Gigi knows: We’re all just lucky to be here. Photo: NST
Of all the ways to plant your feet on the podium at Natural Selection, Gigi Rüf does it differently than the rest. Cool, calm, and smiling the whole damn time, the 44-year-old Austrian came in as a wildcard to last year’s competition in Revelstoke and flowed his way into third place.
Middle-aged snowboarders around the world tuned in to watch Gigi assert his relevance among snowboarding’s elite. His performance was artistry in motion, with an approach that combined full use of the venue, a touch of the unexpected and a couple of showstoppers that lit up the natural amphitheater.
The best part?
In three years of covering Natural Selection, I’d never seen any of the competitors have so much fun. Gigi punctuated each run with little acts of showmanship, took the time to chat with anyone who approached him, and in the days leading up to the contest, blasted sidehits with the local groms on Revelstoke Mountain Resort.
Yes indeed, we could all learn a thing or two from Mr.Rüf.
And really, it’s no surprise that he did well in Montana Bowl. After a lifelong career of precisely the kind of snowboarding that NST facilitates, Gigi felt right at home on the venue. Also, with first and second place finishes at 2013’s Ultra Natural and 2012’s Super Natural respectively, Gigi’s part of Natural Selection’s DNA.
He’s shared podiums with the old guard, legends like Travis Rice, Nicolas Müller and Bryan Fox. And now, after converting his wildcard to an invite back to Revelstoke, Gigi’s stood on the box alongside Blake Moller and last year’s men’s champion, Ståle Sandbech. Not bad for a guy who, in his own words, “was just happy to be there.” I caught up with Gigi on Austrian time and tried to get a glimpse into the mindset that helped him plow through a field of the world’s best snowboarders.
With little time to prepare last year, and some encouragement from home, Gigi let it all hang out. Photo: NST
Nice to be pre-qualified for NST after your finish in 2025. There are still a lot of riders who don’t know whether or not they’re coming back yet…
It’s kind of mind-boggling because last year I had a four-day window to actually decide and then go to the comp. I literally was thrown into the cold water and now I’m thinking maybe it was better that way. I have all that lead time to make myself kind of crazy. I like the spur of the moment and a little bit of magic in there, something that works to my favor.
A little bit of magic. I feel like that’s a pretty good way to describe your snowboarding in general. What was your process picking out your lines last year?
I kind of have a go-in-and-ride mentality. And there definitely was some planning, but really what dawned to me throughout the weather window and even talking to all the people there, it appeared that we have nine chances to qualify, so that’s impossible to actually have a plan going in.
So I tried to actually improve throughout each run. On the first one I tried to just ride pillows. That was my first go. And then I did that but really got bucked on the last part of the line. And then I knew the area that I was moving in, so I tried to improve from that pillow line and combine it with other platforms or tricks and what the conditions were giving us.
Initially, I never thought you were super competitive. But when I watched your duel with Jared [Elston] from 2023, I saw more of an edge. Are you a competitive person?
I don’t see myself as a competitive person because I love snowboarding so much that I want to do the best I can, obviously. And if competitiveness means to deliver a good show and motivate others to get the most (out of their riding), I would say I like the opportunity. You know what I mean? So I can definitely lose if it’s a fair game, but if somebody plays super tactical and seems to outsmart me, I have already lost because I’m really not going in there with a theory or a plan. Like I said, I’m kind of riding on the vibe of a session. That’s what snowboarding is to me. I think I’m there to also hype up others.
I got the impression at NST that you were having more fun than anyone else.
Yeah, because I have nothing to lose! It was an opportunity to show my values towards snowboarding with all the lessons learned.
And one of them was seeing actually Jared [Elston] again because we had some beef the years before starting from that duel and me interpreting it as being judged in his favor. After that, he dropped in on a line filming while I was up there already, so there was a lot of talk and even social media about that. And the encounter was at this year’s Natural Selection where I came face to face with Jared again and we buried the hatchet.
For me it’s not that important. What matters is that we can do what we love to do. And like it is with expectations, I like to take them, crumple them up, throw them in the bin, and that’s just the way of creating nice snowboarding. The one little bit of punky attitude that I have is to work against expectations and just to be in that surprise element.
I actually didn’t know about the whole thing with Jared, but I do remember when you finished your run he came up to you and gave you props.
Yeah, it didn’t matter what everybody was stirring up for us. I’m glad I asked him, ‘do you think everything’s cool again?’ And he said ‘I would like to think so.’ Really, it’s just a lot of misinterpretation, maybe part of it is he’s grown up different. He’s coming from a way different area. That’s the struggle you have as an older rider when there’s a bigger gap, like generations, that certain things have changed and are so hard to keep track of. So it’s better to let go of some, let’s say competitiveness. And that’s the state I’m in.
Did you ever doubt yourself last year? Or maybe even for this upcoming season?
My wife said the most beautiful thing when I asked should I do it (last year) because I don’t really put myself in that upper echelon of snowboarding and she said, ‘What? I know you can do it.’ So I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s go.’ That was pretty neat. I’ve definitely won already to have been invited in again and turning around that wildcard to a secure a spot. That makes me really happy. And also that my experience shines through opposed to the younger playing field of people. So it seemed like we all have our own power maybe. I feel like age at these venues doesn’t really matter. So when I’m riding I shouldn’t be too much in my head, just let it go.
Let’s talk about Slash Snowboards.
That’s pretty much 80 percent, if not 100 percent of what I’m giving my all to nowadays. It’s a family business doing everything ourselves. And what that means is making my own boards for 12 years, since I got second at Supernatural. So it’s always been something that gave me a little bit of additional motivation. And with Slash I’m definitely working my ass off to be still here and I’m trying to find out if it’s an egomaniac thing that I want to survive. Or is it not just better that I would rely on my sponsors and ride this thing out? Snowboarding has given me so much. So making kids’ boards and kids’ events, I guess something that all riders do is try to get the participation level up a little bit.
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Well I guess it keeps you relavant, whether you’re snowboarding professionally or not.
Yeah, definitely something to do. Keep my foot in the door, I would say. And the good old picture of getting the first board under the Christmas tree and then go out, try it and see what you find. That’s what has kept me going. With Slash, it’s just a lot of creative people around me. I’m just doing the snowboarding, but there’s equal talent in other aspects, drawing the graphics or tinkering with engineering or filming, the whole marketing thing as well. So I try to summon the people around me and that’s kind of the impact I can have is just to be accessible and to collaborate like this. So that’s a big value that I try to hold. And I know that with Slash being an independent company, I’ve got a little niche there and room to have that creative freedom and to obviously also make the boards I need to have without all the bells and whistles. It’s a little bit more than snowboarding. It’s also the creative part that fulfills me with Slash.
What’s the secret to keeping it so fresh after all these years? How are you showing up Natural Selection in such a way that you can do this?
Well, I’m just happy to be there. And by all means, I’m definitely filled with gratitude. Running my own company, I know how much work goes into having it all come together…So I think it was something where I was like ‘I made it. And everything else is forgotten.’ I like to snowboard so that’s the easy part. For me, it felt like I was just really happy to be there and I didn’t think I could fuck up at all. There’s no way I need to prove myself now because snowboarding is such an intricate thing to me and it follows me every day. Is it a surprise to you that you can have fun doing what we’re doing?
It’s a surprise when you see people getting upset and taking it too seriously. But at the same time, I get it because it’s so emotional, there’s so much to it. There are so many different layers. Snowboarding’s its own thing. But if you attach too much bullshit to it, then it can become something else and you forget what you’re doing there in the first place.
I think nowadays, progression is simply having a really fulfilling day and not letting your goals take away from living in that moment and doing what you can. I think we’re already quite fortunate to spend the day snowboarding and I really don’t know what progression is except if you overcome your own boundaries. Everybody has a different skillset. There’s no measurement of where progression starts. You’re even progressing if you’re having a bad day and you can turn it around and rest on that for the moment. If at the end of the day that hot chocolate is waiting, it was a good day. I think that’s where I’m at with my mindset.
Rewatch last year’s Natural Selection finals here.
