After a planned change to Valdez, unpredictable snowpack in multiple locations forced a change of plan. The crew relocated to the Girdwood zone, targeting the iconic Spine Cell face—long featured in legendary big-mountain ski films. However, during the initial face check, a section of the face released forcing a second relocation—and a complete rethink.
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Natural Selection Alaska changes location twice and runs as a BC slopestyle contest
With only one day left of the weather window—in true NST style—the whole crew pulled together to create a competition venue from scratch in a zone with a safe aspect and slope angle. Filmers and riders built jumps throughout the rolling terrain to create a backcountry slopestyle course with up to nine hits in the line, in an effort that more resembles video part creation than a contest.
The NST team pulled out all the stops to create an event—and it won't disappoint.
Natural Selection Ski
“We came here thinking big mountain, spines, exposure—and suddenly we’re looking at freestyle heavy venue, where you could link tricks top to bottom,” said Markus Eder. “A 180 degree shift which turned out to be all time. In my opinion, that’s what NST is all about. You’ve got to have all round riding skills in your bag!”
“We showed up ready for one thing and ended up doing something totally different,” said Hannah Epsteyn, the youngest NST competitor ever at 17-years-old. “No warm-up, building jumps, going straight into it. It felt more like filming with your friends than a contest. Everyone was hyping each other up, and it brought out a different side of everyone’s skiing.”
NST will be airing exclusively on RedBull TV on the 14 April.