Live From the Backcountry: How Uncle Toad's Media House Took REMI Production to New Heights With Natural Selection Tour Snowboarding Inside the wo-day REMI production 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 a manifestation of snowboarders' wildest dreams. When it comes to the logistics behind producing the backcountry freestyle competitions live, however, it's more akin to a broadcasting nightmare. Despite the challenges, the Tour's production partner Uncle Toad's Media Group pulled off a flawless two-day REMI production at the Tour's 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, but our goal is to bring the same broadcast quality and style that you would have for a major live event, says Jordan Velarde, CEO/Founder, Uncle Toads Media Group, who served as Executive Producer. 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] out there 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 competed in duels 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, while the Finals at nearby Selkirk Tangiers on Day 2 premiered as live today at 1p.m. ET.
If Travis Rice is doing a snowboarding event, the expectation is that we will match that Travis Rice quality and brand, says Chris Steblay, Executive Producer/Creative Director, Uncle Toads Media Group. 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 on-site operation in Revelstoke with a control room at Red Bull Media House in Santa Monica. On-site, 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 back to Red Bull Media House in Santa Monica, where the production team cut the show in a REMI control room and announcers called the action off monitors.
Years in the Making: From Jackson Hole to Revelstoke
Velarde and Steblay first began discussing the potential for producing the final live with Rice and Tour COO Liam Griffin back in 2018. Following covid-related delays, those plans finally came to fruition in 2021 at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Uncle Toad's rolled out a full mobile unit and several production trailers and parked them roughly 1.5 miles away from the actual venue - what Velarde calls 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 1, 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. So 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].
Due to the remote locale, all equipment had to be flown in via helicopter and dropped on the mountain. Further complicating matters was the fact 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, says Velarde. 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.
Steblay adds: One of our biggest challenges is the need for meticulous planning and packing, says Steblay. 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 becomes very important.
On-Site 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, loving 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 the home for the team piloting the drones. The location of the BFT is key, as it must have line of sight to all camera positions as well as to the satellite uplink - not an easy task when dealing with high ridge lines and extreme distances.
In addition, all crew must be expert snowboarders capable of traversing the treacherous terrain and also safety-trained for potential avalanches.
You not only have to be comfortable in the backcountry, but you also have to be a badass broadcaster - whether you're a camera op or a video engineer, says S
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
01/12/2025
IRVINE, Calif. Wooden Camera has introduced its new Accessory Collection for the Canon EOS C50. The new lineup includes a low-profile, gimbal-ready cage, expand...
01/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for its Dec. 18 Open Commission Meeting that will include a vote on a report an...
01/12/2025
In most years, a graph of annual local TV ad spending is about as predictable as an electrocardiogram of a reasonably healthy patient in a doctor's office. ...
01/12/2025
Many industries have seen big-ticket hardware turn into software. Switchers, though, demand a combination of real-time performance and sheer bandwidth that has ...
01/12/2025
GENEVA Shanghai will host the next quadrennial Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-27) and World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27), Oct. 11-Nov. 12, 2027. This...
01/12/2025
NEW YORK Just in time for Giving Tuesday tomorrow (Dec. 2), the Broadcasters Foundation of America is seeking out donations to help television and radio industr...
01/12/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Net Insight CEO Crister Fritzson has informed the company's board that he will retire from the video transport and media cloud technology ...
01/12/2025
As the festive season approaches, RT Supporting the Arts is proud to showcase a...
01/12/2025
Researchers worldwide rely on open-source technologies as the foundation of their work. To equip the community with the latest advancements in digital and physi...
01/12/2025
Festive specials of Christmas in Kilmainham presented by Marty Whelan, High Road Low Road, Callan Kicks the Year and Keys to My Life
Ring in the New Year with ...
01/12/2025
Architect and television presenter Hugh Wallace, best known to RT audiences as a long-serving judge on Home of the Year, has died at the age of 68.
In a state...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
Live From the Backcountry: How Uncle Toad's Media House Took REMI Production to New Heights With Natural Selection Tour Snowboarding Inside the wo-day REMI production at the Tour's marquee competition last month in Revelstoke By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. 
