I think a big part of the problem is that the format and even the criteria changes. Or, contest to contest, different aspects of the criteria seem to be weighted differently.
The criteria itself seems consistent (technicality in rotation and grabs, amplitude, execution in the trick and landing, creativity in takeoff/axis/grab combos, and overall impression/style) but the way the various elements are valued seems to change a lot event to event. Last night’s big air is a good example of where degree of rotation and execution seemed to be the biggest determining factor, whereas we’ve seen AHall win contests spinning 360-540 less than others.
It’s really hard for a sport like this. We really don’t want to be aerials or even moguls where certain tricks are assigned a certain score and then based on that highest possible score for each trick, deductions are made based on the execution of the trick. However, because so much of this sport is subjective, it makes scoring and consistency event to event really hard.
I personally think every event should be based on overall impression, and creativity/progression. I personally would have no problem explaining my rankings and maybe that could happen to some extent, publicly. I don’t know exactly what that would look like, and maybe it’s not realistic, I don’t know.
I do know that in larger comps, between quails/semis and finals, judges will tell athletes what they’re looking for or why a certain run scored a certain way, and what would need to be different for it to score higher. So there is transparency on that level. It’s one thing when the viewers don’t understand why the judges liked run B more than A, but it’s a real issue when the riders don’t know.
One thing I hate though? Watching dudes switch snowplow. That shit is gross and there’s no excuse in my opinion for any guy at this level to do it. It just screams “I spend all year on a trampoline”. For me, that’s why I struggle to fully give props to Ragettli and even Boesch. Yes, they’re wildly talented and gotta respect what they’re doing—and I do— but I will personally always just appreciate what guys like Colby, AHall, even Evan Mac and Woodsy bring to the table between the features.
However you want to judge these things, especially talking slope, first and foremost guys should look comfortable and smooth, and at home on their skis.
These judges have a tough and thankless job.
chrisjbauerI remember last year Fabian Bosch did a trip 1980 in qualifiers and they scored it way low and he didn’t make finals.Tom said something like well that makes sense because he is spinning like aerials and judges don’t like that. Now Andri does it and they score it in the high forties. So which is it do they like whoever spins most or whoever is most creative?
