Natural Selection Tour

The season is coming to an end, but the snow is returning once again and the contest scene is in full swing - with the SLVSH Cup, Natural Selection, Spring Battle and more. There are also exciting insights away from the slopes: a documentary about the black snowboard scene, an all-girls street film and two projects from Mt. Hood that show the unique scene there.

The season is drawing to a close - for some, for others it's just getting started. Whatever stage you're at and whatever medium you're on, there's something for you this week. We get glimpses behind the NST scenes with Ellery and Jared, Ebba takes us to Kashmir, India, and squeezes into the gondola. The Bunch shoots probably the coolest promotional video for Klättermusen, and Mark McMorris says thank you - and we say it back: here's to lots more snowboarding!

Manon Loschi's first solo project will win you over. Travis Rice takes Estelle to Alaska, and Magma is back with her best movie. In addition, the Salomon-Depart team is on the search for the forest man, and Gnu Snowboards delivers the snowboard film of the year.

Mid-November - and everyone is starting to feel the coming winter. My highlight of the week is a street video from Montreal in which Ed Joy shines. We also discover new parallels between baking and skiing and get some life wisdom from legend Glen Plake: it's about living loud enough to feel it, raw enough to remember it, and brave enough to keep doing it - even when the world tells you to back off.

The SLVSH Cup final is here—Max Moffatt faces off against Alec Henderson in an epic showdown! Plus, don’t miss an exciting podcast with Nick Russell as he dives into his unique backcountry approach, along with a sneak peek at Natural Selection Ski featuring Weazy. Meanwhile, Estelle heads to Alaska with Travis Rice—and she’s delivering big.

The season is nearing spring, only slush in the Alps, but on the other side of the world in Canada, there were still a few days of snow for the Natural Selection Women’s Tour in Whitewater. There’s also some BTS footage from snowboard filming, and Todd Ligare is back with a double video part!

Where at best only firn or steep gullies promise joyful activities in the given weather conditions, the VdW also go there on dry, wet or soaked terrain. We show Nikolai Schirmer and Xavier de le Rue, but otherwise I offer a selection of lengthy replays and more entertaining best-ofs from great contests. Unfortunately, in my opinion, they strive for a little too much HYPE/STOKE/SYKE. But let everyone find what they like!

At a press conference via Zoom yesterday, the planned path of the FWT 2021 for the challenging Covid19 season was presented. There are hopes of being able to hold at least three events - five in the best-case scenario. The countries of Andorra, Switzerland and Austria have agreed to regard the FWT as a professional/elite sport and thus enable it to be held even during a potentially extended lockdown.