Winter is on its way and with Sochi 2014 fast approaching, it’s going to be a big one for snowboarding. What with slopestyle on the Olympic agenda for the first time, we’re predicting that snowboarding – and snowboarders – will be hitting the headlines in a big way. But which ones? Well, if you’re stuck like a squirrel in a nut factory and don’t know where to look, here are our pointers for the top 50 snowboarders to watch out for this year. These are the 50 guys and gals who’ll be slap bang in the middle of the media spotlight.

The list is probably slightly Brit biased (so shoot us, we love our homegrown talent), and it’s definitely a little more focussed on competition riders than it would be normally. But what with all the silverware up for grabs in Russia, it’s a big time for those who ply their trade on the competition circuit. Of course contest success is not the only criteria here.
We’ve also looked at who’s likely to be getting big parts in this season’s major movie releases and who’s bagged the banger still shots from last winter (which will make up the majority of this season’s magazine covers and coverage). We’ve also just looked at who’s killed it of late, and who’s career is on an upwards trajectory – we think you’ll find there’s a few surprises in the list.

We’re sure you’ll disagree with some of these rankings, and we’d love to hear your thoughts too, so please let us know in the comments.