Ski Big Air Contest Software
Three jumps each, two of them count, and those two must be different tricks
A ski big air contest is scored jump by jump. Each judge gives a jump a mark from 0 to 100, the panel average is truncated to two decimals, and a skier's result is the sum of the two best jumps out of three. Under FIS ICR 3502.3.1 those two jumps must be different tricks. JudgeMate adds up the best two, truncates, holds scores for the head judge and builds the final as a new round. Spotting a repeated trick stays with the judges, who mark it DNI.
One kicker, two phases: the day in order
08:30 Team captains' meeting. The jury confirms the format and which variety rule applies to the final, Clockwise/Counterclockwise or 2 of 4 Directions (ICR 3502.3.1). Skiers plan their three tricks around that answer.
09:30 Practice. The judges watch the first jumps and agree where the range sits before anything counts.
10:30 Men's qualification. 34 skiers do not fit one heat: ICR 3501.1.1 sizes a big air heat at 12 to 30, ideally 25 to 30. Two heats seeded in a snake, ranks 1, 4, 5, 8 in one and 2, 3, 6, 7 in the other (ICR 3501.1.2).
12:00 Women's qualification, 14 skiers in one heat.
13:00 The cut and the finals' start list.
14:30 Finals. Before jump 3 the order flips: whoever ranks last after two jumps drops in first and the leader goes last (ICR 3604.3.1).
16:00 Prize giving.
The pressure point is jump 3 of the final. The leader already knows the number to beat, and the judges have to decide fast whether a trick repeats one that already counts.
Two jumps count, and they cannot be the same trick
ICR 3502.3 allows the "2 or more best of x" format only for single-hit events, or short slopestyle with one kicker and one rail at FIS level and below. Big air is a single hit, so best 2 of 3 is its usual shape.
ICR 3502.3.1 adds the variety rule: the two counting tricks must be different. The meeting picks one of two versions. Clockwise/Counterclockwise treats clockwise spins, counterclockwise spins, flips and straight airs as different types, so a clockwise 900 and a backflip already pass. 2 of 4 Directions uses the ski names Right, Left, Switch Right and Switch Left, where snowboarders get frontside and backside instead.
For a repeat, ICR 3703.4 lets judges use DNI in a best 2 of 3 big air when the same trick is attempted more than once.
For example, jump 1 is a right 1080 for 84.50. Jump 2 ends in a crash for 22.00. Jump 3 is the same right 1080 again, with a hand down, and the panel would have given it 80. The judges mark jump 3 DNI, so the total is 84.50 + 22.00 = 106.50. Had jump 3 been a left 1080 for the same 80, the total would have been 164.50.
From six marks to one total
Each judge gives one whole number from 0 to 100 (ICR 3403). With six or more scoring judges the highest and lowest marks drop out (ICR 3403.2). Any result that involves division is truncated to two decimals.
One finalist, six judges:
- Jump 1: 88, 85, 84, 83, 81, 76. Drop 88 and 76, then 333 / 4 = 83.25.
- Jump 2: 61, 58, 57, 55, 54, 49. Drop 61 and 49, then 224 / 4 = 56.00.
- Jump 3: 91, 90, 88, 87, 86, 84. Drop 91 and 84, then 351 / 4 = 87.75.
The two best are jumps 3 and 1, so the total is 87.75 + 83.25 = 171.00. Jump 2 stays on the sheet and adds nothing.
A snowpark contest with three judges keeps every mark: 79, 78 and 76 give 233 / 3 = 77.666…, shown as 77.66. JudgeMate truncates the same way, both the jump and the total.
One setting needs changing. The ready-made Big Air Skiing set in JudgeMate scores five weighted criteria (Difficulty, Execution, Amplitude, Style, Landing) and adds them up, so a judge's total runs far past 100. To mirror the ICR's single overall impression mark, replace them with one criterion scored 0 to 100.
The panel and the moment a jump goes public
ICR 3311.1 allows three to nine judges plus a head judge. World Cup and other international events need at least six scoring judges and the head judge (ICR 3311.7.2). Under the Judges' Handbook (chapter 7), no score is released as official until the head judge has verified and approved it.
In JudgeMate, Head judge releases scores holds every mark back from the board. The head judge sees the jump sorted by Start order or Standing, with ties shown in red, and releases it. Release with gaps publishes a jump when one judge's mark is missing, for example after a tablet drops off the network.
Drop extreme scores removes one high and one low mark from five judges upward. The ICR starts at six. With exactly five judges, leave the switch off.
DNI is a call the whole panel makes
In JudgeMate, DNI is a fourth run status next to DNS, DNF and DSQ. It appears in Big Air Skiing and the other FIS snow types when the format is best run or sum of best rounds and there is more than one jump, from jump 2 on.
Each judge sets it on their own sheet. A judge who marks DNI withdraws their own mark, and the marks of judges who did not still count. One judge alone cannot take a repeated trick out of the total.
So agree on the routine at the captains' meeting. The head judge calls the repeat, every judge marks DNI on that jump, and with the head judge's release switched on, the jump waits until the call is made. Nothing marks DNI automatically.
Qualification to final, and the reversed third jump
After qualification, Add next round on each category builds the final as a linked category with the same settings. You set how many skiers advance. When two skiers have the same total on the cut line, JudgeMate separates them by their best jump, then the second, then the third, and only one goes through. If you follow ICR 3503 and want both in the final, tick the second skier by hand in the Add next round window.
The final starts from zero. The qualification total does not carry over.
The speaker console runs its queue in start number order. It does not reorder the field for the reversed jump 3 of a big air final, so print the standing after jump 2 and give it to the starter at the top of the in-run.
Setting up the contest in JudgeMate
Allow about 40 minutes the week before.
- Open big air skiing in the create menu, create the event and add one Big Air Skiing category for men and one for women.
- In the category's scoring step, tap Start from a ready-made set and pick Big Air Skiing. It sets three jumps, Sum of best rounds and Best rounds counted = 2. Swap the five criteria for a single 0 to 100 mark if you judge like the ICR.
- Turn on Heats for the men's field.
- With six judges, switch on Drop extreme scores. Switch on Head judge releases scores.
- Import the start list from a sheet: bib, family name and first name in separate columns, plus a YoB column for birth year. Nation and FIS code go in as public entry fields of up to 40 characters.
- Send Invite judges once for both categories. Add to categories adds one person to both categories at once, so run it once for the head judge and once for the speaker.
The event's default category starts with two rounds and best round. The big air skiing tutorial with Mate shows that default and the judge's screen, and the ready-made set in step 2 replaces it with the 2 of 3 format. More about the discipline is on the big air skiing page.
Where JudgeMate stops on big air day
- Variety. JudgeMate does not check whether two counting jumps are different tricks or directions, and it does not store the name of the trick. The judges decide and mark DNI.
- DNI per judge. A jump drops out only when every judge marks it DNI.
- Jump 3 order. The reversed order in the final (ICR 3604.3.1) is not automated.
- Ties. ICR 3503 gives tied skiers the same rank and lists the higher start number first. JudgeMate first separates them by their best jump, then the second, then the third. The head judge's preview shows the tie before that tie-break.
- Whole numbers. ICR marks are whole numbers. JudgeMate accepts steps of 0.1, so brief the judges before the first jump.
- FIS XML. ICR 3405 requires results in the FIS XML format for events on the FIS calendar. JudgeMate does not produce that file.
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.
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.