WATCH: Natural Selection Day 1

This year’s contest has seen a huge overhaul of both the venue and the contest format to improve the experience for both the riders, and us, the humble public that get to watch these athletes chuck carcass off some of the gnarliest terrain imaginable.

Natural Selection Terrain

Located in Revelstoke’s Montana Bowl, the course now features over 70 features, 10 entrance points, and 600 feet of new cliff space with improved landings. Expanding the area not only means a larger mix of man-made and natural / semi natural features, but also allows for a bigger crowd viewing area for folk to watch the action live.

Day 1 will be taking place on the West side of the venue.

Competition Format

There have been some format changes for the competition this year that allow it to run at a faster pace and bring more excitement for the viewers. Instead of the head-to-head format throughout that we’ve seen in previous years there will now be a group stage comprising of 3 rounds, with the top riders from each round progressing to the finals.

• Round 1: 8 riders – Top 2 advance
• Round 2: 6 riders – Top 1 advances
• Round 3: 5 riders – Top 1 advances

Check out the seeding for each group below:

The top 12 riders from Day 1 will move on to the finals tomorrow. On Finals Day, the competition returns to Natural Selection’s classic head-to-head format for the Men’s quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals, as well as the Women’s semifinals and finals

Full Rider Lineup: Women:

• Mary Rand (USA), Madison Blackley (USA), Aya Sato (JPN), Ellery Manning (USA), Šárka Pančochová (CZE), Elena Hight (USA), Spencer O’Brien (CAN), Estelle Pensiero (CAN)

Men:

• Ståle Sandbech (NOR), Brin Alexander (CAN), Severin van der Meer (CHE), Blake Moller (USA), Brandon Davis (USA), Dustin Craven (CAN), Gigi Rüf (AUT), Torgeir Bergrem (NOR), Mikey Ciccarelli (CAN), Jared Elston (USA), Sage Kotsenburg (USA), Nils Mindnich (USA), Travis Rice (USA), Austen Sweetin (USA), Mikkel Bang (NOR), Ben Ferguson (USA)

Header Image: Chad Chomlack