The time for speculating is over. We now know the roster of the debut Natural Selection Tour (NST) ski event.
If you clicked on this article, you came for those names, so we’ll lead there. Keep reading for some thoughts on the roster—and a little bit of background on the Natural Selection Tour.
Female Natural Selection Tour Ski Athletes
-Manon Loschi (FRA)
-Michelle Parker (USA)
-Maggie Voisin (USA)
-Hedvig Wessel (NOR)
Male Natural Selection Tour Ski Athletes
-Markus Eder (ITA)
-Kai Jones (USA)
-Sam Kuch (CAN)
-Craig Murray (NZL)
-Kye Petersen (CAN)
-Colby Stevenson (USA)
-Parker White (USA)
-One mysterious, unannounced rider
Which Skiers Should I Keep an Eye On?
It’s a funny question. Both the men’s and women’s rosters are stacked wall-to-wall with talent. There isn’t a single benchwarmer among these skiers. Yet, for one reason or another, there are a few that we’re particularly excited about watching.
In the women’s field, Maggie Voisin is kind of a dark horse. She’s a former slopestyle and big air competitor with a truckload of X Games hardware. As a freerider-slash-big mountain skier, though, Voisin’s largely untested despite appearing in Teton Gravity Research’s 2024 film, Beyond The Fantasy. But with a deep bag of tricks, Voisin should be more than prepared for another jump from slopestyle to powder. We can’t wait to see what she’s capable of in a freeride venue. The combined big mountain chops of Manon Loschi, Michelle Parker, and Hedvig Wessel will provide plenty of competition. Loschi and Wessel are former Freeride World Tour competitors—Parker competed in Red Bull Cold Rush.
What about the guys? It’s tough to know where to start. Parker White’s been bashing pillows and launching backcountry jumps for years. He has been, historically, more of a film guy than a competition guy, so he’ll bring plenty of stylish energy to the Natural Selection Tour course. If you weren’t already aware, Markus Eder is a freeride monster. In 2019, he claimed the Freeride World Tour overall title. Colby Stevenson, like Voisin, is a talented park skier with growing big mountain bona fides. He blew everyone’s minds in the 2024 release, PROOF. I could keep going: Kai Jones, Sam Kuch, and Kye Petersen all warrant their own paragraphs.
That’s the thing about these rosters. They include the best-handpicked skiers from freeride to filming and slopestyle. It’s kind of like those dream, hypothetical competitions kids like to create—but real. Now, we can actually find out what would happen if Parker White and Kai Jones squared off in a freeride competition—or Michelle Parker and Hedvig Wessel.
The final roster question: who’s the unannounced male rider? Right now, we don’t know. But with Candide Thovex involved in the Natural Selection Tour as a member of the Advisory Committee, we guess that he’s the final name on the list. It sounds like we’ll know who that name is for sure in the near future.
Photo: Justin Mayers
Photo: Aaron Blatt/Red Bull Content Pool
Why Is the Natural Selection Tour a Big Deal?
The Natural Selection Tour is the brainchild of professional snowboarder Travis Rice. It functioned a bit like the Freeride World Tour by sending competitors down natural venues, but the competition series always occupied its own lane. Perhaps that was because of the invited riders or the venue selections—either way, the Natural Selection Tour proved to be an incredible and unique mash-up of freeride and backcountry freestyle. The only problem? It didn’t include skiers.
This fall, when the news that the Natural Selection Tour would hold a skiing event in 2025, I nearly fell out of my chair. Despite the Freeride World Tour and the Nendaz Backcountry Invitational, skiing could always use more backcountry-style throw downs. Seeing the list of invited athletes adds further momentum to the hype.
The event, which will be held in Alaska, premieres on Red Bull TV and Red Bull Snow YouTube starting April 16, 2025.
Related: AI Judging To Debut at X Games Aspen 2025
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