Snowbird, UT – Stop #1 of the North Face Masters of Snowboarding at Snowbird has announced the official competition schedule and photos of the possible venues for this years big mountain snowboard competition. New this year at Snowbird is an official athlete tram load to get riders up to the peak before the crowds arrive to the resort. Athletes will be able to board Snowbird’s tram 45 minutes before the general public. This should be very well received with all the riders in the competition.

$15,000 is up for grabs during the first stop of the NFM tour at Snowbird. The prize purse will be an even split between the men and women with first place taking home $3,500, second place $2,000, third place $1,000, fourth place $750.00 and fifth place taking home the last cash spot with $250.00. To top that all off the overall tour winner recieves an extra $2,500 so you can gurantee everyone will be riding from broke.

The official competition schedule can be found below:

Thursday, Jan 20th 2011
Registration
9:00am -3:00pm Media check in – Alpine room
9:00am -3:00pm Athlete registration – Alpine room
9:00am Venues announced – Alpine room
9:00am – 3:00pm Course Inspection open – TBD
3:30pm – 4:00pm Athlete Meeting – Alpine room

Friday, Jan 21st 2011
Masters Day 1
8:00am – 3:00pm Media check in – Alpine room
8:00am – 8:15am Athlete tram load – Snowbird Tram
8:15am – 9:00am Inspection open – TBD
9:00am – 9:10am Forerunners begin – TBD
9:15am – 2:00pm Day 1 Masters begins – TBD
1:30pm – 3:00pm Day 2 inspection – TBD
3:30pm – 4:00pm Athlete meeting – Alpine Room

Saturday, Jan 22nd 2011
Masters Day 2
8:00am – 3:00pm Media check in – Alpine room
8:00am – 8:15am Athlete tram load – Snowbird Tram
8:15am – 9:00am Inspection open – TBD
9:00am – 9:10am Forerunners begin – TBD
9:15am – 2:00pm Day 2 Masters begins – TBD
2:30pm – 3:00pm Awards – Tram Plaza
4:00pm – 5:00pm Athlete poster signing – Alpine Room
5:00pm – 10:00pm Athlete after party – Tram Club

Also new this year is an Athlete poster signing taking place from 4:00-5:00pm on the final day of competition. Now is your chance to get your picture taken with your favorite North Face Masters Athletes and even get them to sign some gear. Last year riders Travis Rice, Mark Carter, Ross Baker, Ralph Backstrom, Charlie Hoch and more all competed in the Snowbird event, just those autographs alone would make the trip worth while..

JUDGING & FORMAT – courtesy of http://www.thenorthfacemasters.com/

The North Face Masters– Format/Criteria – 2-day competition

Sebastien Jam – 2010 North Face Masters at Snowbird: Photo Hardaker

The overall goal is to select winners of the competition based on the best of (2) runs on Day 2. In the case that only (1) run is possible on day 2 due to weather, then best run of that day will win. Please note that Day 1 scores will not carry over, but could dictate the winner if inclement weather prevents competition the remainder of the weekend.

Day 1

* 90-100 riders total– Approximately 30% Women, 70% Men
o Approximately 40 – 60% of Day 1 riders will advance to Day 2
o Next day weather forecast will have bearing on how many we take
* Scheduling changes, delays, and other rider notifications will be distributed at both the finish area and registration room. Start orders will be provided each morning. Athletes are responsible for keeping track of the competition flow and being on time for their scheduled start.

Day 2

* The goal is to utilize a different and more advanced venue on Day 2
* Another cut will be made after the first run on Day 2. Please note that not everyone gets (2) runs on the second day.
* Approximately 10-15 riders across men’s and women’s categories will advance to Finals for their third run of the competition.

Finals

* Best run of the day wins

Snowbird 2010 TNF Masters Mens Winners (Left to Right) Ryland Bell, Mark Carter, Ralph Backstrom Photo: Hardaker

Scoring Methods

* Overall Impression (one score per judge)
* Judging panel consists of (3) judges and (1) head judge
o Head judge does not score*
* 0-100 system
o Each of our judges scores will be averaged to produce the score for that run.

*In the event that a judge is sick or unable to attend, head judge will score

Scoring Guidelines

Line

* Difficulty
* Originality
* Fall line vs. traversing

Control

* Is the rider in control at all times? In addition to speed this includes airs, linking turns, and not side slipping.

Fluidity/ Flow

* Is momentum/ speed maintained
* Continuous flow throughout the run even if billy goating

Creativity and Style

* Utilizing features
* Tricks/ Freestyle
* Airs/ Jumps

**Falls/ Crashes

Overall judged scores will be affected by falls but it does not mean a clean, easy run by one competitor will out score a difficult run that has a non interruptive fall in it.

* There will be strong penalization for falling above a no-fall zone, thus putting the rider at serious risk. Full out of control falls will be strongly penalized anywhere on a run
* Falls of all types will impact all criteria categories. (i.e. hand dragging, butt checks, tomahawks, etc.)
* All other types of falls (hand touches, hand drags, wheelie bars, and sits) will be taken into context of the run. Examples: Did the rider just huck and not try to land? Did rider have control in the air and just could not pull it off? Did the fall change the fluidity? Did or could another rider stick that jump?
* Stop Landings / Control maneuvers– Riders may choose to land in a way they can stop themselves abruptly due to lack of room in the fall line of the landing. How this is executed can affect scores in either direction. If the maneuver is necessary for the line, flow was not interrupted, control not lost, etc scores will be affected positively. However, if the maneuver was not necessary for the line, or flow is interrupted scores will go down.

For coverage from the TNF tour at Snowbird from last year, please visit: http://mtnweekly.com/2010-the-north-face-of-masters-snowboarding-2-11478