Best Snowboarders, Best Logo
UPDATE: Travis Rice Won the First Place Red Bison Skull
created by local artist Ryan Haworth.
Quiksilver made the coolest logo ever for its inaugural Jackson Hole Natural Selection freestyle snowboard competition this week. The competition will run for two days, selected when conditions are optimal, between now and February 5.
Brainchild of prolific (and local) snowboarder, Travis Rice, the competition will be held on Dick’s Ditch natural halfpipe and the steep and cliff-laden Casper Bowl. The two areas will be shut off from the public for the competition’s seven days to let snow, wind and fate determine conditions.
“We’ll leave the course design to Mother Nature and let riders express themselves in an unpredictable measure of true, raw talent,” Rice explained. “To succeed here, riders must embrace the mountain on its own terms and get after it with respect, grace, artistry and fun. This is the return to the soul and roots of riding.”
Seventeen hand-picked riders, include locals Rice, Mark Carter, Bryan Iguchi and Rob Kingwill, will compete in Freestyle and Slopestyle events beginning when conditions are perfect (and after several days of blizzard conditions … any moment now). Riders will first compete on Dick’s Ditch and hold the second day on Casper Bowl. They’ll be judged by five famous snowboarders, including Tom Burt, on their terrain navigation, fluidity, style, creativity and power. There are few requirements, but riders do have to catch air on Dick’s Ditch. The winner will have the highest combined score from two runs on each competition day.
Fans can check daily updates on the event by calling 307.638.2574 or read about events and watch a Web cast - including footage taken from a cable cam set above Dick’s Ditch - on visiting quiksilver.com/naturalselection.
“The event is less about ‘winning’ and more about the world’s best riders pushing each another in a setting that requires each to be at the absolute top of their game,” said Travis. “But this is also a chance to stop in the middle of the competition season, get together and have fun. Plain and simple – just like we all used to do before turning pro.”
This competition seems like the snowboarders answer to the Jackson Hole Open - part of Subaru’s US Freeskiing World Tour - which local Jess McMillan won last year.
Next logical step: snowboard chicks get in on the selection.
[And to the makers of the logo: How much to commission one for me? Not sure what it be for, necessarily. I just want my own logo and I want you to design it. Maybe don’t include the buffalo on mine.]
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Hey Lauren-
thanks for your nice words on the natural selection art. it was my last true masterpiece before leaving quiksilver last week. i really tried to do justice to travis’ event especially since it’s being held in his backyard so to speak. in tavis’ words, he said “classy art for a classy event.”
Sven!
You did more than justice to Travis’ event. You pitched it perfectly. The logo combines all the elements that we hold dear here in Jackson Hole - classic wildness, rugged mountains, graceful ski lines and a touch of the subversive (the dripping graffiti element). Quiksilver is bummed to lose you. Watch your inbox for a request from a struggling writer. …
To close Casper Bowl and the Crags for X amount of time sure takes some weight.
What about people who actually pay to have access to that terrain? S.O.L. I guess. And, I know that it isn’t the first time, but we’re talking about a considerable chunk of terrain…
I’m done venting now.
Sbauer1: The answer is, obviously, to get on that Natural Selection roster next year. Then, you’ll have all the access you’ve ever dreamed of. Barring that, you’re stuck with the rest of us commoners watching from the top of Casper lift (or sneak off during the event to find untracked powder…).
In response to my comments a couple of weeks ago about the Natural Selection event; I was able to watch the final day of the competition and it was EASILY the best freeride/freestyle contest I’ve ever witnessed. Between the epic/once every ten year conditions, the talent pool, incredible terrain and of course Willie McMillon this event is now the standard by which all others will be compared.
The Natural Selection is now, arguably the premier freeride/freestyle snowboard event in North America. And, to have this event forever linked to the JHMR is truly a testament of how bad ass “our” mountain truly is.
The Natural Selection has shown me that thankfully, snowboarding is still evolving and the future is exciting! The ENTIRE snowboard community owes the individuals who’s vision brought us this event a huge THANK YOU.