Running a Freeski National Cup Stop
Seeded qualification, a final from zero and a results file the federation will accept
A national freeski cup stop runs like a small FIS event: skiers are seeded into a qualification, the best go to a final scored from zero, and the final ranking turns into series points. JudgeMate handles the day for a national series with a Freeskiing category, a head judge who releases each run, the FIS 100–1 table or your own points sheet, and results as PDF and XLSX. It does not create the FIS XML file that events on the FIS calendar must upload.
Read the series rules before the ICR
A national cup sits under two rulebooks. The FIS International Competition Rules (ICR Book VI, edition June 2026) cover judging, formats and ties. The series rules decide who may start, which categories exist and what the federation wants back after the event.
The Polish Cup for snowboard and freeski is a good example. Its 2025/26 rules set four age groups for park and pipe: Senior (born 2007 or earlier), Junior U18 (2008–2010), Junior Młodszy U15 (2011–2012) and Młodzik U13 (2013–2015). A start counts for the series only if at least four Polish competitors start and finish. Helmets are compulsory. Results go to the federation as a PDF and as an Excel file, and the series ranking uses the points table in the federation's sporting guidelines, which is not printed in the cup rules.
Read your own series document for the same four things: age groups, minimum field, file formats and the points table. Everything else on this page follows from them.
Sizing the qualification
ICR 3501.1.1 gives qualification heat sizes per discipline. All three allow 12 to 30 skiers. The ideal is 20 to 25 for slopestyle, 25 for halfpipe and 25 to 30 for big air.
With two heats the ICR seeds in a snake (3501.1.2): heat one takes seeds 1, 4, 5, 8 and so on, heat two takes 2, 3, 6, 7. A semifinal is recommended once the field passes 24 to 30.
Age groups ride as separate heats (3501.3). A group with fewer than four skiers may be joined with the next older or younger group. At a national stop this can matter more than heat size: if only three girls enter U15, they may ride with a neighbouring girls' group.
In JudgeMate, each age group and gender becomes its own Freeskiing category, so groups stay apart in the results. If you merge a small group, put those skiers into the neighbouring category before the start list is printed.
Five judges or six changes the result
Each judge gives a whole number from 0 to 100 for overall impression (ICR 3403). With six or more judges the highest and lowest scores are discarded; with five or fewer, every score counts (ICR 3403.2). Division results are truncated to two decimals.
Take one run and five judges: 74, 71, 70, 68 and 61. Under the ICR all five count, 344 / 5 = 68.80. If the extremes were dropped, the run would score 209 / 3 = 69.66 instead. That gap can move a skier across the cut line, so the number of judges decides how you set up the category.
The Judges' Handbook (edition 2025, section 10.1) gives freeski a recommended range for overall impression: 1–30 a crash, 30–45 below average, 45–65 average, 65–85 good, 85–100 excellent. The panel uses it with anchor scores from the first riders, so a 70 means the same at 10:00 and at 13:00. Snowboard judges work from a deduction table instead (section 11), which is why a joint snowboard and freeski panel needs a short briefing before the first run.
JudgeMate's ready-made Freeskiing template splits the score into five weighted criteria: difficulty, execution, amplitude, variety and progression. Decide before the stop whether your judges use the template or one overall number.
The final and the cut line
A phase counts as a result once at least two runs are completed (ICR 3502). The final starts from zero; qualification scores do not carry over. If skiers tie on the last qualifying spot, all of them advance (ICR 3503.1, 3503.2). If a final of three or more runs is stopped after run two, the better of the completed runs counts (ICR 3704.2).
In big air with a best 2 of 3 format, the two counting tricks must be different (ICR 3502.3.1). For skiers the variant called 2 of 4 Directions uses Right, Left, Switch Right and Switch Left. The team captains' meeting decides which variant applies.
In JudgeMate, Add next round on the qualification category creates the final as a linked category. You enter how many advance, and a tie on the cut line sends every tied skier through. The final is scored on its own, the same as under the ICR.
Cup points and the file for the federation
The FIS World Cup table for park and pipe (WCR 1.7.1, edition 2026/27) pays places 1 to 30: 100, 80, 60, 50, 45, 40, 36, 32, 29, 26, 24, 22, 20, 18, 16, then 15 down to 1. National series often use a different table.
Under Cup points in the category, choose one of two sources:
- FIS 100–1, the table above.
- Upload points tables, an .xlsx or .csv with places in the first column and one table per column. You pick the table by its points for first place, so the regular stop and the series final can share one sheet.
Tied skiers get the same points. The points appear on the public results page and as a PDF column. For a federation that wants PDF and Excel, export the results PDF with the cup points column and export the whole event to XLSX.
Setting up the stop in JudgeMate
- Open freeskiing in the create menu and create the event. Add one Freeskiing category per age group and gender. For a halfpipe stop use Halfpipe Skiing, for big air Big Air Skiing.
- In the scoring step, choose Best round and the number of runs from the series rules. With six judges, switch on Drop extreme scores; with five, leave it off. Switch on Head judge releases scores.
- Add a field called YoB for the birth year, plus public fields for FIS code and club if the federation wants them on the list. Skiers have no stance column; ICR 3701.1 asks for stance only in snowboard.
- Import the start list from the series spreadsheet, with family name and first name in separate columns, and check the unrecognised headers before confirming.
- Send Invite judges once for all categories. With Add to categories, add the head judge to every category in one save, then the speaker in a second one.
- Set Cup points in each category.
During qualification the judges can mark a run DNI from run 2. The head judge checks each run sorted by Start order or Standing before releasing it. After the last qualification run, Add next round builds the final.
The freeski tutorial with Mate shows the setup on screen, and the PAVED criteria guide explains what judges look for in a slopestyle run.
What JudgeMate does not do at a cup stop
- FIS XML. ICR 3405 requires a data system that uploads results to FIS in XML. JudgeMate does not write that file, so an event on the FIS calendar also needs a separate data system for the upload (ICR 3405 recommends a FIS-certified one). A national cup that asks for PDF and Excel is covered.
- FIS database. The FIS code is an ordinary field from your sheet. Nothing is checked against FIS.
- Ties. ICR 3503 gives tied skiers the same rank and lists the higher bib first. JudgeMate first separates them by best run, then second run, best trick if used, then third run, and shares the rank only if all are equal. The head judge's preview shows the tie before that tie-break.
- Dropping scores. The switch works from five judges, the ICR from six.
- Score steps. Scores in JudgeMate go in steps of 0.1. Ask judges to enter whole numbers.
- Cut per heat. The cut line counts the whole category's ranking, not each heat separately.
- Different tricks in big air. The system does not check trick directions. Judges enforce the rule, if needed with DNI.
- Points by hand. Cup points follow from place and table only.
Set up your event
Free for organizers. No athlete cap. No commission on registrations. See freeskiing features · Organizer guide
Other scenarios
Youth freeski contest
U13, U15 and U18 by year of birth, girls and boys ranked apart, the better of two slopestyle runs, three judges with a head judge and PDF results.
Ski big air contest
Three jumps per skier and the best two count, which must be different tricks, with six judges, a head judge, DNI for a repeated trick and a final from zero.