren’t the rst choices. They were more like C and D choices. I’m really excited about what we’re focussing on for this year. It’s going to take it to another level.

AUSTEN SWEETEN

We’ll also have more competitors there than we did last year.

Will we see the live format at each stop?

It’s our goal. For sure Jackson will be live again, but the others are undecided. Last year was an almost documentary-style show for the Baldface stop. I think we’re going to step that up to an actual live-tocard style show. So much more the entirety of the day, but not live-live.

What are the biggest challenges of doing live broadcasts in remote locations?

The logistics are pretty nuts. You need infrastructure and RF connectivity on-site, a full editing suite, a week of satellite time booked out for uplink and downlink. I could go on and on about how complicated it is, but our production partner Uncle Toad’s Media Group, our COO Liam Gri n and our production team fucking loves a challenge, and so do I. So at the end of the day, it comes down to the exponential cost because we’re not afraid of the logistics. We’re committed to pursuing a live broadcast, but we’re still in our second year and trying to drive support for this thing. To be frank, the only metric we’re measured on is when people tune in. The more people who tune in, the easier it makes it for us to go live and start bringing in other events in places like Europe.

We were hoping to see a European stop on the tour this year. Is that something you’ll be looking into at some point?

We had some good momentum in Europe, but COVID erased that, so we’re sort of starting from scratch again there. I’ve been working on this for six years, and it’s absolutely something we’re looking at doing in the future.

Anything you can tell us about the rider list for the upcoming tour?

The top half of the eld from Jackson have automatically re-quali ed for the second year, as well as the winners of the video part contest and overall winners from Baldface Valhalla. We changed the dates of the event so that riders could also do the Olympics, but it looks like lastminute COVID protocols from China means that riders have to arrive there a week earlier than planned, which means some of them wouldn’t be eligible to ride at Natural Selection. So that potentially opens up some more spots.

“I’M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT WHAT WE’RE FOCUSSING ON FOR THIS YEAR. IT’S GOING TO TAKE IT TO ANOTHER LEVEL.”

MIKKEL BANG

HANNA BEAMAN

How do you decide who comes? That can’t be an easy task.

I’m not the biggest fan of inviteonly contests, but we had to start somewhere. Luckily it’s not just up to me. The Natural Selection board is a group of men and women who all have independent votes. They’ve done the rst round of picks and will then wait to digest what lms or parts people put out in the next few months before doing the next round. It’s crucial that that stu is considered. So we probably won’t have nal picks until the middle of January. On top of that, we’ll also select some alternates in case people can’t make it.

Are there any changes in the judging format for this year?

There’s some evolution, like anything. We were really happy with the judging last year, and we’ll have the same team back. Having gone through three events, they’re now much more informed. It’s good to be able to re-watch last year’s runs and nit-pick decisions. There were a couple of tough ones. One of Pat Moore’s heats was one of the most contentious. Was it the right call or not? Watching in hindsight, I still think it’s up to individual interpretation and just depends on where you focus. Did someone take chances and try a bunch of things but maybe sketched out, or did someone play it super safe and get a clean run? We want the emphasis on judging to be like lming in the backcountry. If you do a little butt check or a minor crash without impacting momentum or ow, that’s kind of how it is when lming and riding in the backcountry. This isn’t park or pipe where you get deducted for touching a hand. There is an emphasis on diversity, creativity and line choice, but that’s also paired with the di culty of tricks and the risks that riders take. Even if someone rides the same line but kick their tricks up a gear, that might be rewarded. But you saw Blake Paul ride the same line, and it ended up being his downfall. If he switched it up, maybe he could have gone to the end. Mark McMorris did the same line and raised the level of his tricks, but the people he was up against didn’t nail their diversity lines. They would have got a higher score for doing those lines, but if you don’t land them, that’s just how it is.

“WHEN I WAS RIDING AND CHECKING IT OUT, THERE WAS NO POSSIBILITY IN MY MIND THAT MY TRACKS WOULD STILL BE VISIBLE NEARLY A MONTH LATER. BUT SURE ENOUGH, THEY WERE STILL THERE.”

Which aspects of the tour really stood out for you last year?

The Jackson event ran as smoothly as it could have done. We had amazing conditions, and the show was super on point. We actually won a CLIO award for live broadcasting. Zoi’s [Sadowski-Synott] story, for me, was the coolest thing that happened on the tour. She was only invited a few weeks prior, and I think she had to go straight rogue from the New Zealand team to come and compete, as she’s an Olympic hopeful. She showed up and put on a real exhibition. The event in Alaska also went super well. It hadn’t snowed in three and a half weeks, so being able to nd the conditions that we did was really nice. On the rst day venue, there were a few tracks on the face. They were old ones, and they were actually from me when I was scouting the face. When I was riding and checking it out, there was no possibility in my mind that my tracks would still be visible nearly a month later. But sure enough, they were still there. I didn’t say anything about it at the time, but you could still kinda see them.

That’s pretty nice to hear that you snaked your own contest. Ok, we’re stoked to see how it all unfolds this year, and I think we can leave things there for now. The last words are yours:

Our success and sustainability are built on people tuning in and giving a shit about it. So if you think it’s cool, tune in.

2022 NATURAL SELECTION TOUR DATES:

YETI Natural Selection at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort:

Jan 24th - 30th