ISF Ranking Compilation

SNOWBOARDING IS A SPORT NOT A DISCIPLINE

ISF, by the snowboarders for the snowboarders.

The ISF competition results and ranking system was designed to allow a direct comparisons between all levels of riders that enter ISF events.

Almost every week, weather permitting, ISF sanctioned events take place around the world. During the winter season in the Northern hemisphere several events take place each week. The results of these events are sent to Vancouver B.C. Canada where they are tabulated into the ISF World Ranking Lists. The lists are published and distributed back to race organisers so that the riders may know how well they are doing and be seeded for their next competition.

The competitions last season, 1995/1996, were organized into four world disciplines, The Alpine styles GS and Dual Slalom, the Freestyle Halfpipe and for the first time a new exciting event called the boarder cross that is neither Alpine or Freestyle but rather a head to head contest of four to six riders racing together from start to finish over a course designed to be very challenging! An Overall(Combined) list was produced for those riders that compete in the Alpine and Freestyle disciplines.

This season, 1996/1997, will have the same disciplines as last season. Each week a rider will be the World Champion in his or her discipline according to the ISF World Ranking Lists for that week. In the past this honour was an annual thing rather than weekly.

Competitions are graded by category with a World Championship, (usually held only every two years and no ISF points attributed), as the highest category event then down through Masters World Cup, Contintental Championships, World Series, Continental Open, National Championships, Challangers and Regionals. Each competition category has a different points allocation for the riders placings in the race. These race points are also adjusted depending on how many of the top 16 men and 8 women actually compete at any individual competition.

The rankings in each discipline are calculated by adding a riders best six results over the preceding 52 weeks, then sorting all the riders in that discipline who achieved points over the year to date, this then shows the top men/women in the world of snowboarding.

One advantage of this system is that it allows a rider who has just placed in his first race to be ranked with the top rider in the world, also theoretically, if a rider is good enough, he can get to the top of the World Rankings in a little over a year.

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