Youth Freeski Contest, from Sign-ups to the Results PDF
U13, U15 and U18 on one slopestyle line, with a head judge who signs off every score
A youth freeski contest splits skiers into U13, U15 and U18 by year of birth, with girls and boys ranked apart. Each skier takes two slopestyle runs and the better one counts. In JudgeMate you create the six categories in one step, import the coach's spreadsheet with year of birth and club, invite three judges, a head judge and a speaker to every category at once, and print start lists and results as PDF. Scores are truncated to two decimals under ICR 3403, and judges can mark DNI on run 2.
The contest: thirty skiers, six rankings
A ski club runs a slopestyle for its own team and two neighbouring clubs in the 2026/27 season. Thirty skiers sign up through their coaches. The park crew shapes a short line with a box, a down rail and two kickers, small enough for a twelve-year-old to ride switch into the first jump.
The club wants six rankings: U13, U15 and U18, each for girls and boys. Every skier gets two runs and the better one counts, so the panel scores sixty runs. Three judges sit beside the landing of the last kicker, a head judge checks their scores, and a speaker at the start calls the next bib. A parent volunteer prints the start lists the evening before.
Which birth years go where
FIS counts age by year of birth, so a skier born in December is grouped with one born in January. The FIS age table for 2026/27 (ICR 2013.3.4) gives:
- U13: born 2014–2015, no FIS points in this group
- U15: born 2012–2013
- U18: born 2009–2011
A club contest can copy these groups as they are. Coaches already know them, and the results read the same way as a FIS start list.
Groups will be uneven. If only three U18 girls enter, ICR 3501.3 allows a category with fewer than four skiers to be joined with the next older or younger one. Merge them with the U15 girls when sign-ups close and put the change on the start list before training starts.
Three judges, a head judge and a common point range
ICR 3311.1 sets a panel of 3 to 9 judges plus a head judge. Three judges cover a club contest. Each gives a whole-number score from 0 to 100 for the overall impression of the run (ICR 3403). With up to five judges, ICR 3403.2 counts every score, so nothing is dropped.
Young freeskiers land fewer clean runs, and a new panel tends to drift. The FIS Judges' Handbook (Edition 2025, chapter 10.1) gives a recommended point range for freeski only: 1–30 for a crash, 30–45 below average, 45–65 average, 65–85 good and 85–100 excellent. Agree on it at the judges' meeting after watching practice, and treat the first scored U13 runs as your anchor scores.
The head judge is the last check. Chapter 7 of the handbook says no score is official until the head judge has verified and approved it. At a club event that is also the person who answers a coach asking why a run got 52.
Two runs, truncation and DNI
The average of the judges' scores is truncated to two decimals, never rounded (ICR 3403). Scores of 74, 71 and 70 give 215 / 3 = 71.666…, which goes on the board as 71.66.
Best of two (ICR 3502.1) suits a short day with young skiers. ICR 3502 also requires at least two completed runs for a phase to count, so with two runs both have to happen. Schedule U13 first, while the snow is still firm.
When run 2 does not beat run 1, the judges can give DNI, Does Not Improve (ICR 3703.4). A skier who lands run 1 at 71.66 and goes down on the rail in run 2 keeps 71.66, and the board shows DNI for the second run instead of a low score.
Sign-ups for minors: what is public
ICR 3701.1 lists the skier details on FIS start lists: bib, family name, first name, nation, year of birth and FIS code. Stance appears only for snowboard events, so a freeski list does without it. A club list usually adds the club.
In JudgeMate a sign-up field stays private until you mark it public. A public answer is limited to 40 characters, and the server sends only those answers to start lists and results. A parent's phone number or a consent note is visible to the organisers and to the person who signed up.
If the coach's sheet has a full date of birth, the import keeps only the year. Skiers added by import do not need their own account.
Setting up the contest in JudgeMate
Open freeski in the create menu and give the event a name.
- Six categories. Use Create several, type U13, U15 and U18 and tick both genders. Every ticked gender becomes its own category with the same rules.
- Runs. Keep 2 rounds and Best round. Freeski categories come with truncation to two decimals and the DNI status.
- Head judge. Turn on Head judge releases scores. Judges' scores wait until the head judge publishes the run. Before that, the head judge sees the start order and the current standing, with ties marked in red.
- Fields. Add a public field named YoB for the birth-year column and a private one for a parent's phone.
- Start list. In each category, import the coach's sheet: first and last name in separate columns, Bib, club, YoB. Columns the import does not recognise are listed before you confirm.
- People. Send one Invite judges link for all six categories and approve the judges. With Add to categories, put the head judge and the speaker into all six in one go.
- Contest day. Turn on Speaker console + run timer. The console calls skiers in bib order with a 3-2-1 countdown, and Skip athlete handles a skier still on the lift. Turn on Consistency column in results if the coaches want it; the ranking does not change.
- Results. Make the event public so parents can follow scores in a browser. Print start lists and results as PDF with the columns you choose (Bib, YoB, club) and up to six sponsor logos.
The freeski tutorial with Mate walks through these screens, from the YoB field to the head judge's release.
Where JudgeMate differs from the FIS rules
- Ties. ICR 3503 gives tied skiers the same place. JudgeMate first separates equal best runs by the other run. If your contest rules say shared places, announce it at the team captains' meeting and settle the prizes by hand.
- Score steps. Judges can type scores in steps of 0.1, while ICR 3403 asks for whole points. Tell the panel to enter whole numbers.
- Dropping scores. Drop extreme scores starts working at five judges, while ICR 3403.2 drops the high and low only from six. Leave it off with three judges, and also with five.
- DNI is the judges' call. Nothing sets it automatically.
- Merging small groups is manual. Create the merged category before importing the list.
- No FIS data upload. JudgeMate does not send results in FIS XML or calculate FIS points, so a FIS-calendar race needs its own data system.
For how FIS judges work, read the FIS judging handbook guide. The sport overview is on the freeski page.
Set up your event
Free for organizers. No athlete cap. No commission on registrations. See freeskiing features · Organizer guide
Other scenarios
Freeski national cup stop
Seeded qualification, a final scored from zero, a head judge who releases each run, the FIS 100–1 table or your own points sheet, results as PDF and XLSX.
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.