Backcountry Teams Up with Natural Selection Tour as Official Outerwear and Retail Partner

January 28, 2021

Backcountry to host official Natural Selection Tour store and support elite, three-stop snowboarding event series.

PARK CITY, Utah (Jan. 27, 2021) – Backcountry, the specialty retailer of premium outdoor gear and apparel, has teamed up with the Natural Selection Tour (NST), the first winter sports tour to showcase the world’s top snowboard athletes competing on the planet’s most exciting natural and naturally-enhanced terrain. As the official outerwear and retail partner, Backcountry will host the NST store on its website, giving customers and fans the opportunity to purchase NST-specific products, as well as Backcountry gear & apparel.

As the official outerwear and retail partner for NST, Backcountry will sell limited edition tour merchandise on a dedicated landing page (www.backcountry.com/sc/natural-selection-tour), which will go live January 29. Included in the NST collection are one-of-a-kind collaboration products, featuring designs representing the Jackson area, which will be sold onsite at the Continuum Hotel in Teton Village during the Jackson stop of the competition. To keep NST staff warm during the tour, Backcountry has provided full uniforms including the Cottonwoods Gore-Tex Jacket, Cottonwoods Gore-Tex Pant, and insulation layers including the Hallett Jacket, Huxley Fleece, and Wolverine Cirque as well as Backcountry Gore-Tex gloves.

The Natural Selection Tour is a three-stop snowboarding competition featuring the world’s top men’s and women’s snowboarders, from Olympians to big mountain film stars. The tour will kick off February 3-9, 2021 with the YETI Natural Selection at Jackson Hole and continue on to the Natural Selection Baldface Lodge, British Columbia in the first week of March. The top men’s and women’s finishers from the first two events will go head-to-head in Alaska’s backcountry at the HempFusion Natural Selection at Tordrillo Mountain Lodge from March 20-27, 2021, where champions will be crowned.

“Travis Rice has been dreaming up the concept for this tour for quite a while and we are honored to be able to support his vision and help to bring the Natural Selection Tour to life,” says Backcountry’s chief marketing officer, Sarah Crockett. “It’s refreshing to witness this level of innovation coming to the competitive circuit. The format of this competition will display raw talent, real-time progression and the camaraderie of snowboarding culture at the highest level.”

The 24 invited riders, including newly signed Backcountry athlete, Nils Mindnich, are encouraged to fully express their riding style and creativity in complex zones full of unique features. Each event will run within seven-day windows to ensure that the terrain is in prime condition for competition. The Natural Selection at Jackson Hole will air exclusively, free and in its entirety on Red Bull TV.

“The Tour is a dream come true, but it is also a huge production,” says Carter Westfall, Natural Selection Tour co-founder and CEO. “Our partners play a critical role in getting this project across the finish line, so it’s great to work with like-minded brands like Backcountry who share our passion and mission to inspire people to get outdoors.”

The Natural Selection Tour is working with leading Covid-19 compliance consultants and the host venues to ensure that the competitions are run safely for the athletes, crew, venue staff and hosting communities.

To shop the official Natural Selection Tour store on or after January 29, please visit www.backcountry.com/sc/natural-selection-tour.

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About Backcountry

Backcountry.com is the leading online retailer of premium outdoor gear and apparel for skiing, snowboarding, biking, climbing, fly fishing, hiking, camping and more. Founded in the Park City, UT area in 1996, Backcountry connects people to their passions by offering the best selection of outdoor products, backed by knowledgeable, responsive customer service from its Gearheads and rapid fulfillment out of its two warehouse hubs.

About Natural Selection Tour

Debuting in February 2021 with stops at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyoming; Baldface Lodge, British Columbia; and Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, Alaska; the Natural Selection Tour will showcase the world’s top riders from Olympians to big mountain film icons all competing on the planet’s most exciting natural and naturally enhanced terrain. The best all-mountain freestyle riders in the world will move through the tour culminating with the crowning of a men’s and women’s champion at the Alaskan final. The Natural Selection Tour’s mission is to inspire people to forge a deeper relationship with Mother Nature.

Media Contact:
Katie Hostetler, rygr
Katie.hostetler@rygr.us
(970) 924-0704, ext. 108