On a Tuesday evening at the Quartermaster Eatery, the breadth of Revelstoke's Mount Mackenzie casting over First Street as the sun sets, what unites the three world-class Canadian snowboarders at the bar with the other famed athletes here is a love for powder and once-in-a-lifetime memories.

Gathered in town March 10 to 17, with 21 other top-tier backcountry boarders from around the globe, Dustin Craven, Estelle Pensiero and Mikey Ciccarelli are three of five Canadians facing off at the Montana Bowl for the 2025 Natural Selection Tour (NST).

Craven, who hails from Calgary but has called Revelstoke home for eight years, played an instrumental role ahead of last year's NST in helping plan out the terrain for the two-day, weather-dependent event, which hits the snow just beyond the bounds of Revelstoke Mountain Resort.

But the build-up to this year's competition has been nothing less impressive for him, with Craven spending last summer in town building the course and putting in 19 weeks of personal training, compared to 11 for 2024.

"The first year was like, we're kind of finger painting out there," he described of originally designing the course.

As a 2010 Olympics forerunner who ascended to backcountry boarding stardom during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said that "any time you do hard work, it's an advantage," whether that means training as an NST athlete or helping design the event itself.

In terms of what viewers can get excited about on this year's course, Craven noted the final section has been revamped from last year and competitors will ride some 20 different descents. The beauty of this event, he described, is the one-of-a-kind experience of riding on snowfall untouched by humans.

"It's kind of a snowboarder's dream," he said of Mount Mackenzie. "We always joke that (Revelstoke's) a seven out of 10 on a scale, but it's kind of a mecca when compared to other places."

A highlight for him this NST will be spectators physically tuning in at the Montana Bowl.

"The biggest thing this year is we're going to have a crowd out there," Craven said. "My mom's going to come out and ski for the first time in 10 years."

Beyond the mountain, Craven calls this week spent with good friends and fresh rookie faces "a nice end-of-year reunion."

He and fellow competitors recently received a pleasant surprise when Pensiero was unveiled as the prequalified alternate to swap in for France's Marion Haerty.

"I don't think people were expecting there to be a wildcard," she admitted, adding it's quickly gotten her accolades in this elite group of athletes. "I'm stoked to have that in my back pocket."

Raised on the Selkirk Mountains as a Nelson native, Pensiero was seemingly always destined for snowboarding thanks to her father Jeff founding Baldface Lodge. She used to visit Revelstoke every spring break to see her aunt and uncle, who've both taught at Revelstoke Secondary School, making Pensiero no stranger to Mount Mackenzie's terrain.

"My aunt told my uncle to not bring the cowbell," she joked, adding they and her three younger siblings will all be cheering her on.

In recent years, Pensiero began utilizing her family ties at Baldface to host her own backcountry event, Low Maintenance, that fosters mentorship for boarders at different stages of their careers. Despite everywhere she's travelled across Europe, Japan and beyond, she still calls the B.C. Interior slopes are her favourites to ride.

"Actually, it's my first time in the Revelstoke backcountry, which is really awesome, so I'll definitely be back for more," Pensiero said, noting she's been drawing plenty of pictures on her phone to map out the course for this week. "This part of the world is so special."

Initially, she felt nervous to return to Revelstoke as NST's mystery alternate.

"Then I arrived, and realized it's just my friends," she explained, remarking about the international community of high-achieving boarders gathered around her, bonding together over a passion for powder. "Everyone's really supportive and it's just a really special community."

Among her friends is Ciccarelli, who's making his third-year appearance at NST and used to consider 400 feet at the Georgian Peaks Club in Thornbury, Ont., a big slope. Looking out the window at Mount Mackenzie, he explained a mere 400 feet "would be like the first gondola at Revelstoke Mountain Resort."

Now, with 10 years logged as a Whistler local, the Ancaster, Ont., native is well-seasoned on larger runs across B.C., including Revelstoke.

"It was one of those moments where I was like, 'definitely not going to back,'" he recalled from the move after high school, though noting he makes a point of still identifying in competitions as Ontarian. "When I was a kid, being a backcountry skier in Ontario didn't really make sense. But maybe a kid could see (me at NST) and be like, 'Oh shoot, I could do it.'"

This year up at the Montana Bowl, "the course is looking 10 out of 10," he said, with more powder and better snow than previous years shaping it up to be excellent for riding. "My mother, my sister, my brother, they'll all be tuning in."

Competing years prior with Canada's national snowboard team at the Burton US Open, before stepping back from competition to spend winters ripping through the backcountry, Ciccarelli first watched NST as a fan and was taken by how cool it seemed.

"I always hold this event to higher than anything."

Regardless of where NST lands in 2026, his only ask is "Keep it Canadian!"

"I'm definitely rooting for us Canadians."