NATURAL SELECTION
Arthur Longo looking back up at the course. Sage Kotsenburg mid-air. Day one.
Being invited to shoot Natural Selection was a huge honour. This event has achieved iconic status over the years, mainly it seems because of the organiser’s absolute attention to detail and dedication to producing the absolute best course for the best riders in the world.
If you’re not familiar with the event, Natural Selection is an invite only snowboard competition where riders go head-to-head on an augmented, freeride face. During the summer months the course designers build up obstacles such as kickers (jumps) and banks and sure up the take off zones for big rock drops or cliffs which then get covered in snow and ridden for the first time during the two day competition.
A panel chooses the most exciting snowboarders to invite and the these riders battle out match-ups until there are two left for the men’s and women’s finals.
I had been invited out as part of a Looking Sideways (podcast) trip, and was going to be shooting portraits and content around the event when Liam, the contest director asked me to shoot the competition too. Obviously I jumped at the chance to shoot some action featuring the best riders in the world.
Travis and the riders on a course recce. Event director Liam Griffin.
Getting the first lift up in the dark with legendary snowboard photographers Blotto and Tim Zimmerman to join the likes of Aaron Blatt, Chad Chomlack and Gimbal God on the course and document the day’s events I suddenly felt very humbled, this was the first time I had shot snowboarding since doing seasons twenty years previously (see my earlier blog).
The fact that the organisers didn’t want us anywhere actually on the course made it challenging to shoot. They were streaming the whole event via live drones with cameras which followed the riders through the course and didn’t want us popping up in the footage and ruining the magic of the epic terrain they had worked so hard to produce. This meant either shooting from the top, bottom or sides, or in a few special cases sneaking into the course to hide in a bush next to a jump.
At the end of day two I found myself at the top of the course hiding in a hole at the base of a tree and looking straight down onto the first hit of the main line. Not able to move once I was there meant I really only had one shot, so I was lucky to get a couple of the eventual men’s winner Sage Kotsenburg flying off the top jump surrounded by drones - am image that was widely published in the press from Snowboarder’s Journal and Sidetracked Magazine to Wired Magazine and CNN.
Sage and the drones. Finals day.
Being there with Matt (Looking Sideways) who was there to do the live commentary and record as many podcast interviews as he could, meant I was also shooting portraits of riders and organisers during the down days and met some amazing people throughout the week.
One of my highlights of the week was a morning riding with freeride legend turned coffee entrepreneur Alex Yoder. Perhaps not the ideal first day back on a board in 2 years - he likes to go fast - but who can say no to a shred with one of the very best. As luck would have it, on our first lift up we were behind all of the riders for the competition heading out to do a site recce - another moment where I felt slightly out of my depth as I strapped my borrowed board on next to Travis Rice et al and tried very hard not to catch an edge and break my neck as I struggled to keep up!
This was followed by a little tour of the Jackson Hole area with Yoder and his partner Hilary. Picnics with scenic views of the Grand Teton range, and a little stop at the bend in the Snake River immortalised by Ansel Adams.
Yoder and Matt Barr, Teton picnic.
Gallery of some of my favourite images from the week below.
All images © Owen Tozer. No usage or copying permitted without a licence.