How to Compete in a Snowboard Freestyle Competition

Freestyle Snowboard Competition 101

You have hiked the freestyle terrain park and half pipe over and over and decided you’re ready to try your hand at competing, but don’t know where to start. The whole idea of snowboard competition seems intimidating.

Snowboard Competition Organizations

Freestyle snowboard competitions can be very rewarding through the friends you make, the camaraderie at the events, and your own personal competition progress. Freestyle snowboard organizations that hold sanctioned competitions are found all over the world.

In North America there are two main organizations for amateur freestyle snowboarders to try out competition;

• Canadian Snowboard Federation (CSF)
• United States of America Snowboard Association (USASA)

You can sign up and get a list of events at their websites. You can also sign up and register at most local events.

Plan Your Run

OK, so now you’re signed up and found out there is a local freestyle snowboard competition you have decided to enter. Don’t just show up and wing it; make a plan to stay focused. Here are some suggestions and tips to help prepare for competition.

• First thing you want to do is write a list of the freestyle tricks where you can stomp the landing every time. Snowboard competition judges want to see the freestyle tricks you can do, not the tricks you try to do.
• Next write a list of tricks you can land most of the time that are higher in difficulty.

Snowboard Competition Day

Once you get to the resort and see the line in the terrain park, plan out two runs from your list of tricks. The first competition run should be all solid tricks you can land every time; your second run should be a mix of solid tricks and close to solid freestyle tricks.

Once they open the freestyle competition course you should practice both runs exactly as you have planned. This way you have an outlined plan of action for all of your competition runs. If your nerves got the best of you on the first run and it wasn’t so hot, then do the same run again. If you stomped your landings in the first run and you felt great about it, then try your second outlined run. It’s always a good idea to check your score after your first run (if available) to give you an idea if you need to up the difficulty in your next run.

Snowboard Competition Scoring
Snowboard competitions can be scored in many different ways.

• Some competitions take the best run for results, so upping the difficulty if your first run was good can help a lot. Competitions can also take a combined score of all runs, so landing that “solid run” every time can boost your score.
• In rider judged competitions you may want to go for broke and huck that big trick to impress the competition.

Freestyle Snowboard Competition Tips:

• Plan your runs ahead of time and don’t deviate from the plan
• Know how the competition is being judged that day
• A solid run landing easier tricks is better than attempting harder tricks and sketching the landings
• Ride the pipe or park before the competition, especially the morning of the competition
• Always rotate both clockwise and counterclockwise for better points
• Always grab your snowboard when in the air!
• Get plenty of sleep
• Drink lots of water
• Eat a healthy breakfast
• Focus on your run, not the other competitors
• Wax your board for the conditions of the day
• Take a warm jacket to wear between runs
• Be attentive at the pre-competition meeting to get directions and your running order
• Most importantly, relax and have fun!

Remember, even seasoned pros still get nervous in competition, so don’t fret if your first comp didn’t go as planned. Learn from the experience and start planning for the next freestyle snowboard competition!