Natural Selection Ski Heads To Palisades Tahoe In 2027, Going Live For The First Time

A number of firsts for this season’s YETI Natural Selection Ski, with the event staging in the Continental U.S. for the first time at Palisades Tahoe. And in another first for NST Ski, the one-day competition will broadcast live, then on demand, to the world on YouTube. Set in February, the heart of winter, during what could be a monster El Niño season, the event will put the world's top freeride and freeskiers on a global stage.

The YETI Natural Selection Ski at Palisades Tahoe will take place during the February 17–23 weather window. Mother Nature determines when the competition happens and what the mountain delivers. The competition will feature eight men and six women and stream LIVE on the Natural Selection Tour's YouTube channel and Red Bull TV. For the first time, fans will also have the opportunity to watch NST Ski from the mountain, bringing an in-person audience into the competition as it unfolds.

Palisades Tahoe has long been a proving ground for progressive skiing and snowboarding, the mountain offers wide-open bowls, steep chutes, granite cliffs, natural hits and deep Sierra powder. Spanning 6,000 skiable acres across two mountains, it is the largest ski resort in California. Its terrain rewards creativity, instinct and the ability to see possibilities in a landscape that changes with every storm. Palisades Tahoe was home to the 2026 YETI NST Ski Super Session, which sent skiers on to Alaska in 2026. In 2027 Palisades will provide the stage for the main act.

For Michelle Parker, a Palisades Tahoe local, professional skier and Natural Selection Tour on-snow reporter and former competitor, the event brings together two things she knows well: the mountain and the people who continue to push skiing forward.

"There's a reason Palisades has produced so many influential skiers. The terrain gives you room to be creative, to take chances, and to find your own way down the mountain. Having Natural Selection here is going to be special. And with Mother Nature in charge and the season many of us are anticipating, the skiers will have to be ready for anything."

The athlete field is taking shape, with six returning skiers having confirmed their invitations. Women's champion Manon Loschi (FRA) returns after winning back-to-back Natural Selection Ski titles in 2025 and 2026. She will be joined by fellow French skier Astrid Cheylis (FRA), who finished second in the 2026 women's competition. On the men's side, Colby Stevenson (USA) returns as the reigning champion after putting down an eight-trick winning run in Alaska, anchored by a double cork 1080 blunt grab. Finn Bilous (NZL), who finished third in 2026, also returns, alongside Craig Murray (NZL), winner of the inaugural 2025 competition, and Sam Kuch (CAN), runner-up that same year and a finalist in Alaska in 2026.

The rest of the 2027 field is being shaped by skiers, for skiers. Newly appointed NST Ski Director Sage Cattabriga-Alosa is leading athlete selection alongside the Natural Selection Tour's Ski Advisory Committee, made up of Chris Benchetler, Michelle Parker, Grete Eliassen, Kristi Leskinen, and Markus Eder. The group brings decades of experience across freeride, freestyle and big-mountain skiing, with a direct hand in selecting the athletes and shaping the direction of the competition. Additional invitations and nominations are underway, with the final field to include 14 athletes.

Mother Nature has always been central to Natural Selection. The entire event will happen in real time, on the day conditions allow. The February weather window gives the Tour flexibility to wait for the right combination of snow, wind, and light.

"Natural Selection and Palisades Tahoe share a lot of the same DNA," said Matt Peterson, VP of Marketing & Sales at Palisades Tahoe. "This mountain has helped shape freeride skiing for generations, and that spirit of progression is still alive here today. Natural Selection celebrates creativity, individual style, and seeing possibilities in terrain that others might miss. That's what this mountain has always been about, and we're excited to see what these athletes bring to it."

With a field featuring some of the most exciting freeriders and freeskiers, a live audience on the mountain and viewers around the world, the 2027 YETI Natural Selection Ski will test their full knowledge and see who is the best all-around skier in the world. Watch the YETI Natural Selection Ski LIVE February 17–23, 2027, on one day of Mother Nature's choosing, on the Natural Selection Tour's YouTube channel and Red Bull TV. Follow Natural Selection Tour and Palisades Tahoe for athlete announcements and spectator information.