How is freeskiing scored?

Each judge writes one number per run, a whole number between 0 and 100 with no decimals (ICR 3403). Under the overall impression system (ICR 3403.2) the judge looks at the run as a whole, with no separate score per jump or rail.

The run score is the average of the counting judges. ICR 3403 says that wherever a score comes from division, it is truncated (rounded down) and shown to two decimal places. Three judges giving 65, 60 and 60 add up to 185. Divided by 3 that is 61.666…, and the official score is 61.66.

On a spreadsheet that rounds up, two riders separated by 0.01 can end up in the wrong order on a FIS result list. The Judges Handbook (9.1) shows the result as "XX,XX out of 100".

ICR 3403.2 draws the line at six. Up to 5 scoring judges, all scores count. With 6 or more, the single highest and the single lowest score are discarded and the rest are averaged. Handbook 9.1 repeats the rule for panels of 3 to 5 and 6 to 7.

The table uses the same rider and the same kind of run on three panel sizes.

Chapter 10.1 of the Judges Handbook gives a recommended point range for overall impression, marked "Freeski Only". It is a shared scale that keeps judges in the same band. A crashed run sits low, a clean run with a strong line sits high.

Snowboard judges work differently. Their chapter 11 is a deduction table ("Snowboard Only"): the judge prices the run as if it were clean and subtracts for the mistake. Freeski judges place the whole run in a band. Our page on how snowboarding is scored covers the deduction side.

Before the contest the judges watch practice to "establish the range" (Handbook 9.1). The first 5 to 10 scores they give become the anchor scores that every later run is ranked against.

ICR 3502 lists the formats a phase can use:

• Best of 2: two runs, the better one counts (3502.1).
• Best of x: three or more runs, the best one counts (3502.2).
• 2 or more best of x: for example best 2 of 3, where the two best scores are added. ICR 3502.3 allows this only at single-hit events, or short slopestyles with 1 kicker and 1 rail at FIS level and below.

A phase counts as a result only when at least 2 runs have been completed (ICR 3502). If a final planned with 3 or more runs is stopped after the second run, the best run so far decides (ICR 3704.2).

Slopestyle can also be judged section by section (ICR 3403.3) by 7 to 9 scoring judges. At World Cups, World Championships and the Olympics that format needs at least 9. The values recommended there are 60 % for trick judges and 40 % for composition judges.

For events at FIS level and below, ICR 3502.4 also describes a True Overall Ranking built from all runs.

In big air best 2 of 3, the two counting tricks must be different (ICR 3502.3.1, Handbook 9.5). The team captains' meeting picks one of two versions:

• Clockwise / Counterclockwise: clockwise and counterclockwise rotation are different types, and so are a front or back flip (without 180° or more of rotation added) and a straight air.
• 2 of 4 Directions: for skiers the four directions are Right, Left, Switch Right and Switch Left, and the two counting jumps must use different ones.

Snowboarders get the same rule with Frontside, Backside, Switch Frontside and Switch Backside. On skis the direction is named after the side of rotation, so a skier who lands a right 1620 and a switch right 1440 has used two directions.

When a rider tries the same trick again, ICR 3703.4 lets the judges give DNI to that jump. The rule keeps a rider from banking one safe trick twice. The big air skiing page shows the event itself.

ICR 3703 defines four codes that replace a score:

• DNI, Does Not Improve (3703.4): in a phase of 2 or more runs where the best run counts, a run that does not beat the earlier ones is not scored. In big air best 2 of 3, DNI can also mark a repeated trick.
• DNS, Did Not Start (3703.1): no place. A rider who does not start in a final is ranked last in that final.
• DSQ, Disqualified (3703.2).
• NPS, Not Permitted to Start (3703.3, 2023).

DNI is useful for spectators too. It tells them the rider's earlier run still stands, so nobody waits for a score that will not change the order.

ICR 3503 has no tie-break by runs. Tied riders receive the same rank and the same points. The rider with the higher start number is printed first on the official list.

A tie on the last qualifying place sends everyone tied to the next phase (ICR 3503.1, 3503.2). Without a semifinal, the next phase then has as many extra starters as there are extra tied riders.

At World Junior Championships, World Cups, World Championships and the Olympics, the data system must run a tie blocker: a tied score is accepted only after the head judge confirms it (ICR 3405.2).

JudgeMate has three category types for skiers: Freeskiing, Halfpipe Skiing and Big Air Skiing. For all three the scoring engine applies the FIS rules described above:

• the run score and the total from several runs are truncated to two decimals (65, 60, 60 gives 61.66);
• DNI is a run status the judge sets from the second run, in the "Best round" and "Sum of best rounds" formats. The judge decides, the system never sets it on its own;
• the Big Air Skiing template suggests the sum of the 2 best rounds.

Where JudgeMate differs from the ICR, say so at the captains' meeting:

• "Drop extreme scores" works from 5 judges. ICR 3403.2 drops scores only from 6, so with 5 judges switch it off. In the table above, the 5-judge run would score 74.33 with the switch on instead of 74.20.
• Ties are broken by runs (best run, then the second, then the third). ICR 3503 keeps tied riders level, and JudgeMate shares the place only after a full tie.
• Judges' scores have a 0.1 step. A FIS panel scores in whole numbers, so ask judges to enter whole numbers.
• A final is a separate category added with "Add next round". Qualification scores do not carry over.
• There is no FIS XML export. Results for a FIS-calendar event are uploaded through a system that produces FIS XML (ICR 3405).

To try it, create a freeski category or watch the freeski tutorial.