You've signed your kid up for their first freeride comp, you're standing at the bottom of a mountain in the cold, and a number appears on a screen. Is that good? Why did the kid who went bigger score lower? What on earth is a "DNF"? Here's what's actually happening — plain English, no jargon.
Junior freeride across Canada and the rest of the Americas runs under the IFSA system (the International Freeskiers & Snowboarders Association) — the rules are the same right across the region, not specific to any one province. It is not the same scoring you see on a Freeride World Tour livestream, and that difference is the first thing worth understanding.
The whole system is built to reward riding in control — not riding the biggest. That's the design, especially for juniors. A kid who picks a smart line and rides it cleanly beats a kid who hucks something beyond their ability and scrambles. So if your instinct is "I'd rather they ride safe than ride huge," the scoring already agrees with you.
01The Five Things Judges Score
Every run is scored on five things — but they aren't simply added up. Judges first decide what the run was worth, then take away for mistakes. More on that just below the five.
Line decided before the first turn
The difficulty of the route your kid chose — how steep, how exposed, how much air. Judges score this first, and every judge records the same line value. A chunk of the score is locked in by what they decide to ride.
Control
How in-command they look the whole way down. This is where mistakes get subtracted — a hand-down, a butt-check, a fall. The bigger the slip, the bigger the deduction.
Technique
The craft underneath it — board control, edge work, body position. The fundamentals that make everything else possible.
Fluidity
How continuously the run flows top to bottom. Stopping, hesitation or a stuttering descent costs points; the best runs look like one unbroken motion.
Style
How it all looks pulled together — the difference between getting down the line and owning it.
Judges score the line, add for how well your kid rode it — that's what the run was worth — then subtract for any loss of control. One crash doesn't just cost "crash points": it drags down nearly every category at once. That's why a kid who went huge and fell can land below a kid who did something modest but clean. A junior run tops out at 47 points — a completely different scale from the 0–100 you see on an FWT livestream, so don't compare the two numbers.
02What Judges Reward vs. What Looks Good on Instagram
The clip that gets the most likes is often not the run that wins. Going bigger than you can control is penalised, not rewarded — because the mistake comes off nearly every category at once. A clean, well-chosen line ridden in command beats a huge, sketchy one almost every time at the junior level.
So the thing to reinforce at home isn't "send it." It's: pick a line you can ride clean, and ride it like you mean it. That's what the math actually pays for.
03The Stuff That Can Stop Them Cold
Two things are checked at the start gate, every time: a helmet, on properly, and a back protector. No back protector means no run — it's recorded as a DNS and zero points for the day. Make it non-negotiable at home so it's never a surprise at the gate. Every rider also has to inspect the venue the day they compete (a slow, no-tricks look) — skipping it, or sessioning features during it, can mean disqualification before the event even starts.
Inverts — front and back flips — are not permitted in any IFSA junior competition, regardless of age or division. A flip means disqualification. Spins are fine, as long as the feet don't go higher than the head. It's a straight safety rule for developing athletes.
And the three letters you'll see on the board:
| What it means | Points | |
|---|---|---|
| DNS | Did Not Start — never left the gate, missing mandatory gear, or didn't inspect | None |
| DNF | Did Not Finish — came out of a binding, got assistance, or was brought down by patrol | Last-place points |
| DQ | Disqualified — a flip, riding out of bounds, helmet off mid-run, or breaking the rules | None |
Worth telling your kid: if something goes wrong mid-run, ride calmly down and through the finish — no tricks, no drama. A DNF still earns last-place points, which count. And there's a fairness rule built in: if several riders DNF on a tough day, they all tie for last and all get those points — nobody's punished extra for a bad-luck run.
04The Age-18 Decision
One of the biggest questions families face is when a rider should move on from the junior ranks toward the senior qualifier and pro pathway — and the trade-offs of going early versus staying and dominating at the junior level a season longer. It's a real decision with real consequences for points, funding and development.
We're putting this together carefully rather than guess at the rules — the specifics matter too much to get wrong. Subscribe and you'll get it the week it's ready.
05Timeline & Cost — What to Really Expect
Junior freeride isn't a cheap sport, and the costs — travel, entries, coaching, gear — add up across a season. A clear-eyed look at what a season actually asks of a family, in both time and money, is coming.
Full cost & timeline breakdown — coming soon.
06The Safety Baseline to Insist On
Beyond what the rulebook enforces, these are worth holding your kid to every day on the hill, not just on comp day: helmet and back protector always; riding within their ability, not beyond it; respecting closures and boundaries; and never riding a line they haven't looked at. The scoring rewards exactly this — so good habits and good scores pull in the same direction.
And one thing most parents miss: after results are posted, judges will give feedback to any athlete who asks — up to five minutes each. It's not for arguing the score; it's a chance for your kid to hear exactly what the judges saw and what to work on. It's worth more than the placing.
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