1st ever skier judge in the history of the Northern VT Series apparently. And I tele, so does it really even count.. I know, I’ve trashed talked USASA for a long time too. I get it, always annoying rolling up to a mountain to shred the park all day only to find out there some points obsessed, comp jock, #nationals bullshit going on. So I’m kinda intrigued to see what it’s all about.
I’ve judged two railjams so far, and let me tell you, shits not easy. I’ve attributed to many a hate thread that pops up during x games year after year about judging. I have sympathy for the high level judges. So I’m kinda motivated now to figure this whole thang out.
Maybe, being the first judge that’s a skier for a whole region’s history in 2024 is part of the problem. I judge skiers and snowboarders btw, so boarders have been in control of your base level comp oriented skier, at least in this series. This is where a lot of pros get their initial start. I feel a bit guilty judging the boarders, especially when the field is tight cuz I know what’s cool, but I’m not as tuned in as I am with skiing obviously.
The snowboarder judges were blown away as I was just basically announcing some practice runs. Btw most snowboarders probably can’t tell when you spin left vs right. It’s not as distinguishable as frontside vs backside.
Shout out to you guys that were throwing down at Bolton’s rail jam last night. The next generation of skiers is doing some crazy shit, even at very young ages. I was skipping rails in the park almost 20 years ago when I was their age, definitely not doing Tokyo drift blind 3 swap continuing 2’s on a legit rail. And we’ve got some youngsters doing some québécois type of slides. Maybe the USASA attendee isn’t as lame as we all thought. This whole organization seems like it benefits the sport, it’s actually aiight.
We all trend towards the hating on comps end of the scale here on NS [Insert link to FIS pole controversy]. So, here is how the judging actually works, at least at the USASA level. There are 5 criteria that are evenly rated (lol ik right), those being Progression, Amplitude, Variety, Execution, and Difficulty. That’s a lot of stuff to think about as you’re trying to also document the trick, what the bib number is, etc in the span of a 30 second run with three or more features.
It really made me appreciate rider judged comps / rail jams / events. It always seemed easy to rank the order when your apart of the group / skiing against others. But we all probably pay attention to the best in the field that are throwing down, and those at similar skill sets.
I guess my point is, if you think judging in comps needs improvement, go out and be apart of it. It’s a fun side gig.
@JArens hit me up if you need a judge in training, I hate my management job and might be looking for a change 🙂
