Skiers will compete in rugged Alaskan terrain for the ski event of the Natural Selection Tour. Photo: Natural Selection Tour

The first-ever Natural Selection Tour Ski event will take place in Alaska in April of 2025. 

Until now, NST has been exclusively a snowboard event, the brainchild of Jackson, WY rider Travis Rice. The Natural Selection Tour just announced that in addition to a snowboard event, they’ll host a ski, mountain bike and surf event in 2025. It’s a welcome addition to freeride ski events outside X Games and the Freeride World Tour—more ways to watch our favorite skiers put their own creative touch on some of the most rugged terrain in North America.  

“Since we launched in Jackson Hole in 2021, the ski, bike and surf communities have expressed a desire to develop something similar in their respective worlds; the right people are in place to help us effectively execute in 2025,” said Carter Westfall, CEO of the Natural Selection Tour. 

The very first iterations of Natural Selection started back in 2008 with Rice and a bunch of friends at Jackson Hole, seeking a rugged, natural environment to compete in versus manicured jumps and built-up features. The last few years have featured multiple stops for riders in BC, Alaska and Wyoming.

NST leaned on an advisory council for each discipline, calling up Michelle Parker, Chris Benchetler, Kristi Leskinen, Markus Eder, Candide Thovex and Sammy Carlson to advise on the inaugural event (yes, we’re also curious if we’ll see Candide in a bib this spring.) “Skiing in these incredible landscapes and finding new ways to approach the mountains is what it’s all about for me,” says Parker. “This Tour’s blend of showcasing the natural beauty and challenge of skiing, but on a competition platform will be completely fresh. Looking forward to seeing what everyone brings to Alaska.” 

Across all disciplines, NST will use its CREDO judging criteria to evaluate creativity, risk, execution, difficulty and overall Impression. We’ll be anxiously awaiting the skier lineup, expecting a mix of freestyle and big mountain athletes to showcase a variety of styles on big Alaskan faces. 

For 2025, NST will host the ski event in Alaska, a snowboard event in Revelstoke, BC, a surf event in Micronesia and a mountain bike event in Queenstown, New Zealand. More details, including venue locations and athlete rosters will be announced this fall and winter.