Travis Rice is a renowned American professional snowboarder, widely regarded as one of the most influential and innovative figures in the sport’s history.
Born on October 9, 1982, in Jackson Hole, he grew up in a family deeply connected to the mountains, with his father, Paul Rice, serving as a member of the Jackson Hole Ski Patrol.
Raised near the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Wilson, Wyoming, where he continues to reside, Rice was initially introduced to skiing by his father.
He transitioned to snowboarding at a young age, quickly embracing the emerging sport and joining the local team despite his early skepticism.
Siblings
Travis is the son of Paul and Becky Rice and has one sibling, a sister named Ashley Rice.
Ashley has occasionally collaborated with Travis in professional capacities, including contributions to his creative projects and apparel brand initiatives.
Career
Rice’s career spans over two decades, beginning in 2001 when, at just 18 years old and without a sponsor, he drove to Mammoth Mountain for Snowboarder magazine’s Superpark contest.
There, he stunned the industry by landing a massive backside rodeo over a 117-foot gap jump, instantly propelling him into the spotlight and securing his place in major competitions.
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He turned professional that year and rapidly advanced from competitive snowboarding to pioneering big-mountain freeriding.
Rice has starred in more than twenty influential snowboarding films, including groundbreaking projects like “The Community Project” (2006), “That’s It, That’s All” (2008)—where he performed the first double cork 1260—and “The Art of Flight” (2011).
These films revolutionized snowboarding cinematography and freeride culture.
In recent years, he founded the Natural Selection Tour in 2021, a prestigious backcountry-style competition series that emphasizes creativity, safety, and environmental responsibility in the sport.
Accolades
Rice has won multiple X Games medals, including gold in Big Air in 2009 and other podium finishes in slopestyle and superpipe events.
He claimed several US Open Snowboarding Championships in slopestyle, along with victories at events like the Arctic Challenge and Icer Air—where he landed the first double rodeo 1080 in competition.
Rice has been named Rider of the Year multiple times by both TransWorld Snowboarding and Snowboarder magazine, amassing a record number of accolades in Snowboarder magazine’s rankings, including seventeen total honors.
In 2013, Red Bull named him the best contemporary snowboarder in the world, and he has been hailed as one of the greatest snowboarders of all time by various publications.
Additional honors include National Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year in 2011 for his exploratory big-mountain achievements, and he ranks #13 on Snowboarder magazine’s list of the 20 most influential snowboarders of the past two decades.
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