March 24 - April 1. + April 26th, 2023
PC: Mark Clavin, Red Bull Content Pool
With endless spines, mammoth couloirs, natural halfpipes and boundless booters that stretch as far as the eye can see, it's no surprise the final stop of the Natural Selection Tour set down 3,500ft above sea level in the Alaskan Chugach Mountains near the small fishing village of Valdez, dubbed 'the most snowy town in Alaska'.
The riders that made it through DUELS and Revelstoke went head to head at the ultimate proving ground in the hopes of being crowned the champion in an event that set place over the period of March 24 - April 1, airing as a 'live viewing' show to the commentators and us at home on April 26th, a new format that worked well with the pundits just as awe-struck as ourselves.
Liam Griffin, the COO on Natural Selection Tour, says the reason for choosing the location was down to the scale of terrain wrapping from Northeast or Northwest, allowing them to run quarters, semis and finals across three completely different zones in one single day. "This year, we found ideal venues to support all styles of riding, often in one run, in both Revelstoke and Alaska. Can’t wait for the world to see what goes down in Alaska this year!”
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott on the Natural Selection Tour in Alaska (Source: Chad Chomlack / Natural Selection)
For the women there were some great runs put down by the four that made it to the final leg of the tour, it was close but Zoi Sadowski-Synnott was a worthy winner, outclassing the competition with some incredible style and line choice. "I think this event focuses on the riders and what they want. And really taking into account the conditions, trying to put on the best run under those conditions,"
The semifinal had Zoi against American olympic snowboarder, Hailey Langland, who put down a flawless high-speed run first, with Zoi fighting back, hitting an untouched ridge and dropping a huge cliff only to lose her footing on a turn. The score was close, Hailey 75.00-74.00 Zoi, but on her second run Zoi left nothing behind. Flowing through spines and popping cliff drops and natural features alike, she managed to take the lead with 78.00 points that had Hailey defeated.
The women's final also had a one point difference after the first run, with Elena Hight one point behind Zoi who put down some flawless carves and a huge front 360 over a natural spine, giving her an 88.00 over Elena's 87.00.
"Going into the finals, I really wanted to do something I was stoked on, get some good snow, and find some air time. It's pretty psycho up there. I'm just stoked to make it down in one piece!" said Sadowski-Synnott upon winning Natural Selection Alaska and becoming the 2023 overall Natural Selection Tour women's champion.
For the men's division at Valdez, Chris Rasman stands in for the sick rider Torstein Horgmo, who happens to have picked the first position dropping against the GOAT Travis Rice. Rasman, who had not had time to fully scope the course or prepare, was the guinea pig of the day and went in all guns blazing with smooth turns and throwing a 720 which he just hung onto, but unfortunately went down in both runs leaving Travis an open door, which he secured his semi final position in the first run.
In the second run Travis took what he calls one of the worst crashes of his life, which saw him catch the lip of a takeoff to tomahawk down a chute, narrowly missing a huge set of rocks. You could hear the wind taken from him, but somehow he stood back tall, and continued the event whilst coughing up blood.
The men's semi finals moved to a powdery 800ft Northwestern facing wall, where Jared Elston took on Mikkel Bang and Dustin Craven against Travis Rice. With a 720 from Craven and huge 540 from Bang, the competition between the men was at peak, but nothing stood in the way of Rice's high score of the day of 87.00, putting him against Bang for the final.
Travis Rice at the Natural Selection Alaska. | Picture: Chad Chomlack / Natural Selection
Mikkel head down the face first, putting some nice lines in an untouched ridge, looking for opportunity, finding it in an enormous indy he threw off a cliff. Carrying his speed, he found a line that lead to a sketchy takeoff where he couldn't quite hold a back 360, flipping 5 times over in a huge tomahawk giving him a final score of 71.00.
Travis, almost out to prove his previous failure with some extra gnarly riding, took off with serious speed from the drop. A very casual looking 180 to half cab ollie showed his clear natural style and ability followed by some more speedy drops. Unfortunately landing nose heavy on one and taking another tumble, but quick to his feet Travis finished the run with a score of 80.00 still.
The second run of the men's final Mikkel chose to take the same ridge line with the hope of cleaning up from run one, and threw down an early 360 that ended a little back seated but ultimately to his feet, followed by an enormous back 180 which he rode out switch at high speed across the face of the mountain. Travis came out with the usual aggressive riding he possesses, and went for a corked 540 over the edge of a ridge which he just couldn't quite hold onto. Following it up with a few ollies and grabs, to a speed run down some spines and chutes, neither rider could top Travis' first score of 80.00, which made him the winner of the day, and well deserved it was for the GOAT!
Congrats to Travis, and to all the competitors putting on a masterclass show of riding.
2023 Natural Selection Alaska, women’s podium:
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott
Elena Hight
Kimmy Fasani
2023 Natural Selection Alaska, men’s podium:
Travis Rice
Mikkel Bang
Dustin Craven
2023 Pacifico Beer Independent Spirit Award:
- Mikkel Bang
- Elena Hight
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