2026 Research and Development | Event Recap + Full Edit
Words and Photos Aga Iwanicka
Billy Pelchat on contest day.
It’s 5:30 p.m. and the peaks of Ymir Bowl are reflecting shades of yellow and orange. In the nearly empty parking lots, crows replace the cars, looking for an evening snack. Another long day at Research and Development at Whitewater Mountain Resort is wrapping up. Radios are returned, and most athletes head down to rest after hours of hitting jumps, scoping lines, and endless bootpacks. A few keeners squeeze in one last lap through the slushy snow, free from the weight of avi and camera packs. Their soul turns pass under a lone bald eagle circling the evening sky. “It’s Jeff,” someone said, followed by silence until the bird left our field of view.
Watch the full RnD edit here.
We’re here for Research and Development, a unique gathering of female athletes from across snowboarding who learn to work together throughout a busy week of riding, building backcountry features, and filming. Standouts have a chance to win over $20,000 and claim one of three spots at the Natural Selection Tour. “[RnD] was created out of a deep desire to have equality between men and women on the Natural Selection Tour,” says organizer Robin Van Gyn. Presented by title sponsors Arc’Teryx and YETI, the event aims to elevate women’s opportunities in snowboarding, providing them with a platform to showcase their skills while also being mentored and guided. Riders are judged in a single-day contest, along with a best trick clip filmed during three days of shooting. These components count for 70% and 30% of the final score, respectively.
Juliette Pelchat, Estelle Pensiero, Hana Beaman, and Ellie Weiler on filming day two.
Robin is fully involved in everyday on-snow action and supports the 15 participants together with an incredible team: Hana Beaman, Sarka Pancohova, and Ben Bilocq on the athlete side; Chad Chomlack, Andrew Miller, and Sean Aaron on the media side; and Jamie Lynn on the judging panel, just to name a few legendary names in snowboarding involved in RnD.
Robin Van Gyn post vert throw.
It’s a team environment, with mentors assigned to each group of three to four athletes to help plan their days, navigate terrain, assess avalanche risks, and boost creative discussions about potential tricks. Juliette Pelchat arrived in Nelson to participate in the event straight from the Olympic Games in Milan, Italy. While looking up the steep face of the comp venue, she humbly admitted: “It’s a really big learning curve for me. I have never really picked up a line before.” Her highly skilled riding, combined with support from mentors like Hana and Robin, helped her link her first backcountry lines right there on the slopes of Whitewater Resort.
The venue at Whitewater Mountain Resort.
Katie Kennedy and premiere shaper Ben Bilocq.
Upon our arrival at the comp venue on Tuesday, the official scope day, we stared in awe at surfaces of shimmering, untouched pow—kudos to the Whitewater patrol team, who roped off a large chunk of terrain for RnD. “It’s looking money,” Robin commented—and it sure did. Sunday's action arena was the north-facing Trash Chutes, a classic local slackcountry area, where steep, technical spines, mandatory drops, and sluffing faces overlook a low-angled pillow field. To embody the backcountry freestyle nature of the event, a playful jump zone was added to the open area below the cliffs by a crew of local volunteers, alongside Robin Van Gyn, Austen Sweeten, and Ben Bilocq.
Participants dropped in twice in seven-minute intervals from starting points along the ridgeline accessible with a steep twenty-five-minute bootpack, which made for some hilarious commentary and shorter breaths on the way up. An all-female team ran the operations, with Natalie Langmann-Towers and Carmen Leung keeping a hand on the pulse behind the scenes. Zoë Vernon announced riders while tirelessly waving a large Canadian flag at the top of the face, making it easy for spectators to spot the next person about to drop.
Katie Kennedy dropping on contest day.
Eva Van Vugt makes quick work of the bootpack.
The atmosphere at the bottom of the venue was cheerful and the air smelled of barbecued sausages and good times. A local crowd showed up to support Eva Van Vugt in anticipation of show-stopping, massive drops, celebrating her with cut-outs of her face on sticks and face tattoo imitations of her small pterodactyl tattoo next to her right eye.
The winner was announced on the final Monday night of the event, and to the joy of the crowd—including OG JF Pelchat—it was his younger daughter Billy who received $10,000 and an invitation to the Natural Selection Tour.
Riding two clean and techy lines, a well-tweaked method, and a Cab 5 on the contest day, paired with solid footage from the filming days were the secret to success for the Whistler born and raised athlete.
Awards Night
Second place, $6000 and another NST invite, went to the versatile Japanese rider Yuka Fujimori, a mom to a two-year-old girl, who impressed the judges with her line choices, solid style and level of technical execution. Third place, $4000 and an alternate spot at the NST, went to the crowd favourite, Katie Kennedy, who was always progressing her riding and trick game and never not having fun.
Yuka Fujimori
In order to grasp the spirit of Robin’s event in its entirety, one has to also look at some of the special awards handed out that night.
The “Seal Team Sender” award, which included a $1,000 CAD cash prize, went to Eva Van Vugt for the second year in a row. The drops in both her runs, reminiscent of free-fall, were absolutely humongous. “Some people go bungee jumping, Eva goes snowboarding,” says Ben Bilocq. She initially claimed she would spend the prize money on cigarettes, but reconsidered the next day.”
Eva Van Vugt clocking air miles.
Jeff Keenan was Robin’s dear friend and she dedicated one of the awards to him. This year’s “JK Approved” was awarded to Stefi Luxton for her attention to style and proper execution of tricks. With all her grabs clean, solid landings, and riding always in control, that’s the kind of riding Jeff would be proud of, Robin said at the awards ceremony at the Royal in Nelson.
“The Clinic” aka “Golden Crutch” award, in the form of a decorated crutch and a spa visit, went to Katie Kennedy for incredible effort and hard work she put into her video clips, riding open to close, grinding every film day. She showed everyone how it’s done and her passion for snowboarding deserves to be recognized.
Robin Van Gyn crowd surfing on Awards Night.
Community building and the progression of women’s snowboarding are what makes RnD more than just a qualifier for NST. Van Gyn is helping change the game for all women in snowboarding on a global scale. Ripple effects are visible to the naked eye, as noted by the local boarder, Van Vugt: “I think RnD means a whole lot to the community here, especially the women. It’s pretty incredible for everyone to get to come up here to watch these girls rip and see the community that exists within the RnD itself—that definitely has been extended to the Nelson community. It’s really cool to see that and be inspired.”
Thank you RnD and thank you Robin!
