This Custom Drone Whooshes Closer to the Snowboarding Action

Filming a top-level backcountry snowboarding event presents distinct technical challenges. The action moves all over the mountain; riders navigate through groups of trees, sail over jumps, and carve around obstacles, all the while making split-second adjustments to their speed and direction. The unpredictable and fast-paced nature of the competition can leave even the most talented camera operators struggling to keep up. For Travis Rice and Liam Griffin, the organizers of the Natural Selection Tour, this issue was compounded by the fact that they wanted to broadcast their event live. The annual three-stop jamboree sees a hand-picked field of the world's top snowboarders (eight women and 16 men) compete at specially selected courses in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Alaska; and British Columbia.