Snowboarding
Natural Selection Tour introduces a brand new stage in 2026
The NST is back with a new first stage, shaking up the beloved backcountry competition. Here's everything you need to know about Super Sessions.
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The brainchild of snowboarder Travis Rice, the Natural Selection Tour showcases the world's top riders, freeriders and freesurfers, slopestyle specialists, film icons and more, all competing on the planet's most exciting natural and naturally enhanced terrain.
Get ready because the 2026 Natural Selection Snow season features an all-new first stage called Super Sessions. Instead of DUELS, the Super Sessions update introduces a more collaborative, session-style competition. Super Sessions are fuelled by creativity, highlight freeride progression and aim to deliver more excitement for viewers and riders.
Travis Rice deep in the Alaskan backcountry
© Chad Chomlack/Red Bull Content Pool
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What is Super Sessions
As riders progress through Super Sessions held at three locations worldwide, the winners earn spots to compete in the main event at the YETI Natural Selection Revelstoke. The best all-mountain freestyle riders in the world will come together for the crowning of a men's and women's champion after the last day of live competition at the final in Revelstoke, BC, Canada.
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What to expect
The women will compete at evo's Journeyman Lodge, near Whistler. Three women will be invited by the NST selection committee to compete, and an additional woman will be added to the contest via fan vote.
The men will split into two groups and compete in Myōkō, Japan, and Utah, USA. Seven will be selected by the selection committee, and an eighth will be selected through a fan vote.
At the end of the Super Sessions, one woman and four men will advance to compete in Revelstoke. That contest is scheduled for a weather window of March 10-16, 2026.
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Where is it happening
Evolving from DUELS, Super Sessions moves away from head-to-head matchups in favour of a collaborative session format that prioritises line choice and individual expression while still serving as a qualifier for Revelstoke. Events will take place at Powder Mountain in Utah, Myōkō in Japan, and evo's Journeyman Lodge at the Callaghan in British Columbia.
Shredding powder at the Natural Selection Tour
© Tim Zimmerman/Red Bull Content Pool
Powder Mountain, Utah, USA
Bringing the Super Sessions to the continental US will be Powder Mountain, Utah. Held in a zone known locally as 'Don’t Mention It' or DMI. The 1,000-plus-acre zone lies beneath James Peak, Powder Mountain's highest point, and features cliff bands, spines, technical chutes and other natural terrain for riders to work with. The resort has plans to add lift access to DMI, but ahead of the lift's opening, NST athletes will ride the terrain as it exists today: unserved, expansive and defined by its natural terrain.
Powder Mountain, USA, competitors:
- Blake Paul
- Brin Alexander
- Garrett Warnick
Callaghan, British Columbia, Canada
The women will compete in a Super Session at evo's Journeyman Lodge at the Callaghan near Whistler, British Columbia. The Callaghan is known for its deep Coast Range snowpack, pillow lines, natural gaps, and rolling alpine-to-tree terrain. The event will be entirely human-powered, requiring riders to tour for all access and emphasising backcountry decision-making alongside freestyle meets freeriding performance.
Callaghan, Canada, competitors:
- Enni Rukajärvi
- Katie Kennedy
- Stefi Luxton
- Marissa Krawczak
Myōkō, Japan
Aya Sato sends it off a snowed-in avalanche gate in Japan
© Kentaro Matsuda/Natural Selection
The crew returns to Myōkō, Japan, a region known for some of the deepest snowfall in the world, for a Super Session stacked with fresh NST blood. The venue for last year’s epic DUEL between Aya Sato and Šárka Pančochová, Myōkō’s terrain features rolling volcanic contours, natural transitions, and evenly spaced trees that create a fast, technical riding environment well-suited to deep snow.
Myōkō, Japan, competitors:
- Mateo Massitti
- Mason Lemery
- Miles Fallon
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Who are the competitors
Competing in Utah will be Blake Paul, a perennial NST smooth operator, who is ready to earn his return ticket to Revy; Brin Alexander, a BC crowd favourite, who made an electric NST debut in 2025, dropping first on day one; and Garrett Warnick, an NST rookie and underground backcountry slayer, leaving a big mark. One or two more surprise men's rider names will drop for Powder Mountain in the coming weeks… stay tuned.
More from the legend himself, Travis Rice
The women's roster in Canada includes Enni Rukajärvi, Katie Kennedy, Stefi Luxton, and Marissa Krawczak, with the potential of an additional mystery rider in the coming weeks. Rukajärvi returns to Natural Selection after competing in DUELS with Elena Hight two years ago. Kennedy makes her Natural Selection debut, bringing her multifaceted skills to the backcountry. Luxton, who also competed in Jackson in 2022 and in a 2025 DUEL with Madison Blackley, is back to complete some unfinished business. Krawczak makes her second NST season following a DUEL with Zoi Sadowski-Synnott in 2023.
Competing in Myōkō is a crew of exciting rookie NST riders looking to shake things up, including Mateo Massitti, Mason Lemery, Miles Fallon and Takeru Otsuka, representing Japan on home snow.
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NST through the years
Robin Van Gyn does a backie at YETI Natural Selection Tour in Jackson Hole
© Dean Blotto Gray/Natural Selection Tour/Red Bull Content Pool
When it launched in 2021, NST had a three-stop championship culminating in a final in the Tordrillo Mountains, Alaska. The first overall tour champions were Mikkel Bang (men) and Robin Van Gyn (women). This set the template for the event's big-mountain, terrain-driven format.
In 2022, the tour expanded its reach to include stops in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Baldface, British Columbia; and Alaska. Travis Rice took the overall men's title while Elena Hight secured the women's championship.
Kiwi rider Zoi Sadowski-Synnott claimed top honours
© Tom Monterosso/Natural Selection Tour
The showcase continued to grow in 2023 – Travis Rice and Zoi Sadowski-Synnott were crowned overall tour champions after big performances in Alaska and other stops.
The 2024 competition featured more backcountry face action in Revelstoke and other classic freeride terrain. Mikey Ciccarelli (men) and Marion Haerty (women) won the tour titles.
NST continued its growth in 2025, with events such as the Revelstoke finals featuring large fields and head-to-head matchups. For the snowboard portion, Ståle Sandbech (men) and Spencer O'Brien (women) topped the podium at Revelstoke.
Travis Rice during the Natural Selection Tour in Revelstoke, Canada
© Chad Chomlack/Red Bull Content Pool
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How to watch
NST Snowboarding Super Sessions will premiere February 24, 2026, on Red Bull TV, with qualifying riders revealed within each episode. YETI Natural Selection Revelstoke broadcasts live on Red Bull TV for two days within the March 10-15 competition window.
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