Pure Reflections |

1. The Solely Factor Higher Than A Stay Steam? Spectating In The Flesh

NST is undoubtedly altering the way in which backcountry occasions are showcased. Helmed by COO Liam Griffin, the manufacturing staff deploys skilled snowboard filmers throughout umpteen angles, futuristic FPV drones, and a shit-ton of pricey and complex broadcast tools to beam the feed from the backcountry simply exterior of Revelstoke Mountain Resort to southern California. From there, angles are pieced collectively, enhanced or tarnished with commentary (relying on who you ask), and despatched worldwide. The tip product, from the opinion of this self-admitted mega-fan who’s seen each stream, is fairly rattling good. Nonetheless, even the very best stay stream pales compared to watching the occasion stay. At the least it does in Revelstoke. I attempted to observe the Jackson occasions stay again within the day and also you have been fortunate to catch a glimpse of Gore-Tex screaming by way of the bushes.

Montana Bowl, however, lends itself to spectating. A sloping bowl peppered with pure and artifical options up high rolls right into a precipitous amphitheater of spines and totem pole-like pillow stacks. Whereas the higher stretch of the course is troublesome to see, NST arrange a JumboTron so the stay viewers may watch the highest hits. Nonetheless, the meat and potatoes of the course—the large canine strains, monster drops, and most puckering pillow stacks—all are in full view of a surprisingly huge crowd gathered beneath. 

Watching riders navigate seemingly unrideable tech-gnar, lace doubles and triples at full-throttle, and spin into area stay was really unbelievable. That’s an overused adjective, however the definition of unbelievable is “unattainable to consider,” and that’s precisely how I’d describe the vibe down on the base. Occasion organizers, filmers, photographers, media, Revy locals, and random blow-ins—even fellow opponents watching their friends present up and present out—all of us have been consistently in disbelief. As implausible as the printed and drones and digicam angles all are, the scope and consequence of those death-defying strains and aerial backcountry wizardry can’t be translated to a display screen. I do know I sound like an acid-addled Woodstock attendee, lamenting how the grainy footage and muddled sound may by no means do the psychedelic scene and the muddy orgies justice, however shit man, you simply needed to be there. 

One other facet that makes spectating the transfer? The zone sits simply exterior of Revelstoke Mountain Resort’s boundaries, looker’s proper of the aptly named Stoke Chair. To get there, you possibly can observe a slog of a cat monitor traverse or, when you’ve got avalanche security gear, you possibly can bootpack or tour in, scoring blower pow en path to the occasion. Each days, I scored deep turns and enjoyable poppers on my option to Montana Bowl, which enabled me to concentrate on the competitors as an alternative of lamenting my very own lack of face photographs. I think about it’s a bit like watching a live-taping of Iron Chef—you don’t need to come on an empty abdomen, unable to benefit from the culinary mastery on show because of the gurgling in your intestine.

2.   If Mom Nature Is The Star Of The Present, What Does That Make Dustin Craven?

“Mom Nature is the star of the present” is a traditional NST advertising tagline, one repeated constantly all through the broadcasts. I suppose if Mom Nature is the star of the present, Dustin Craven and his band of chainsaw-wielding theater nerds are the set designers. 

These gnarchitects spent the summer time lumberjacking off within the nooks of Montana Bowl, sculpting and enhancing the already beautiful venue right into a masterpiece of backcountry freestyle potential. 

In comparison with final yr, the venue was considerably improved, with extra hits and man-made options. Crow’s nest-like pillows, butter pads, and even a log jib purportedly nicknamed Lieutenant Dan all spiced up the competitors this yr, and offered extra choices and selection. Maybe most significantly, extra bushes have been cleared out, giving the riders extra room to function. 

All that to say, a lot respect to Craven and co. Thanks for the summer time of exhausting work. And shout-out to Craven for but once more representing Revy and stepping to a number of the most unrideable pillow towers on the venue. It most likely helps that he constructed these bastards boulder by boulder.

3.   Brin Alexander—From Nationwide Treasure To Worldwide Spaceman

When Brin Alexander, one of many lesser-known names within the fray, drew first drop on the opening ceremony, your complete theater erupted. If there’s one factor I discovered at NST, it’s this: Canadians fuck with Brin. He’s certainly one of their very own, born and raised in Whistler. And, as his countrymen will inform you over and over, he’s dripping with model, unbelievably proficient, and criminally underrated. (Reference his instagram @betterthanpolice for proof).

When Brin dropped into the clean canvas of a venue on day one, he lined up essentially the most manifestly apparent (and outrageously mammoth) drop. We’re speaking an absolute annihilator of ACLs. The type of cliff that offers you time to put in writing your individual eulogy mid-air. He blasted off this proud prow, this diving board into hell, grabbed melon, and floated by way of area longer than these NASA astronauts who simply made it again to earth. Sadly, this defiance of gravity resulted in Brin crash-landing in a crater-sized bombhole. However the tone was set, and Brin stamped his identify ceaselessly on that venue. They’ll name it “Brin’s” now. For viewers not beforehand conversant in his proclivity to ship, are you able to think about a greater first impression?

His second impression was simply as fucked. Brin returned to the cliff, and this time floated an enormous, styled-out frontside three. I used to be standing subsequent to final yr’s Pure Choice champ and fellow Canadian Mikey Ciccarelli on the base, watching this go down, and Ciccarelli was calling for Brin to go slower. “Slower, slower, creep off it!” he murmured, clearly wanting his homie to place it all the way down to bolts. However Brin didn’t hear him. Brin didn’t creep off it. Brin despatched it to the fucking moon. The laidback cosmonaut did not put down the touchdown gear, and Ciccarelli and the remainder of the gang concurrently groaned on the miss and cheered for the balls-to-the-wall bravery required for such an try.

Sadly, Brin couldn’t make it by way of the day one rounds, however this introduction to a broader viewers proved what his followers already knew: that he belongs on this stage and deserves the highlight. He appears laidback, humble, and content material to let his using do the speaking. That doesn’t at all times repay on this enterprise, however with an plain efficiency like that? Hopefully, it is a tipping level in his profession, and the DocuSigns and heli funds come flowing in just like the cascades of Brandywine come spring soften. 

​

4. Ticker $BMO Simply Skyrocketed

One other under-rated ripper who made his presence felt at Natty Choose? Blake Moller, AKA BMO. In case you take note of the Freeride World Tour, BMO received the general title in 2022. As a substitute of sticking round to defend his throne, which might little question require extra pedal-to-the-metal shredding in subpar and tracked competitors venues, he dipped out to movie in powder. “Camp Robbers,” his current flick with Keegan Hosefros, showcased what BMO can do out of the bib. Clearly, it caught the eyes of Pure Choice high brass, as he acquired an invitation to battle Gabe Ferguson in a banger of a Duel. 

BMO was the final one to make finals day, dropping final within the third spherical. Again in opposition to the ropes, he dropped a three-piece combo that would’ve been in any video half (Considered one of Pure Choice’s final targets is to just do that—facilitate backcountry freestyle shredding in competitors that would go clip-for-clip with a top-tier shred video). BMO tossed an enormous again seven, straight to a laid-out backflip, zigging right into a boosted entrance 5. Model factors have been by way of the roof. The final word buzzer-beater. If anybody questioned if a Freeride World Tour champ had the freestyle chops to go toe-to-toe with the large canine, BMO gave ‘em a solution. (Though, to be honest, Nils Mindnich has been giving ‘em that reply for years.)

On finals day, BMO shined, because the venue was steeper and extra technical, lending itself to his model of inventive and trendy freeriding. His first run of the morning kicked off with a easy again three, then he navigated to the highest of The Brick, a gargantuan double-stager, that he greased like a diner chef ladling palm oil onto a piping scorching griddle. As he sped out of the double line, the gang beneath already going wild, he redirected off a pillow, throwing an equally gargantuan cross-court entrance three. Sandwiching such freeride antics between trendy freestyle? Little question about it, he’s the whole backcountry bundle. If NST have been a online game, it looks as if BMO has the cheat code engaged. 

The above run acquired him by way of final yr’s champ, and right into a heated battle with Gigi Rüf. Digging into his aggressive background, BMO laced collectively a wise, strategic run, dropping methods up high with a clear pillow line down low, incomes a spot within the finals in opposition to NST rookie and magnificence savant Stale Sandbech. Sandbech was wanting sharp and exhausting to beat after scoring the best run of the occasion with a run filled with three 540s, a suave triple drop, and a technique to high it off.  

BMO didn’t play it protected this time, biting off a number of the greatest and baddest options on the venue. On his first finals run, he bailed on the runout of a well-sniped, monumental, and puckering double stack. On his second run—the final run of this yr’s occasion—the door was open. Stale had an 80 on board, nicely inside vary of a BMO security run. As a substitute, the child went large, going with a double backflip and a gap-to-pillow tapper up high. On the backside of the course, he threw a corked seven off a beastly cliff, placing it to his ft, skittering at velocity and bouncing like a nasty test by way of a rowdy touchdown. For a second, it appeared, he had his fingers wrapped across the first-place trophy, nevertheless it slipped away. He acquired bucked, and needed to accept second—not unhealthy for a rookie on tour. 

Had he stomped, although, it might’ve been one of many biggest moments in Pure Choice historical past, and, in flip, maybe, the historical past of aggressive snowboarding. Regardless, his efficiency was phenomenal from begin to end, and like Brin at this yr’s competitors, Mikey Ciccarelli final yr, and Jared Elston a couple of years again, this must be a significant milestone and tipping level in his profession. As Travis Rice commentated throughout finals day, Blake’s fairness is rising. If $BMO have been a ticker on the inventory trade, now can be a rattling good time to purchase. A few weeks in the past? Nicely, that might’ve been even higher.  

5. The Children Are Alright

Backcountry using isn’t sometimes a grom’s recreation. The traditional path to movie professional is developing within the aggressive realm earlier than bringing that bag of methods to the backcountry. This requires studying how you can handle avalanche terrain, how you can land in powder, and how you can pilot a 600-pound snowmobile—a course of that takes time. 

At 24, second-place finisher Blake Moller was the youngest competitor on the boys’s aspect of the draw. The ladies’s aspect of issues, nonetheless, was bursting with younger expertise. British Columbia’s 21-year-old Estelle Pensiero and 17-year-old Tahoe ripper Ellery Manning each confirmed up and confirmed out. Whereas neither may make it by way of to finals day, the pair of up-and-coming rippers displayed moments of brilliance, and the way forward for freeriding appears vivid.  

6. Robin Van Gyn’s RND Occasion Proves Itself The Good Qualifier

Each Ellery Manning and Estelle Pensiero earned their spot in Revy primarily based on performances at Analysis & Improvement (RND), Robin Van Gyn’s girls’s backcountry occasion that came about for the second time at Whitewater Ski Resort earlier this yr. The occasion seeks to offer up-and-coming riders an opportunity to study, compete, and develop. It’s a mixture of two movie days and one backcountry freestyle comp day, with riders battling it out for a pile of money, prizes, and a pre-qualified spot at NST.

Manning received the inaugural occasion outright final winter, incomes a direct monitor to NST.  This yr, 16 riders had an opportunity to win a doubtlessly life-changing invite to NST (past cool, particularly when you think about solely 4 girls have been invited to Duels this yr). 4-time Olympian Šárka Pančochová received this yr’s occasion, after dropping in a Japan-based Duel to Aya Sato. Estelle Pensiero acquired second at RND in back-to-back years, a efficiency that helped her get an damage wildcard when Marion Haerty needed to bow out. 

Whereas Pensiero and Manning each held their very own, Šárka was an occasion standout, making finals day and touchdown third on the field after throwing a boosted swap 5 in a hard-to-call semi-final in opposition to Elena Hight. It was, apparently, the primary 5 stomped by a girl in Pure Choice historical past, and it was a spark that turned the ladies’s last right into a full-on barn burner. “It’s been some time since I sprayed champagne,” stated a breathless and soaked Šárka after hoisting the ornate and exquisite NST trophy and having fun with the following champagne bathe. “However you don’t overlook. I fucking adore it!”

“RND was wonderful prep,” stated Pensiero in an interview earlier than the NST occasion in Revy. “I do know Ellery used RND as a preparation and follow for Pure Choice, and I assume I unintentionally did, too. It’s the very same factor, on a little bit of a smaller scale.”

Robin Van Gyn, for one, was immensely pleased with all three riders. “I’m so excited to see the women throw down,” she stated on the base of Montana Bowl within the moments simply earlier than the Madison Blackley dropped first for the ladies on day one. “Truthfully, it’s loopy seeing these ladies coming from RND to [Natural Selection] virtually instantly. I’m tremendous assured they’re going to do nicely. The very best follow they’ll get is extra competing. I’m somewhat floored to see all of it occur in actual time, and simply so pumped for them.” 

Consider who that is coming from—an OG of ladies’s backcountry using and the winner of the 2021 Pure Choice Tour. Her co-sign, mentorship, and advocacy all carry critical weight, and watching her give again to the tradition and do every thing in her energy to get so many rad riders into the limelight is the definition of placing your cash the place your mouth is. 

Congrats to the riders. And toques off, Robin. 

“Gigi Rüf, girls and gentleman. The legendary Austrian 43-year-old was known as in as a last-minute wildcard and rode all week like he’s been taking HGH (Human Grom Hormone).”

7. The New Day One Format Works

Probably the most electrifying facets of NST’s format has been the head-to-head, rider-on-rider carnage. So naturally, once I discovered that the day one format had modified from head-to-head to another nonsense, I used to be outraged. 

As a substitute, day one featured three eight-rider heats (two males’s, one girls’s), and three rounds of using. For spherical one, the highest two scores from every warmth booked a ticket straight to finals day. For spherical two, the remaining riders in every warmth took one run, with solely the highest-scoring rider going by way of. For spherical three, the final 5 riders took a run, with the best-scoring rider getting the ultimate spot in finals.

This was the same format to the one NST debuted within the surf contest (which, for those who haven’t seen, went down on a cavernous, carnivorous, board-breaker of a barrel and is nicely price a watch).  It labored on snow, too. Secure using wouldn’t get you thru, so riders have been pressured to ship it from the soar (therefore Brin charging out of the gate). “There was no warming up,” stated Mikey Ciccarelli, who made it by way of on the best rating of the day in spherical one. “I felt like I needed to go for broke.”

For the statistics nerds on the market, the primary run is technically the simplest, with 25 p.c of riders getting by way of, adopted by spherical three, with 20 p.c getting by way of. Solely 16.6 p.c acquired by way of on spherical two, making it essentially the most aggressive.

8. Making Finals Day Means All the things

The stress is on day one, and never simply due to the brand new warmth format. Making it into finals day means you’ve executed the exhausting half, and also you’ve acquired an opportunity at a podium in addition to pre-qualifying for subsequent yr’s occasion. Riders who don’t make the reduce will almost certainly spend a yr off tour except they get known as in as a wildcard or win RND. 

“I used to be fortunate to get a run executed within the first spherical, so I didn’t must undergo the second and third hail mary rounds as a result of it appeared fairly gnarly,” stated a relieved Torgeir Bergrem after a stellar efficiency within the first spherical of day one. (His cab 5 to backflip to consequential pillow line was a crowd favourite of day one—a exactly threaded line with a brawny and styled-out combo of freestyle and freeride.) “Tremendous excited. A whole lot of weight off the shoulders. It’s all enjoyable from right here.”

Madison Blackley additionally certified within the first spherical of day one with a clear backflip up high and a pillow bonk down low. When requested the way it felt to earn a spot in finals and an computerized bid for subsequent yr’s NST, she replied, “There’s no higher feeling on the earth, truthfully. It hasn’t set in.”

9. Age Is Simply A Quantity

Gigi Rüf, girls and gentleman. The legendary Austrian 43-year-old was known as in as a last-minute wildcard and rode all week like he’s been taking HGH (Human Grom Hormone). 

Sufficiently old to be Blake Moller’s dad, Gigi clashed with the 2 Salomon samurai, Nils after which BMO, on finals day, wanting free and trendy as ever. His line selection was a deal with. The spry 9191 star made use of difficult bonks, butter pads, and pillow-topped platforms. You’d assume he received the Extremely Pure at Baldface on Scary Cherry 13 days in the past, not 13 years in the past.

Equally as impactful as his using on the course, at the least to me, was his common angle. His using was locked in, certain, however he was chilled out, genuinely stoked, and at all times with a smile on his face. He appeared to be relishing each second, whether or not that was watching different riders between his heats, dapping up his opponents, and even linking up with native groms on the NST Snaked Banked Slalom. 

I acquired to take a couple of laps with Gigi and a crew of powder-hungry youth in between laps on the banked slalom occasion a few days earlier than the NST kicked off. With an enormous competitors looming, Gigi may’ve been laser-focused on his personal prep work. As a substitute, he made time for groms, main them off aspect hits, speaking them by way of trajectories, breaking down precisely how you can snap off a sure function. As a matter of truth, he appeared a bit like a grom himself, milking each vertical meter and sliver of transition. He made these youngsters’ seasons. He made mine, too, to be fully trustworthy, though my childhood dream come true was momentarily tempered once I adopted him off a aspect hit, smashed my femur right into a log, and watched him wince on the prospect of getting maimed a hapless journalist. Alas. However my very own bruised ego and extremities apart, watching Gigi climb the field was fucking superior. Easy as that.

10. Ladies’s Backcountry Freestyle Is Experiencing A Tangible Second Of Flux 

The ladies’s last was a match-up between Tahoe’s Elena Hight, who scored the best run of day one with a baffling, no-fall-zone double drop, and BC’s Spencer O’Brien. Each Olympians-turned-powderhounds (Hight within the ditch and O’Brien in slope), lifelong mates, and teammates on Arc’Teryx, the ultimate was particular from the soar. 

Following Šárka’s lead, the finalists went all in, spinning past standard-issue threes. Spencer tossed a beefy cab 5 in her successful run, and Elena went for a frontside seven that she barely over-rotated. 

“I got here into at present actually desirous to do a cab 5, that’s why the primary run I did a swap again one to get a really feel,” stated the brand new champ. “When E dropped that entrance seven, I used to be like, ‘OK–We gotta go.’ Stoked she did that, it actually set the tone. She’s simply such a recreation changer, that girl, and it’s actually a pleasure to journey together with her. ” Hight echoed these sentiments. “Making it into the ultimate with Spencer was already a win,” she stated. 

It felt, as we have been watching this all go down, that we have been witnessing development in actual time. “That was the very best girls’s last the NST has ever seen,” summed up Robin Van Gyn. “In comparison with yesterday, the bar went up.”

Travis Rice, the person behind the tour, agreed. Once I checked in with him between finals runs, he stated, “The truth that these girls are pushing themselves in finals, with no governor, all gasoline, attempting issues which might be an all-or-nothing scenario, it’s freakin’ attractive. That is how a last is meant to play out.” 

11. Canadian Groceries Are Fucking Costly

That’s it. That’s all. 

12. My Favourite Moments From The Week Weren’t On Course

This may sound loopy, however wanting again, witnessing this jaw-dropping, historic backcountry freestyle competitors wasn’t my favourite a part of the week I spent in Revy. Sure, it was really unbelievable, essentially the most spectacular using I’ve ever seen, bar none. This NST occasion was arguably the very best one but. It was inspiring and exhilarating and I beloved each minute of these comp days. I plan to come back again yearly I can to cowl the insanity. However there have been different moments which might be burned into my reminiscence banks as nicely. 

A pair days earlier than the comp, I used to be within the singles line of the Stoke chair, and, as luck would have it, I acquired spat onto a chairlift with Elena Hight, Robin Van Gyn, and Šárka Pančochová. I ended up tagging together with them, Austen Sweetin, Harrison Gordon, and Mikey Ciccarelli, all following Dustin Craven across the powder-cloaked nooks and crannies of Revelstoke. Watching Craven take a aspect hit into the stratosphere, Mikey C and Sweetin commerce back-to-back sevens on a pure hit first attempt, Robin drop simply earlier than me right into a area of recent pow because the solar got here poking out of the mist—it felt surreal, as if I’d fallen headfirst into the pages of a snowboard magazine.  

Once I talked about how sick that second was to Elena (I may actually give a fuck about too-cool-for-school stoicism, this shit is rad and I used to be having the time of my life) she affirmed that it feels particular for the riders, too, not simply journalists attending to journey with their heroes. “One of many coolest elements of those weeks is that you just get to journey with all of those totally different folks that you just don’t usually get to journey with,” she stated. In an interview later that day, Mikey C agreed. “It was candy as a result of that sort of group would by no means get to journey collectively. It was superior following Dustin off all of the little gaps and every thing–-one of these days that you just don’t assume goes to occur, and then you definately’re doing it, and also you’re like ‘That is epic.’”

That type of magic simply saved seeming to occur all through the week. That aspect hit session with Gigi and the groms (not a nasty band identify). A number of exploratory powder laps by way of the fog with Brandon Davis. Buying and selling first tracks with NST workers, Revy workers, and different visiting media. Randomly bunking up with a brand new good friend, Chris Corbett, a photographer from Snowboard Canada, and assembly a shredder he had been planning to shoot, freerider-slash-rail-jam-regular, Natalie Allport. 

Chris broke his hand on scope day—and shot all rattling week, the legend—so Allport and I ended up venturing out into the backcountry a few occasions collectively. Clearly impressed by the using happening that week, we hiked pillow stacks and constructed little pat downs and had a ball. My exploits specifically have been in no way epic—I used to be joyful to land somewhat double line right here and get a 3 there. I point out this right here as a result of the explanation I like to observe the very best snowboarders journey is just because I like the act itself. I’ve constructed my life round it, dream about it, and care about it extra deeply than I can clarify on this 4,600-word novel. I assume this week simply felt like all the choices and detours of my life had led me to precisely the place I used to be purported to be. 

That every one culminated as Natalie and I have been leaving the venue, slowly using again into the resort on a prolonged cat monitor. I appeared behind me, and did a double take. Travis and Gigi have been proper there—however then they have been gone, dipping into the bushes. I checked out Natalie and we did the one factor we may do: we adopted go well with. Quickly we have been hooting and hollering with them and some of their homies, popping off little pillows and snow-covered logs, laughing as we acquired caught within the tight brush, attempting to not hit each other on luge-like traverse tracks and snow-covered mountain bike berms. 

Sure, these are legends of our tradition, folks I’ve appeared as much as for many years. I nonetheless keep in mind assembly Travis on the Icer Air, a scaffolding contest in 2006, and getting a poster of his board graphic signed. It held on the wall in my childhood room lengthy after I moved out. However for a couple of wild moments within the bushes of Revelstoke, none of that basically mattered. We have been all simply snowboarders, unified by a keenness for gravity and hangtime and powder turns and sliding sideways. 

Did you miss the motion and need to catch up? Or maybe have to rewatch? You may view each days on the hyperlinks beneath:

Pure Choice 2025 Day 1

Pure Choice 2025 Finals

Header Photograph: Chad Chomlack