It’s official: Finn Bilous has landed on the podium at Natural Selection Ski 2026. So, one of the biggest natural ski competitions in the world. Our athlete. From Wānaka. Bottom of the world. Finny B. Third place. Natural Selection. We’re not screaming, you’re screaming.
Yes, our boy Finny B has thrown his way down the hill right into third place, coming in with an enormous 93.0 points behind winner Colby Stevenson (96.0) and Markus Eder (94.0) in second. And yes, it was ridiculously fun to watch. Think playful lines, effortless bottom-of-the-world style, and a stupid amount of skill that can only be earned growing up in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. But that’s Finn for you, taking Wānaka with him wherever he goes.
What is Natural Selection?
For those new to Natural Selection Tour, NST is one of the biggest and baddest competitions in freeride ski. Think an incredible line-up of the world’s best skiers, including Freeride World Champions and Olympic medallists, going toe-to-toe on the world stage.
Here, Mother Nature is the main character, and the event celebrates skiers who ‘read the terrain as much as they ride it.’ It’s all about natural lines, natural terrain, and naturally blending creativity with big-mountain technicality.
Which, convenient segue, makes it a perfect fit for ol’ natural fibres Mons Royale. That’s why we’re stoked to be the Official Next-to-skin partners of Natural Selection across Ski, Snow and Bike – but, we digress.
How the competition works
This year, NST Ski took place deep in the backcountry of Alaska with twelve of the world’s best skiers. The men’s competition begins with 8 riders, split into two groups (or sessions) of 4 riders each. Each session has two rounds before the finals: in the first round, the winner advances straight to the finals, with the remaining riders moving to round two. The winner of round two also advances to the finals, and same goes for the other group. This means a 4-man final, where each of the finalists then has two runs to earn their place on the podium.
For the women, the same format goes, but with just 4 riders. The winner of the first round advances straight to the finals, joined by the winner of the second round.
The conditions: when Mother Nature calls the shots
No one calls the shots quite like Mama Nature. And in the final frontier that is the Alaskan backcountry, nothing is guaranteed. With the initial competition planned for Valdez, unstable conditions meant several pivots before game day.
The comp initially switched to Spine Cell, a ‘supernatural-looking’ face, according to Finn, with steep terrain and spines on spines that had everybody giddy. Sadly, in the days leading up to the event, around 40cm of storm snow landed on top of an already weak interface, which meant a lot more reactivity in the snow pack. Controlled safety checks performed by the NST Ski guides triggered an avalanche from a persistent weak layer the morning of, and the competition was officially moved to safer terrain.
“The face we competed on was playful, but much less consequential than Spine Cell,” said Finn. “I would've loved to ski Spine Cell and see what lines we'd have found down that supernatural-looking face, but unfortunately, the mountains were giving us red flags in terms of snow stability. And anyone who spends a significant amount of time in the backcountry, knows the importance of listening to those cues from nature."
The results: Round One
Throughout the competition, riders are judged on creativity, risk, execution, difficulty and flow. And did they ever deliver. Finn lead the first round with his deliciously floaty style, huge lines, and playful rotations that landed him a high score of 90.0 and sent him straight to the finals.
“Finn is one of the most playful, fun skiers to watch, and an absolute weapon when it comes to transition finding,” say the commentators. “He’s grown up on that melt-freeze variable snow, which give you such good touch and feel on your skis.”
Bottom of the world perks, huh.
“It feels incredible,” says Finn. “It’s been a long week thinking about skiing, so it was so nice to finally put the skis on the snow and put down the first run in an actually, really fun face. The snow was better than I thought it was going to be, so I had a blast. Stoked to be here with all these incredible riders.”
“It’s been such a cool week with everyone, I feel like I’m learning a lot and I feel lucky to be here in the presence of so many of my favourite skiers.”
The Finals
The competition was TIGHT in the finals. With four of the world’s best skiers in the final round, each skier has two runs to fight it out for the podium. Finn’s first run in the finals was epic. A huge 10 off one of the first features rolled Finn into an (unintentional) punch fronter on landing, which he immediately shook off with a laugh. “Not ideal, but you get that on the big jobs,” he grins. His epic run landed him an 86.0, which puts him at fourth place going into the final round.
"Going into the final run, I knew I had to put something solid down if I wanted to make the podium. All three of the other riders in the finals - Colby, Markus, and Kuch - had scores in the 90s from their first runs,” said Finn. “I was definitely going back and forth a bit as to how much I should go for broke vs making sure I could land the run.”
In the end, Finn landed an enormous second run in the finals. Buttery 3s, huge rotations, playful energy, and an absolute heater run from the legend himself. With floaty style and effortless edge, Finn landed third place on the podium, and we couldn’t be prouder.
“Stoked.” – Finn Bilous
