Big air scoring is based on judges rating each jump on how hard, how clean, and how big the trick is, then combining the rider’s best jumps for a final total.

Big picture: what are they actually scoring?

In snowboard and freeski big air, riders take multiple runs (usually three) off a single huge jump.

Each run is one main trick; judges give that trick a score, typically up to 100 points.

Key points:

  • You only get one “real” trick per run (set‑up hops etc. don’t matter much).
  • At the end, only your best two jump scores are usually added together for your final result.
  • Those two counted jumps must be different tricks (e.g., different direction, different rotation or grab), so riders can’t spam the same move twice.

So if someone posts 92, 88, and 70, and the 92 and 88 are clearly different tricks, their total is 180 and the 70 is ignored.

The DEAL criteria (what judges look for)

Most modern big air events, including Olympic‑style ones, use four core criteria, often grouped as DEAL : Difficulty, Execution, Amplitude, Landing.

1. Difficulty – how hard is the trick?
Judges look at: rotations, number of flips, direction (switch vs regular, spin direction), grab type, and overall complexity.

  • More spins and flips = more difficulty.
  • Taking off or landing switch, spinning “blindside”, or using technical grabs raises the difficulty score.

2. Execution – how clean and stylish is it?
This is about control and style throughout the trick.

Judges want to see:

  • Strong, stable posture in the air, no wild arm flapping.
  • Grab held for as long as possible, maybe even tweaked or poked (pushing the board or ski out for style).
  • A smooth, stomped landing without hand drags or big wobbles.

3. Amplitude – how big is the jump?
Amplitude is essentially height and distance off the lip.

  • Big airtime that still lands in the “sweet spot” of the landing = strong amplitude score.
  • If you go too big and overshoot the landing, you’ll likely lose execution/landing points even if the jump looked massive.

4. Landing – do they actually ride away clean?
Landing is make‑or‑break.

Judges look for:

  • Board/skis down at the right angle, absorbing impact smoothly.
  • No butt checks, hand drags, or big skids.
  • Riding away in control without reverting or falling.

Many events also explicitly reward variety and progression (doing different, new, or creative tricks) in their overall impression.

How the numbers on screen are built

When you see lots of numbers by the rider’s name and some are crossed out, that’s the judges’ panel in action.

Typical flow:

  1. A panel of judges (often 5–6 people) each gives an overall impression score for the trick, usually 0–100.
  1. The highest and lowest individual judge scores are thrown out to remove outliers.
  1. The remaining scores are averaged to create the single run score you see on TV.

On broadcast graphics:

  • The small numbers next to flags or under a rider’s name are often each judge’s score; the crossed‑out ones are the highest and lowest that don’t count.
  • The bigger number in bold is the final score for that jump , after averaging the middle scores.

Then, across the whole contest:

  • Riders usually get three attempts.
  • Only their top two jump scores are added for their total.
  • If they repeat a trick too closely, that jump might not be eligible to count, forcing them to vary their runs.

Why different tricks matter

Modern formats want to showcase a rider’s range, not just their “one big move.”

So:

  • You might see one spin in one direction and another in the opposite direction (e.g., one frontside, one backside), or one forward takeoff and one switch.
  • Doing two nearly identical tricks, even with slightly different grabs, risks judges or rules panels deciding they don’t meet the “different tricks” requirement.

Strategically, this means riders balance:

  • A super‑high‑risk, high‑difficulty trick to get one huge score.
  • A slightly safer but still different trick to lock in a solid second score.

That’s why big air finals often feel like poker: riders decide when to “go all in” with their hardest trick versus banking a cleaner, safer one.

Quick example (made‑up, but realistic)

Imagine a snowboarder’s three jumps in a final:

  • Run 1: Switch backside 1620 with a long grab, big amplitude, clean landing → judges average to 93.00.
  • Run 2: Frontside 1440, still big but slight hand drag on landing → average 86.00.
  • Run 3: Another switch backside 1620, similar to run 1 but with a sketchy landing → average 88.00.

Even though the rider’s two highest single scores are 93 and 88, both 93 and 88 are essentially the same trick family (switch backside 1620s).

So the event will likely count:

  • 93.00 (switch backside 1620)
  • 86.00 (frontside 1440, clearly different)

Final total = 179.00 , not 181.00.

HTML table: core judging criteria

Here’s a quick HTML table you can drop into a post:

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Criterion</th>
      <th>What it means</th>
      <th>What judges reward</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Difficulty</td>
      <td>How technically complex the trick is (rotations, flips, stance, grab).</td>
      <td>More spins/flips, switch takeoffs/landings, technical grabs and combinations.[web:5][web:7][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Execution</td>
      <td>How cleanly and stylishly the trick is performed.</td>
      <td>Stable body position, long held grabs, tweaked style, no mid-air flails.[web:1][web:5][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Amplitude</td>
      <td>How big the jump is in height and distance.</td>
      <td>Going huge while still landing in the sweet spot of the landing.[web:1][web:5][web:7][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Landing</td>
      <td>How cleanly the rider rides away.</td>
      <td>No hand drags, butt checks, or big skids; controlled ride-out.[web:5][web:7][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Variety &amp; Progression</td>
      <td>Range of different tricks and how new or creative they are.</td>
      <td>Different directions/axes across runs, innovative or rarely seen tricks.[web:1][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

TL;DR: Big air scores = judges rating each jump on difficulty, execution, amplitude, and landing, throwing out their highest and lowest scores, averaging the rest, then adding a rider’s best two different tricks for the final total.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.