First Snowboard and Freeski judges’ clinics of the season successful in Switzerland

From 23rd-25th September 2021 approximately 20 of the world’s top snowboard gathered judges in Saanen, Switzerland, for the International Snowboard Judges Clinic. Meanwhile, across the valley in Crans Montana, some 30 freeski judges from all across Europe were also gathering for their annual education symposium.

Last year’s education process took place via the Fis-edu.com online platform, which featured different courses on individual disciplines as well as a judges ethical responsibilities. The clinic then built on these courses with webinars which allowed judges from all across the world to share their experiences and insights to work collaboratively to improve and refine judging knowledge and skills across the board. 

After getting the all-clear to have in-person clinics again this season, it was exciting and encouraging to see judges once again coming together to discuss snowboarding and freeskiing. And, for judges who couldn’t enjoy in-person attendance at this year’s European clinics, they were still able to connect remotely over Zoom to listen in, and learn from the proceedings.

Communication is a huge part of judging – whether between the members of the judging community or between judges, coaches and riders, and our veteran Canadian snowboard judge Sandy Macdonald set the tone for the Saanen clinic with an inspirational communication presentation. Focusing not just what is communicated by judges, but also how those communications are made, Macdonald emphasized the importance of ensuring that the message conveyed is correctly received by all relevant parties.

Judging itself was then the focus for the remainder of the clinics on both the snowboard and freeski sides of things, focusing on all three Park & Pipe events (Halfpipe, Slopestyle and Big Air), while specifically diving deeper into the combined-score big air format as well as section-by-section (SBS) slopestyle judging being introduced on the World Cup circuit in recent years.