Since it debuted at the 2014 Winter Olympics, freeski slopestyle has delivered a historic U.S. podium sweep, an innovative run from Alex Hall, and tons of progression from the women’s field. What will come next at Milan Cortina 2026?
Read on to learn nearly everything there is to know about freeski slopestyle, including competition format, judging criteria, and what to look for in the rail sections of the Livigno Snow Park course.
What to know about other disciplines: Halfpipe | Big Air | Moguls/Dual Moguls | Aerials | Ski Cross
What is the schedule for freeski slopestyle at the 2026 Winter Olympics?
Freeski slopestyle competition will take place on the following days at the Milan Cortina Games:
- Saturday, Feb. 7 (Day 1): Women’s and men’s qualifying
- Monday, Feb. 9 (Day 3): Women’s final
- Tuesday, Feb. 10 (Day 4): Men’s final
What are the quota limits for men’s and women’s freeski slopestyle at the Olympics?
There are 30 quota spots each for men and women. Slopestyle and big air are treated as one event for qualification purposes, and athletes who qualify for Milan Cortina 2026 are eligible to compete in both disciplines.
What are the rules for freeski slopestyle at the Olympics?
Each competitor takes a full run through the slopestyle course, executing tricks in each section of the course. A panel of judges assess the tricks that are performed during the run and then score the run.
What are the features of an Olympic slopestyle course?
Every slopestyle course is unique, but there are certain requirements they all must abide by. The course must have at least six sections, at least three of which must be jump sections. The course also must have at least two different lines that skiers can choose between.
What is the competition format for freeski slopestyle at the Olympics?
There will be two rounds of competition at the Milan Cortina Games: the qualifying round and the final.
How many runs does each skier get in the qualifying round, and how many advance to the final?
The qualifying round consists of two runs, with each competitor’s best single run counting. The top 12 skiers advance to the final.
If the organizers choose to divide the qualification field into separate heats, then a certain number of skiers from each heat advance to the final, but the total number of skiers advancing to the final still would be 12.
Scores from the qualifying round do not carry over to the final.
How many runs does each skier get in the freeski slopestyle final?
The final consists of three runs. Once again, only each competitor’s best score counts toward the final results.
How is the start order determined for the freeski slopestyle final?
The start order for all three runs is the inverse of the results from the qualification round, so the athlete with the lowest score in qualifying goes first and the athlete with the best score goes last.
How many judges score each slopestyle run at the Olympics?
Each slopestyle run is scored by a team of nine judges. Three of those judges are responsible for evaluating each run based on overall impression. The remaining judges are split into groups — typically three groups of two — with each group responsible for evaluating tricks done on specific sections of the course.
How does Olympic freeski slopestyle scoring and judging work?
There are two different types of judging that slopestyle contests can use:
- Overall impression: Each judge scores the run as a whole on a scale from 0-100
- Section-by-section: Some judges score the run based on overall impression, while other judges assign scores to individual tricks
For the Winter Olympics, freeski slopestyle events use section-by-section judging. Final scores are out of 100 and are made up of the following components:
- 60% trick scores
- 40% overall impression
Although FIS rules allow different sections to be weighted disproportionately, it is common for contests using this method to value all sections equally. So the maximum number of points that can be awarded would be the same for a rail section at the top of the course as it would be for a giant booter at the bottom, placing emphasis on a well-rounded run rather than one or two big jump tricks.
Because many slopestyle courses have six sections, usually three jumps and three rail sections, that would make each section worth 10% of the overall score. In this scenario, judges would enter their trick scores on a scale of 0-100, but each trick would be recalculated into a score of up to 10.0 points.
In giving their marks, judges consider several different criteria, including:
- Amplitude: In slopestyle, amplitude is not just gaining the most height or distance possible, but landing at the decided “sweet spot.” To have too much or too little amplitude on kickers can be dangerous and will be taken into account by the judges.
- Difficulty: The technical difficulty of tricks is assessed. Generally speaking, tricks with more rotations and/or more inverts are considered more technically difficult and are rewarded as such. But there are other ways skiers can increase the difficulty of a particular trick. For example, an athlete may decide to take off switch (backward) when executing a trick, or they may decide to do a more challenging grab to differentiate themselves from other skiers in the field.
- Variety: Skiers are expected to showcase a diverse mix of tricks. One of the most important ways a skier can show variety is in the way they spin when executing tricks. There are four possible directions in which a skier can spin: left, right, switch left and switch right. (In other words, athletes can either spin to their left or to their right, and they can do this while skiing either forward or switch.) Most slopestyle courses feature three or four jumps, so athletes often will map out their runs in a way that allows them to perform a different spin on each jump. Another way skiers can show variety is in their grabs. Rather than doing the same grab on every single trick, athletes frequently will mix it up.
- Execution: This refers to the stability, fluidity and control of the tricks performed. Were the grabs held properly and for a long enough period of time? How smooth were the landings? Did the skier drag their hand across the ground at any point? How much “style” was evident in the run? These all are among the considerations of the judges.
- Progression: Skiers are rewarded for introducing new tricks or for linking together tricks in a way that never gas been done before. Creativity and innovation also can be factored in.
There is no true universal consensus on “deductions” or how to determine an exact score. More than anything, scores are a means to an end — a way for judges to accurately position athletes on the leaderboard. Scoring is based on how athletes stack up against each other on that particular day, rather than being based on a strict mathematical formula or even past history.
For example, the very first athlete to compete sometimes might receive what’s deemed to be a “low” score, relatively speaking. This simply is because judges, who have to evaluate the run they just witnessed against theoretical runs they think might occur later on, need to leave themselves cushioning to account for other competitors — in other words, a skier never will score a perfect 100 unless they are the final athlete to take a run. Because of this, scores from two different contests, whether it’s between two different rounds or two different Olympics, truly never will be comparable.
How are individual sections of the freeski slopestyle course scored?
For each section, the judges will evaluate the trick(s) executed in that section and assign a score of up to 100 points. Each section is evaluated independently of one another, so it’s up to the judges to decide which tricks belong at the higher end of the scale for that particular section.
Based on how many features the slopestyle course has, each trick score is recalculated so that all the trick scores account for 60% of the overall score when combined together.
What deductions can occur during a freeski slopestyle run?
Where a skier often will lose points is in the execution of their tricks. A run could be packed with a variety of difficult tricks, but if any single one of those tricks isn’t executed well, then the overall score will suffer.
So, what are some of the reasons that a skier might be docked for poor execution?
- Athletes are expected to grab their skis during every jump trick. Missing the grab or letting go of the grab early is penalized.
- Skiers are expected to maintain control throughout each trick. Flailing the arms while in the air is penalized.
- At the end of each trick, judges are looking for clean landings. Hand drags are penalized even if the skier lands the trick without falling.
- Skiers are required to plan out their runs so they can flow from one section to the next without changing direction. If a skier’s direction changes between features (from forward to switch, or vice versa), that’s called a “revert” and is penalized.
- Skiers are expected to maximize the rail features. Coming off the rail early, rather than sliding to the end of it, likely is penalized unless it was done intentionally to link multiple tricks together.
As mentioned previously, there’s no standard decreeing that certain errors result in a specific number of points being deducted. That’s because the scores in freeskiing are used as a means to an end for ranking the athletes.
What are the most difficult rail tricks in freeski slopestyle?
When it comes to the rail sections, there isn’t any particular trick to expect. It’s more useful to understand some of the nuances that make certain tricks more technical than others:
- When jumping on or off a rail, higher degrees of rotation can add difficulty
- A “pretzel” — spinning onto the rail in one direction, then spinning off the rail in the opposite direction — can add difficulty
- Doing a trick switch (backward) can add difficulty
- Rails with longer sliding distances, narrower widths or characteristics such as kinks and curves can be more difficult to utilize
- Linking together multiple tricks in one section can add difficulty
- Transferring between two separate rail features can add difficulty
While the above guidelines are considered by the judges, there is a myriad of possible tricks that could be done in each section, and ultimately it’s up to the judges to decide how to weigh the difficulty of two different rail tricks against each other.
How is an Olympic slopestyle course designed?
The last two Olympic slopestyle courses (in 2018 and 2022) were developed and built by Schneestern, a German company that specializes in building action sports parks.
A slopestyle course must conform to certain standards — namely, it must have at least six features, and at least three of those features must be jumps. Beyond that, there’s a lot of room for creativity.
The rail sections — which must have multiple lines and must be designed with both snowboarders and freeskiers in mind — vary greatly from course to course, but even the jumps can be unique. Previous Olympic slopestyle courses have included angled kickers and side hits.
Even the perimeter of the course can have interesting elements. At the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, a structure paying homage to the Great Wall of China ran alongside the course. It wasn’t just decorative though — it also was designed to help shield the skiers from wind.
That slopestyle course’s lead designer, Dirk Scheumann, discussed the process of building the course in an NBC Olympics podcast.
What are the differences between slopestyle and big air skiing?
A typical slopestyle course features three rail sections and three jump sections. Take one of those jump sections, make it larger, and you basically have big air.
Aside from that, the biggest difference is in the competition format. Slopestyle forces skiers to put together one well-rounded run. Big air only requires skiers to land one trick at a time but still emphasizes consistency and variety due to its best-two-of-three format.
The skills used for slopestyle and big air largely are transferrable, so athletes who qualify will compete in both at the Winter Olympics. However, there are many athletes who specialize in one more so than the other.
How do weather conditions affect slopestyle contests?
Slopestyle contests can heavily be influenced by weather conditions:
- As the day progresses and the course moves from sun to shade, the course will get faster
- At certain hours of the day, when the sun is low in the sky, visibility can become an issue, as skiers will have a harder time spotting the landings on the jumps
- Snowy conditions cause the course to slow down, which makes it harder for skiers to gain the speed needed to do bigger tricks on the jumps
- Heavy wind can create safety issues for the skiers and is one of the major reasons that an event might be postponed or altered