The Natural Selection Tour (NST) has announced its 2024 Duels pairings, and two big Whistler-based names are in the mix.
Snowboard pioneer Jamie Anderson is back, taking on fellow United States athlete Emma Crosby at Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado. Anderson's resume is unparalleled: she's the first woman to land a 1080, a three-time Olympic medallist and an 11-time World Cup victor. Her 21 Winter X Games medals have her second all-time behind Mark McMorris in that department.
Meanwhile, Red Mountain Resort in Rossland, B.C. will be the backdrop for Spencer O'Brien to face Mary Rand. O'Brien is the 2013 FIS World Champion with six X Games medals of her own, and she'll look to distinguish herself against her opponent from Rhode Island.
Red Gerard, fresh off his first X Games triumph, is pitted against Austen Sweetin. Other Duels matchups include Arthur Longo versus Kevin Backstrom, Torgier Bergrem against Raibu Katayama, and Nils Mindich versus Victor Daviet.
The Duels field of eight men and four women represents this year's Tour challengers. One winner from each Duel will advance to the next stage in Revelstoke, B.C.
A number of other riders have already punched their tickets to Revelstoke. These include Whistlerite Mikey Ciccarelli, defending NST champs Travis Rice and Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, along with Dustin Craven, Mikkel Bang, Jared Elston, Robin Van Gyn, Ben Ferguson, Hailey Langland, Elena Hight, Torstein Horgmo and Blake Paul.
Catch the action beginning Feb. 27 on Red Bull TV. More information about the NST is available here.
