The Red Bull Ultra Natural went down the other day with our BAUStrian buddie Gigi Rüf coming out on top of a fully stacked field of legendary big mountain freestylers. Watch the video of his winning run and hear him be all stoked and humble at John Jackson…

Not much else to say other than we’re looking forward to checking the full, sanitised, voice-over guy narrated NBC überspectacular TV show when it drops March 30. Ok, so it’s only in the US but you know someone somewhere – perhaps even Red Bull themselves – will get it out to us Euros sharpish afterwards. We’re also looking forward to out Instagram feed returning to normal.

BAUStrian Gigi Rüf takes the title at the second edition Red Bull Ultra Natural [previously called Super Natural - they had to switch the name for copyright reasons we heard] ahead of Nicolas Müller and wildcard Bryan Fox. Check the gallery of shots and a pretty sick course-prep video…

The second edition of Travis Rice’s backcountry freestyle competition of extraordinary magnitude went down on Baldface’s Scary Cherry run yesterday, with Gigi posting the highest score of the day to secure this pretty damn prestigious title. Basically the start list was a who’s who of next level backcountry freestyle and to run out as the winner here you need the winning mix of skill for days and spuds of steel. Gigi has both in spades.

Here’s a tasty course prep video that deals with the course setup. As for footage of the event proper you’ll have to wait. As last year, NBC has the rights to it and will drop the show on March 30th so hopefully after that we’ll be able to get our paws on some footy. However, as last year we’re sure some goodness will be leaked before. Stay tuned… 

RESULTS

1 - Gigi Ruef 
2 - Nicolas Mueller 
3 - Bryan Fox 
4 - Terje Håkonsen 
5 - David Carrier Porcheron 
6 - Mark McMorris 
7 - Eero Niemela 
8 - Pat Moore 
9 - Lucas Debari 
10 - Travis Rice 
11 - Jussi Oksanen 
12 - Bode Merrill 
13 - Jake Blauvelt 
14 - Wolfgang Nyvelt 
15 - Torstein Horgmo 
16 - Mikey Rencz

Robin Van Gyn, Erin Comstock, Amber Stackhouse and Annie Boulanger head to Baldface in Canada, get some good’uns and pay respect to the late Craig Kelly.

Adventure time for the brothers Jackson as they roadtrip from AK to BC to remember Craig Kelly. Bears, goats, fish, and reminiscing on the Supernatural follows…

Leaving AK behind, John and Eric Jackson head into Canada in their new stealth whip. As it was the legendary Craig Kelly who first pioneered the trail they’re following it was only natural to stop off at Baldface, pay their respects and re-live the Supernatural. Check this.

Don’t get NBC and missed the TV spot on the Red Bull Supernatural? Fear not, the internet’s all over that bad boy. Click through and watch the full 1 hours and 24 minutes of madness from Baldface. We’re guessing lunch breaks may be a little longer than usual today…

You know Travis Rice won, we know Travis Rice won. You’ve seen some stuff from the event, we have too. But we haven’t been treated to how the event actually went down, until now. To be honest, we found it kinda weird – perhaps it was impossible for the Supernatural to live up to the hype – so in a nutshell what you get is occasionally insane riding on an insane course overdubbed by some talky men whose mainstream-focussed chat becomes a little grating, and some graphics that make it look like a powder-filled Formula 1.

It’s a bit odd. It’s also a bit awesome: seeing the likes of Mark McMorris humbled by the face is as engaging as watching Müller rip it, and there’s no denying that this is the truest representation of snowboarding on a mainstream TV slot to date. But it is just that – TV. Check it for yourselves…

After an early bootleg and a first teaser Red Bull released yet another teaser for their upcoming feature on the Red Bull Supernatural contest. it took place at the Baldface Lodge in BC, and featured Travis Rice, Nicolas Müller, Gigi Ruf, Jake Blauvelt, John Jackson, Devun Walsh, the list goes on and on. Can’t wait to see the full feature hit our screen!

You probably heard by now that Travis Rice won his own event – the Red Bull Supernatural – last Saturday. As you’ll have also gathered, there’s never been anything like this before and video footage has been scarce to say the least. Have a look at this pre-event course check and let your imaginations run wild till end of March when the TV show drops…

From the limited number of reports and couple of shots we’ve seen, the gig was something special to behold but we’ll not be getting our peepers on any footage of what went down till at least March 31, when a Red Bull TV special will air in the US. From this, we can only imagine that that’s not to be missed…

RESULTS

1. Travis Rice 91.00
2. Gigi Rüf 84.00
3. Nicolas Müller 82.60
4. John Jackson 80.60
5. Lucas Debari 77.00
6. Kazuhiro Kokubo 75.50
7. Jake Blauvelt 73.10
8. David Carrier-Porcheron 69.20
9. Eero Niemela 68.90
10. Devun Walsh 68.80
11. Mark Sollors 68.30
12. Terje Haakonsen 68.20
13. Eric Jackson 65.80
14. Mark Carter 64.70
15. Mark McMorris 63.00
16. Sage Kotsenburg 62.00
17. Scotty Lago 59.40
18. Mark Landvik 55.50

Travis Rice and Scotty Lago training.

The creme de la creme of snowboarding have descended on Baldface Lodge as Red Bull Supernatural Contest Window Opens. February 3-8th is said window, with the chat being tomorrow could be the go. There’s also an updated rider list and a deeper look at the course details. Check it…

Eighteen of the world’s best snowboarder’s are settling into Baldface Lodge tonight, as the holding period for Red Bull Supernatural begins. On only one day between today and February 8th, the 18 will be the first riders to drop into Travis Rice’s dream snowboard run, competing to find out who is the best all-around snowboarder on the planet. Red Bull Supernatural is a first-of-its-kind, backcountry snowboard competition, challenging riders’ big mountain, freeride, slopestyle and big air talents all in one spectacular run.

Eric Jackson practices his Method on the curling court.

“Scary Cherry,” the run in Baldface’s tenure that’s been enhanced to host Red Bull Supernatural, features a variety of slope angles and natural features. It starts off with an extremely steep, over-40 degree slope angle providing big mountain terrain before tapering to 35 degrees where most of the 80+ wooden platforms and other features have been built. Midway it flattens out into a bench providing the perfect location for Rice’s dream 300’ wide kicker with a fresh powder landing zone. After the kicker, the slope drops to a 30 degree pitch where esteemed terrain park builder J.P. Martin, working with Rice for inspiration, planted a garden of innovative slopestyle features.

“Inspiration for the course design came from nature, straight up, and the crazy features that I’ve seen people ride,” Rice explains. “You have to have terrain that compliments freestyle riding on all-mountain terrain, which is why we built this course from scratch. There’s no limit on what is possible with a little creativity and some will.”

The rider list features the additions of wild card winners Mark McMorris and Sage Kotsenburg, both 18-years old and global slopestyle leaders. Also this week, Canadian Mark Sollors has been confirmed to replace Wolfgang Nyvelt, who was forced to drop out by an injury.

Red Bull Supernatural Confirmed Rider List

David Carrier-Porcheron CAN
Devun Walsh CAN
Eero Niemela FIN
Gigi Ruff 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

For photos, video and updates on Red Bull Supernatural, please visit www.redbullusa.com/supernatural.

[On the off chance you ain't yet seen it, here's the teaser to the Red Bull Supernatural. Gonna be intense.]

Travis Rice has just dropped the official list of invited riders to his and Red Bull’s little backcountry shindig that’ll be going down in B.C. shortly. A heavier list of snowboarders you couldn’t dream up. Check the chat…

18 of the world’s top snowboarders to meet at Baldface Lodge, Feb. 3-8th

Red Bull and Travis Rice today announce the 16 snowboarders who accepted invitations to compete at the inaugural Red Bull Supernatural at Baldface Lodge outside of Nelson, B.C., Canada. Invites were sent to riders on the forefront of bringing freestyle snowboarding into natural terrain. On one day between February 3rd and 8th, riders from seven different countries will compete in a first-of-its-kind backcountry competition designed to challenge, then crown the best all-around snowboarder on the planet.

The invite list is partially made up of the top finishers from the Quiksilver Natural Selection, such as Mark Carter, DCP, Nicolas Müller and Wolfgang Nyvelt. Travis Rice and a panel of experts next extended invites to established pros and freeride contenders including Jake Blauvelt, John Jackson, Mark Landvik and Terje Håkonsen. To round out the freestyle contingent of the field, Scotty Lago and Kazu Kokubo, along with two wildcards who are deeply involved in contest-based slopestyle snowboarding, were invited.

Wildcard invites will go to the X Games men’s slopestyle gold medalist, to be crowned on January 28th in Aspen, and the current top seeded slopestyle rider on the TTR World Tour, Canadian Mark McMorris. If Mark McMorris wins slopestyle at X Games, the second wildcard spot will go to the silver medalist.

Red Bull Supernatural’s judging team will include some of the most recognized legends of snowboarding including Tom Burt (Head Judge), Andy Hetzel, Temple Cummins, Shin Campos, Bryan Iguchi and Mel Simmons (Assistant Head Judge). The overall impression judging system will be used taking into account the line’s risk, flow, amplitude, creativity, tricks and control.

Overall judged scores will look at the riders’ use of the course as a whole, navigating the steep upper tree section, two cliff bands, a 300’ wide jump and a lower powder park section. All competitors will receive two complete runs with a bonus third run going to the riders who finish in the top eight after the first two runs. The best single run score of the day will win.

Red Bull Supernatural Confirmed Rider List:

David Carrier-Porcheron CAN
Devun Walsh CAN
Eero Niemela FIN
Gigi Ruff AUS
Jake Blauvelt USA
John Jackson USA
Kazu Kokubo JPN
Lucas Debari USA
Mark Carter USA
Mark Landvik USA
Nicolas Müller SUI
Eric Jackson USA
Scotty Lago USA
Terje Håkonsen NOR
Travis Rice USA
Wolfgang Nyvelt AUS

For photos, video and updates on Red Bull Supernatural, please visit www.redbullusa.com/supernatural. Fans in the U.S. can tune-in March 31st to catch the two-hour Red Bull Supernatural special airing nationally on NBC from 1-3pm EST. The event airs as part of a new sports programming block called the “Red Bull Signature Series” which features the most progressive snowboarding, mountain biking, freestyle motocross, skiing and BMX events. For more information, visit www.redbullsignatureseries.com.

(Warning: Lots of lame skiers are visible throughout the clip)