"Natural Selection (NST) Bike is headed back to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2026-and the stakes just got higher. Twenty-five of the world's best riders will descend on the wild ridgelines of Mt. Dewar in Tāhuna Queenstown for another action-packed year of pushing what's possible on a bike. Natural Selection is more than just a name; it's an ideology and a format that supports the evolutionary process of progressing the sport."
"Originally founded as a standalone event in 2008 by legendary snowboarder Travis Rice, the goal was simple: elevate snowboarding by putting the sport's most progressive riders head-to-head on enhanced natural terrain. But it wasn't until 2012 and 2013-when the concept evolved into Supernatural and then Ultranatural -that the modern vision of Natural Selection trulybegan to take shape. While the name changed, the idea stayed much the same, and went beyond simply transplanting a traditional contest format like X Games onto a big-mountain venue."
Natural Selection Bike will return to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2026, bringing 25 elite riders to Mt. Dewar in Tāhuna Queenstown to push freeride boundaries. The Natural Selection format operates as an ideology and competitive structure that accelerates sport progression by prioritizing style, line choice, flow, and rider creativity. The concept began in 2008 as a snowboarding event founded by Travis Rice and evolved through Supernatural and Ultranatural into a distinctive big-mountain approach. In 2022 the format expanded into mountain biking as Proving Grounds in Prineville, Oregon, blending culture-first bike elements with high-production storytelling to unite legends and emerging talent.
Read at BikeMag
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]