RED BULL SUPERNATURAL – THE FUTURE OF SNOWBOARDING?
Unfortunately the Red Bull Supernatural doesn’t fit in to any TTR tour discipline yet, but, is it the future of competitive freestyle snowboarding? For the uninitiated the Red Bull Supernatural is a unique backcountry competition handcrafted by the snowboarding demi-god, Travis Rice, to challenge all the riders over a unique terrain .
Travis Rice spent most of his past winters traveling around the globe in the search of the best natural features to perform his breathtaking snowboarding stunts. Red Bull Supernatural has aimed to serve up a run beyond anyone’s wildest dreams with three distinct sections designed to show off each athlete’s strengths. So, how can you go along and watch this great contest? Well, that’s an issue. The riders are choppered in because it’s located within the 32,000 acre tenure of Baldface Lodge, one of Canada’s best backcountry snowcat operations. Deep in the Kootenay Mountains of British Columbia, the 45+ degree slope nicknamed “Scary Cherry” is host to over 80 man-made features which took a crew of loggers five months to construct!
The riders’ list features the additions of wild card winners Mark McMorris and Sage Kotsenburg, both 18-years old and slopestyle leaders on the TTR World Snowboard Tour. Also Canadian Mark Sollors has been confirmed to replace Wolle Nyvelt, who was forced to drop out due to an injury.
THE RED BULL SUPERNATURAL CONFIRMED RIDER LIST
David Carrier-Porcheron CAN
Devun Walsh CAN
Eero Niemela FIN
Gigi Ruf AUT
Jake Blauvelt USA
John Jackson USA
Kazu Kokubo JPN
Lucas Debari USA
Mark Carter USA
Mark Landvik USA
Nicolas Müller SUI
Erik Jackson USA
Scotty Lago USA
Terje Håkonsen NOR
Travis Rice USA
Mark Sollors CAN
Mark McMorris CAN
Sage Kotsenburg USA
The Supernatural window is now open from today, 3rd February – 8th February so the action can kick off any minute!
Check out these preview pics. Gnarly, huh?
Transworld Snowboarding caught up with Travis Rice to see what he had to say……….
What will the giant kicker be like?
We’re still not sure how much snow we’ll have, but the idea is a 250-foot wide kicker. We might break it up with a couple of different takeoffs. First off we have to enhance the landing quite a bit, so that’s the main project. Then we’re also finishing off a whole mini-park zone at the very bottom. It’s packed full of features.
What are the snow conditions like so far?
We’ve been held up getting on slope the last three days because of some bad instabilities in the snow pack. It’s some of the worst they’ve had up here in six or eight years. We’re doing the best we can. They’ve been dropping charges on the slopes, dropping cornices, doing everything they can. We’ve got a good crew up here. Basically we want to finish up and then we don’t want to touch the thing for three weeks, giving it time to get a couple snowstorms—then we come in and cook that face.
……….click here to see more of their great questions and pics
The Red Bull Supernatural Trailer
