Hints of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” took over the spectator corral as finalist Blake Moller stood atop Revelstoke Mountain Resort’s Montana Bowl, preparing for the 97th and final run of the 2025 Yeti Natural Selection. Fellow NST Rookie Ståle Sandbech had just unloaded a series of 540s for the lead.

Now hundreds of fans sang along to Moller’s requested track: “If you had… one shot… or one opportunity…To seize everything you ever wanted… one moment… Would you capture it? Or just let it slip?” Calm, collected, and dialed in, he opened up with a Double Wildcat in the upper section before narrowly missing the landing on a Backside 720 in front of an electric crowd.

NST Rookie Blake Moller linking together a backflip and a frontside 540 before switch straight lining into the quarterfinals. Photo: Colin Wiseman / Natural Selection Tour

“That was definitely my favorite moment of the week,” Moller said later. “From entering the competition as an underdog, and then dropping in last against a freestyle guy like Ståle… You really can’t make that shit up.”

In the end, Sandbech’s score stood supreme to earn him the title of Men’s NST Champion as the final showdown unfolded in epic proportions—echoing the standout performances of all NST Rookies and Wildcards, as well as the months of preparation, and five prior seasons of trial and error in this incarnation of Travis Rice’s brainchild  known as the Natural Selection Tour.

In addition to the prize money, both the men’s and women’s NST winners received a 2026 Ski-Doo Summit X Turbo. Following the closing ceremony, Sandbech made a bold statement: “Watch out, Whistler… If I’m on a turbo, no one is safe.” Photo: Chad Chomlack / Natural Selection Tour

Execute your vision, get rewarded

The first runs were just as exciting as the last and the newly introduced qualifying format on Day 1 forced riders to strategize. In previous years, the qualifiers consisted of head-to-head matchups. This time, 24 riders were divided into groups of eight and given three opportunities to advance to the finals. In round one, two riders advanced; in round two, one rider advanced; and in the final round, one last rider advanced while four were eliminated. The remaining riders would enter into head-to-head matchups for the quarterfinals onwards on Day 2.

The vibes were high in the spectator corral. Pub beer, overpriced hotdogs, and even a giant poster of Dustin Craven’s head. Photo: Mike Yoshida / Natural Selection Tour

Naturally, the course design split riders into two streams—freestyle-dominant versus freeride-dominant. Some line options led riders towards the central, big boss pillow lines like Booze Cruze, Kootenay King, and Over Stoke, while others offered more playful, feature-rich zones where the slope mellowed out a bit in Western Hemisphere and The Far West. If a rider’s score was based on crowd reaction, those who navigated the meaty exposure would have come out on top nine times out of ten. However, as seen in the quarterfinal matchup between Ståle Sandbech and Dustin Craven, this wasn’t always the case. Despite some controversy surrounding run scores, NST judges Jody Wachniak, David Carrier Porcheron (DCP), Chad Otterstrom, and Leanne Pelosi made it clear: execute your vision, get rewarded.

Underdog mentalities

The carnage was initiated by Canadian rookie Brin Alexander, who opened up the event with a 60-foot melon grab off one of the largest features on course. The Whistler local punched his way to the big show after defeating Bjorn Leines in a Duel just one month after suffering a hairline fracture to his pelvis.

NST rookie Brin Alexander kicked off the event with a huge straight air off the top ropes of Over Stoke. On his second run, he went for a stylish frontside 360 on the same feature. If invited back next year, he’ll backflip it. Photo: Colin Wiseman / Natural Selection Tour

“You watch any sport and you’re always going to want the underdog to win,” explained Alexander. “I think going in with the mindset of having nothing to lose is the best position to be in because you’re always going to surprise someone. Like, I took a 60-foot cliff to my ass—twice—and people were stoked.”

Alexander’s early heroics set the tone for the entire contest and consequentially drew all NST Rookies and Wildcards into the battle. On the men’s side, wildcard Gigi Rüf pulled off a major upset by eliminating Nils Mindnich in the quarterfinals and ultimately finishing third overall—and clearly having the most fun of anyone out there, judging by his snowmobile jib at the bottom and the mischievous smile he carried through the week.

Gigi Rüf was the happiest guy on course all week. Photo: Colin Wiseman / Natural Selection Tour

While the emergence of both rookies and wildcards may not signal a complete turning of the tide, it highlights the legitimacy and skill of lesser-known riders, and should encourage us all to look beyond the Kotsenburgs, Fergusons, and Rices for inspiration in the mountains. These successes also stress the importance of NST qualifying events like Robin Van Gyn’s RnD—where first place equals a ticket to the big show. For instance, 2025 winner Šárka Pančochová and runner-up Estelle Pensiero, were joined by 2024 champ Ellery Manning, as first-timers who buckled up and made a statement.

As a four-time Olympian, Pančochová, who finished third in Revelstoke, is no stranger to the pressures of major competition, but the same can’t be said for Manning and Pensiero: two born-and-raised freeriders, close friends, and the youngest competitors at NST.

“Estelle and I have been riding together for the past month since I got to Canada,” explained 18-year-old Manning. “So, having her join the contest last minute makes it less scary since we’re in it together.” Despite failing to advance from Day 1, Manning and Pensiero finished the day with heads held high, showing those watching poise and flow beyond their years—a real-time glimpse into the future of women’s freeriding

Showdown for the ages

No rider shook up the ranks like Spencer O’Brien. From entering the contest as a wildcard, she narrowly beat Mary Rand in the dying seconds of Day 1 to secure the final advancement. The 37-year-old from tiny Alert Bay, BC then came out clutch against Elena Hight in the finals.

Spencer O’Brien, frontisde air on finals day. Photo: Mike Yoshida / Natural Selection Tour

This finale was a true punch-for-punch freestyle showdown. Hight barely missed the landing on a Frontside 720 before heading into the steeps, while O’Brien landed a Cab 540 before flowing through her own exposure. The energy from the riders was matched by the spectators in the corral, creating a spectacle that cofounder Travis Rice later dubbed a historic moment in women’s snowboarding during his afterparty speech.

“I was really happy seeing Elena drop in and do that front seven. It fired me up so much,” said O’Brien of the final matchup. “I was like, yeah, let’s go—let’s just put it on the line and see what happens. It was really fun to get to ride with her today.”

Nils Mindnich going huge. Despite a technical and committed line, he coudn’t get past Gigi Rüf in the quarterfinals. Photo: Colin Wiseman / Natural Selection Tour

Dialed in at Revelstoke Mountain Resort

The magic of Natural Selection extends far beyond the broadcast days. It all began five years ago when cofounder Travis Rice, on the heels of Supernatural and Ultranatural years prior, introduced Natural Selection as a game-changing backcountry event in Jackson, WY, and the program has been dedicated to evolving ever since.

According to Liam Griffin, Chief Operations Officer of Natural Selection Tour, this year’s shift towards a single, set course at Revelstoke Mountain Resort has allowed the crew to really dial things in.

“We used to divide and conquer, prep multiple venues, then decide where to go,” explained Griffin. “But now, we’re putting all our energy into one zone. We rode the course last year, and now everything we’ve done since then has been focused on making it better. For instance, Dustin Craven and his team dedicated 14 weeks last summer into expanding the course and making it more rideable—adding more features, sightlines, and hallways, while removing hazards.”

Liam Griffin and the operations crew rolling out. Griffin and his core crew hustle for weeks to get the venue prep, while dozens, if not hundreds of folks behind the scenes work long days to make Natural Selection run smoothly. Photo: Colin Wiseman / Natural Selection Tour

Griffin added that a commitment to a single venue also simplified avalanche mitigation and control work. Interior BC experienced a melt-freeze episode leading up to the event that led to rapid surface hoar growth ahead of an incoming snowfall. To break down the potential weak layer in the snowpack, Griffin and the NST operations team used helicopter downwash to target areas most susceptible to avalanche, as well as “Teton ticklers,” large wands that buff out the hoar frost manually.

“We called in a helicopter operator to create a giant ceiling fan for us,” he added. “It’s not traditional avalanche mitigation, but creative techniques that we’ve used in the past to try and optimize the ride-ability of the venue.”

The racing drone crew are just one part of what it takes to deilver a live feed from the backcountry. Bryce Prestwitch launches for a test run with Gabriel Kocher and Liam Fournier. Photo: Colin Wiseman / Natural Selection Tour

As for how it went over with the riders? “My goal has always been to try and make my snowboarding look as good as possible, and that’s why coming to Natural Selection is so exciting,” said Moller, a former Freeride World Tour champion, of the course. “The snow is always insane, the course is prime, and every aspect is a go. I’m already excited for next year.”

Ultimately, the culmination of hard work, dedication, and innovation has paid off. It’s created a course that the world’s best snowboarders are excited to ride; a huckfest that seeks to minimize harm and injury; a riders list that excites viewers and allows for underdog moments; and most importantly, an environment that all snowboarders want to be a part of.

The smiles say it all. Spencer O’Brien entering the athlete area after her win. Photo: Colin Wiseman / Natural Selection Tour