After emerging from the Yeti Natural Selection Duels victorious, six riders have punched their ticket to the NST stop at Revelstoke next week.
Ståle Sandbech, Madison Blackley, Brin Alexander, Severin van der Meer, Blake Moller, and Aya Sato have secured spots for the contest to be held between March 10 and 17, 2025.
“I’m happy to make it to the next round of Natural Selection,” Sandbech said in a press release. “I’m looking forward to checking out this Revy course to figure out how I can ride here. And then how the whole mind game works in this competition compared to what I am used to in the slopestyle scene.”
Photo: Adam Moran/Natural Selection Tour
The Duels winners will be joined by two women who earned their way in by winning at Research and Development, an all-women’s backcountry freestyle event that featured 12 up-and-coming all mountain snowboarders. Ellery Manning won the event in 2024 to work her way into NST. Fresh off of a win at Kings and Queens of Corbet’s in Jackson Hole, Šárka Pančochová won the 2025 contest.
“Being invited to NST almost felt surreal and made me realize that I can make snowboarding a real-life goal. When I won the invite, it felt so far away that I didn’t fully process that I would be going to NST. Now that we are creeping up on the event it’s beginning to feel more real and the nerves are starting to kick in,” Maning said. “NST is unique because it’s an event where freeride and freestyle are mixed, which I think is the sickest thing ever and the format allows riders to be incredibly creative. I’m looking forward to seeing the riders’ competitive processes and the Revy terrain in person.”
Here are the rest of the riders who have already qualified:
- Torgeir Bergrem (NOR)
- Mikey Ciccarelli (CAN)
- Jared Elston (USA)
- Marion Haerty (FRA)
- Sage Kotsenburg (USA)
- Nils Mindnich (USA)
- Mary Rand (USA)
- Travis Rice (USA)
- Austen Sweetin (USA)
Photo: Aaron Dodds/Natural Selection Tour
The following riders punched their ticket via the wild card:
- Elena Hight (USA) - 2022 NST Champion
- Mikkel Bang (NOR) - 2021 NST Champion
- Ben Ferguson (USA)
- Spencer O’Brien (CAN)
- Brandon Davis (USA) - for stand-out riding in his 2025 DUEL with van der Meer
- Dustin Craven (CAN)
One more men’s mystery wildcard will be announced later this week. Hailey Langland will sit this year out as she recovers from an injury, and Jamie Anderson will be out as she is expecting her second child. Torstein Horgmo is also taking this season off, to recharge after filming his most recent video project Return.
The contest will air live on Red Bull TV. The Duels are available to watch on-demand on Red Bull TV.
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