Now in its second year, the Slush Rider of the Year Awards provide the world's top snowboarders with an opportunity to take part in celebrating which of their peers have had the most impressive season over the previous 12 months. In turn the 2021 Slush Awards, as determined by the 200+ professionals who cast their ballots, recognizes those riders and projects which were the most entertaining, inspiring and impactful from January 1st, 2021 through December 31st, 2021.
With a diverse cadre of qualified opinions being culled from an electorate that transcends generations, geography and riding disciplines, the pool of pros who lent their opinions for the 2021 Slush Awards is unmatched in terms of credibility and accomplishments and includes the likes of Jess Kimura (@jess.kimura), Mikkel Bang (@mikkel_bang), Iikka Backstrom (@iikkabackstrom), Dan Leidahl (@littleyogurtbottle), Kennedi Deck (@kenned1deck), Jacob Krugmire (@krugs_), Jeremy Jones (@jeremy__jones), Victor Daviet (@victordaviet), Hana Beaman (@hibeams), Sam Taxwood (@concretesneaks), Bryan Fox (@bryanwfox), Mikey Leblanc (@17is), Reid Smith (@reid_4_speed), Halldor Helgason (@halldor_helgason), Louif-Felix Paradis (@whatelze), Parker Szumowski (@parkszoom), Jake Kuzyk (@jakekuzyk), Pat Moore (@patmoore) and more!
Forward Lean Award—Seen Snowboarding
Conceived in the Summer of 2020 by a community of pro's and esteemed creators including Kennedi Deck (@kenned1deck), Jake Kuzyk (@jakekyzyk) , Tanner Pendleton (@tannerpendleton), Chad Unger (@chadaunger) and others Seen Snowboarding’s mission is to bolster queer representation within our culture in order to manifest the notion that the snow covered slopes are a safe space for all. The inclusivity that they evangelize via @seensnowboarding on instagram is routinely put into practice via IRL meetups that canvas North America. Next up for Seen Snowboarding is a collaboration with artist Mikaela Kautzky (@mik00k) and Vans titled Queer Childhood. Queer Childhood seeks to create an archive of images of LGTBQIA+ snowboarders, skateboarders and others from their youth in order to showcase individuals as they were before being impacted by the expectations, institutions and constraints of our cis/heteronormative society.
With the Forward Lean Award @slushthemagazine seeks is highlighting altruistic initiatives within the snowboarding space whose mission is to bring resources, awareness, education and opportunity to those causes which strive to elevate and improve snowboarding culture through action. The empathy and efforts being brought to bear by all of the Forward Lean nominees isn’t merely admirable, but more importantly it's having a tangible and positive impact on our community.
Video of the Year (Short)—Good Sport
This two-year street project is arguably a milestone in street snowboarding projects, as Tommy Gesme, Derek Lever and Spencer Schubert put to record some of their best footage to date. And that’s saying a lot. With cameos by Danimals, Mark Wilson, and Artem Smolin, Good Sport stood tall in a sea of street-focused films this year.
Filmed by Colton Feldman, Jake Durham, Jon Stark and Seamus Foster. Edited by Coltan Feldman.
*The 2021 Slush Rider Of The Year Awards highlight the best riding and projects which impacted the snowboarding zeitgeist from 1/1/22 - 12/31/22 as voted by 200+ pro riders.
Video of the Year (Long)—Dreamcastle
With one collective obsession, the Dustbox has created yet another talk-of- the-industry piece that features street snowboarding from one of this generation’s most beloved crews.
Produced by: Colton Morgan, Morgan Jennings, Cooper Whittier
Riders: Cody Warble, Noah Peterson, Peter Cerulo, Robby Meehan, Ryan Collins, Brett Kulas, Billy Bottoms, Joe Sexton, Calvin Green, Jordan Morse, Colton Morgan, Reid Smith, Rob Roethler, Benny Milam, Tommy Towns, Noah Brown, Jonas Harris, Jill Perkins, Max Tokunaga, Dan McGonagle, Cole Navin, Cooper Whittier
Footage of the Year—Jill Perkins
Having filmed for several notable projects this winter, one thing is for sure–last year’s ROTY isn’t going anywhere. Taking on standout rails in Dreamcastle, Jill’s ender was one of the scarier, more impressive clips of the whole season.
Footage of the Year—Spencer Schubert
Spencer Schubert nabbed the ender of the most highly-anticipated street film of the year. His crescendo: an unthinkable backside 50-50, that was just the cherry on top of an incredible video performance.
Rookie of the Year—Emma Crosby
With her first full part in Salomon’s Hindsight, Emma Crosby shows a lot of promise for the future as a powerful rider both in the streets and in the backcountry.
Rookie of the Year—Noah Peterson
One of the youngest Dustbox members (Green Bean is probably younger?), Noah Peterson put up this year with noteworthy footage in Dreamcastle—from dicey transfers to switch bomb drops—that really stood out in a year of many street projects.
Rider of the Year—Zoi Sadowski-Synnott
Owning the most impressive contest result sheet in this field, forefronted by her spectacular performance at Natural Selection’s Jackson Hole stop, Zoi’s year has been undeniably among the best of any rider out there. To get analytical: She took first place at NST Jackson, World Snowboard Champs Slopestyle, and the World Cup Big Air in Austria. She took second place at X Games Slope, World Snowboard Champs Big Air and Laax World Cup Slope. She also nabbed third at X Games Big Air. And not that this plays into this year’s voting, but she just won the goddamn olympics.
Rider of the Year—Spencer Schubert
We can keep this one pretty succinct: With more technicality than perhaps any other street snowboarder delivered this year, Spencer Schubert had one of the best showings this winter, no question.
View all of this year's nominees