Snowboarders Ben Ferguson (right), of Bend, and Nils Mindnich get set to compete in Natural Selection DUELS.

Three snowboarders from Bend are competing in the 2023 Natural Selection Tour.

Central Oregon’s Ben Ferguson, Jared Elston and Marissa Krawczak are among the 24 riders taking part in the tour, which showcases the world’s top snowboarders — from Olympians to big mountain film icons — all competing on extreme terrain, including Revelstoke, British Columbia, and the Chugach Range in Alaska. The first stage of Natural Selection is judge-scored DUELS, which can be viewed on-demand on Red Bull TV, daily starting Sunday.

The 12 riders who win their DUELS advance to the second stage in Revelstoke March 4-11. The final stage, Natural Selection Alaska, where the overall winner will be crowned, is set for March 25-April 1.

All 16 men and eight women invited to compete in the Tour’s third season start off at DUELS. DUELS feature a dozen individual match-ups between “defending” and “challenging” riders, designed to bring out each rider’s full creativity, highlight new zones and snowboarding’s diverse styles. Each DUEL showcases two matched riders competing head-to-head on one day, in one zone. DUELS take place in backcountry and freeride venues worldwide that are selected by the “defending” rider. Most of the defending riders requalified for this year’s Tour from their 2022 Tour results.

Ferguson, who finished fourth in halfpipe in the 2018 Winter Olympics, competed against Nils Mindnich in DUELS. Krawczak took on Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, and Elston battled Gigi Rüf. Elston’s DUEL is tentatively scheduled to air on Red Bull TV on Wednesday, Ferguson’s on Feb. 25, and Krawczak’s on March 2.

“DUELS is basically a contest in the backcountry where you are teamed up with an opponent, working together to scope a zone, and then ride together, but against each other. It felt like a day of filming with a big shot of adrenaline,” Ferguson said. “By adding the competition element, we both had to step it up and go for it on day one, trying things you wouldn’t usually dare to try on the first day in a new backcountry zone. Nils is an amazing snowboarder.”

The eight men and four women who win their DUELS will converge for the Natural Selection Revelstoke, based out of Revelstoke Mountain Resort. Live-streamed globally within the contest window, March 4-11, Mother Nature picks the day when riders will compete. The contest will run in a dynamic venue within the Selkirk Tangiers Heli Skiing tenure.

All 12 riders competing at Revelstoke will move on to Natural Selection Alaska in the super final outside of Valdez. From March 25 through April 1, riders will go head-to-head on the iconic steeps and spines of Alaska’s Chugach Mountain Range.

The Tour’s innovative format is designed to reveal riders’ full creative expression and requires a deep knowledge of all-mountain conditions.

For more information, visit naturalselectiontour.com.