Live From the Backcountry: How Uncle Toad's Media Group Took REMI Production to New Heights With Natural Selection Tour Snowboarding Inside the two-day effort at the tour's marquee competition last month in Revelstoke By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, April 4, 2024 - 4:01 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The Natural Selection Tour has been referred to as a manifestation of snowboarders' wildest dreams. When it comes to logistics, however, the live production of the backcountry freestyle competitions is more akin to a broadcasting nightmare. Despite the challenges, tour production partner Uncle Toad's Media Group pulled off a flawless two-day REMI production at the marquee competition last month at Revelstoke Mountain in British Columbia.
Plenty of others have pulled off backcountry events like this with one or two cameras, and they do a solid job, says Jordan Velarde, CEO/founder, Uncle Toad's Media Group, who served as executive producer. Our goal is to bring the same broadcast quality and style that you would have for a major live event. We pride ourselves on our ability to not be hindered by the technical limitations so that we can deliver an authentic show that's on par with some of the [top productions] today.
Launched in 2021, the Natural Selection Tour is the brainchild of legendary freeride snowboarder and film producer Travis Rice. The world's top snowboarders - from Olympians to big-mountain film icons - come together to compete in men's and women's events. Twelve riders duel at six iconic mountain venues to earn the right to compete at Revelstoke along with 17 returning and invited Natural Selection Tour riders. Day 1 of the Natural Selection Tour Revelstoke event was streamed live exclusively on Red Bull TV on March 13., The finals at nearby Selkirk Tangiers on Day 2 premiered as live today at 1 p.m. ET.
If Travis Rice is doing a snowboarding event, says Chris Steblay, executive producer/creative director, Uncle Toad's Media Group, the expectation is that we will match that Travis Rice quality and brand. We're trying to produce something live that is on the same level as a Travis Rice movie but do it live and do it on a realistic budget. We want to hit a bar where it looks effortless [to the viewer] even though it's actually one of the most difficult [productions] you could possibly imagine.
Uncle Toad's produced both days of competition in 1080p using a REMI-production workflow that linked the onsite operation in Revelstoke with a control room at Red Bull Media House in Santa Monica. CA. Onsite, the operation relied heavily on a pair of drones and several RF Wireless camera systems to cover the wide-ranging action. Camera feeds were backhauled to Red Bull Media House, where the production team cut the show and announcers called the action off monitors.
Years in the Making: From Jackson Hole to Revelstoke
Velarde and Steblay began discussing the potential for producing the finals live with Rice and Natural Selection Tour COO Liam Griffin in 2018. Following COVID-related delays, their plans finally came to fruition in 2021 at Jackson Hole, WY. Uncle Toad's rolled out a full mobile unit and several production trailers, parking them roughly a mile and a half from the venue in what Velarde describes as baby steps on the way to a full REMI solution. After two years using this production model, Uncles Toad's went full REMI in 2023 when the finals moved to Revelstoke.
From day one, the goal of this event was to be able to go absolutely anywhere in the world to find the best backcountry skiing and be able to broadcast that live, says Velarde. When we moved to [Revelstoke], we were required to have the same full production capabilities that we had in Jackson. That meant rethinking our [production workflows].
Given the remote locale, all equipment had to be flown in via helicopter and dropped on the mountain. Further complicating matters was that the final course is often determined the day before the competition based on the current conditions.
We have to scout several different locations and put production plans in place for covering all those possible spots, Velarde points out. No mountain is exactly the same, so you have to evaluate your transmission, your wireless systems, your camera units, and all the support for getting in and out of there.
Adds Steblay, One of our biggest challenges is the need for meticulous planning and packing. Once something enters the field in that position, it can't move. Moving a single camera or [piece of equipment] can cost thousands of dollars and endless man-hours. And there's no such thing as we forgot a cable'; there's no Amazon Prime or big electronics store. So the packing and the planning become very important.
Onsite in Revelstoke: The BFT at the Center of It All With just 19 crew members on hand, Steblay and his team set up a Mount Everest-style base camp - lovingly dubbed the BFT, or Big Fucking Tent. The BFT serves as the main point of acquisition for all camera and audio feeds, the primary hub for transmission and engineering, and home for the team piloting the drones. Its location is key: it must have line of sight to all camera positions as well as to the satellite uplink - not an easy task in an area of high ridge lines and extreme distances.
In addition, all crew members must be expert snowboarders capable of traversing the treacherous terrain and must also be safety-trained for potential avalanches.
You not only have to be comfortable in the backcountry but you have to be a badass broadcaster - whether you're a camera op or a video engineer, says Steblay. You have to be expert in both: you have to be really good at your job and really love to be in the mountains. We try
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
13/11/2026
The UIM E1 Series wraps its third season this week with the Bombay Sapphire E1 Miami GP, Nov. 11-14, on Biscayne Bay at the Miami Seaplane Base on Watson Island...
13/11/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
13/11/2026
Singer-songwriter Benson Boone will headline entertainment for the Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles St...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone, a 7th order ambisonic microphone array that captures spatial audio for immersive video prod...
13/11/2026
SMPTE has announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infrastructure and communications technology for the Solutions Hub at t...
13/11/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced the theme and program focus for the 2027 HPA Tech Retreat, which takes place Feb. 14-18, 2027, in La ...
13/11/2026
Football Manager 27 Touch is available on Apple Arcade starting today. The game ...
13/11/2026
MotoGP has announced a two-year media rights agreement with ESPN covering the Un...
13/11/2026
Apple Sports, the free iPhone app, has added the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to its lineup of supported sports, in time for Saturday's UFC 334. The...
13/11/2026
The NBA and Fanatics Studios, the joint venture between Fanatics and entertainme...
13/11/2026
ESPN held its annual EDGE Innovation Conference last night and offered up an ove...
13/11/2026
Regional sports network gives Ithaca College, SUNY Cortland students a platform to thrive
One of the biggest games in Division III college football will be pla...
13/11/2026
Studer-inspired 500-series PWM compressor unveiled
The HLabs range already includes a couple of Studer-inspired offerings in the form of the PRE169 and EQ16...
13/11/2026
Download Now!
To view the white paper, please enter the following details:
--
First Name* First Name
Company*
Country* Please select your countryA...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Blue Lucy, the workflow orchestration and integration platform for broadcasters, rights owners and localisation companies, today announced an integration with c...
13/11/2026
Krotos announces Black Friday offers on Studio Pro and Studio Max
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
First-year annual plans start at US$195.99...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
New 7th order ambisonic microphone with 108 MEMS...
13/11/2026
Meet the Berklee Student Setting Planetary Motion to Music With his compositional platform SoniKosmos, Javier Roqueni aims to make the universe the ultimate i...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud company, today announced a partnership with Golden Times Media Technology (stock code 920021.BJ), a Beijing-based media and tech...
13/11/2026
CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, together with its Malaysian partner, Cedar ...
13/11/2026
SMPTE, the home for media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infra...
13/11/2026
iWedia, a global leader in connected TV software solutions, will present its software-first approach to DRAM optimization at Android TV APAC Summit 2026 in Bang...
13/11/2026
Beginning today, November 13, Apple HomeView is available for purchase at Apple Store locations, on the Apple Store online, and in the Apple Store app in select...
13/11/2026
From pediatric research to smart hospitals, AI is helping care teams spend less time on routine tasks and more time with patients.
Health systems and startups...
12/11/2026
Industry leaders examine how Dynamic Media Facility, Media eXchange Layer, and c...
12/11/2026
The junior Tar Heel is embracing the technical and creative challenges of live production while emerging as a leader and mentor in the control room...
12/11/2026
Gracenote, Nielsen's content intelligence business, has released its fifth a...
12/11/2026
RTL Deutschland will bring the NHL to free-to-air TV in Germany starting Nov. 30...
12/11/2026
Clear-Com supported On Air 2026, a 24-hour student-led broadcast connecting 45 u...
12/11/2026
uniqFEED has opened a Remote Operations Center (ROC) in Madrid, Spain. It is already operational, delivering virtual advertising for LaLiga matches. The ROC is ...
12/11/2026
Disney, ESPN and the NBA will present Dunk the Halls, the third real-time animated NBA game using Sony's Beyond Sports data visualization technology, on Chr...
12/11/2026
Van Wagner has launched Van Wagner RELAY, a digital platform for official athlet...
12/11/2026
Deal brings together two of the industry's most established graphics brands and significantly expands Vizrt's footprint in U.S. sports and regional broa...
12/11/2026
Euro TV Production GmbH of Austria has upgraded its outside broadcast vehicle with Lawo technology. The mc 36 Classic console in service since 2019 was replaced...
12/11/2026
Tagboard has launched Spark Resize, an AI-assisted tool now in beta that takes an existing graphic and produces a new version for a different aspect ratio or sc...
Live From the Backcountry: How Uncle Toad's Media Group Took REMI Production to New Heights With Natural Selection Tour Snowboarding Inside the two-day effort at the tour's marquee competition last month in Revelstoke By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. 
