MTB
FMBA Head judge Paul Rak breaks down the judging criteria used at Crankworx Slopestyle and explains what makes Emil Johansson's riding so impressive.
When you see one athlete after the other complete astonishing runs full of mind-blowing tricks on huge jumps, it can almost be hard to fathom. When compared to 'normal' jumps most of us mortals hit in our local mountain bike park, you quickly realise that what these athletes are doing on Crankworx Slopestyle courses is almost incomprehensible.
One rider, in particular, has stood out in the above category, the 8-time winner and bike magician Emil Johansson. Throwing down clean, technical runs with world-first tricks and combinations at every event, the Swede makes his runs look so clean and easy that it's hard to grasp just how difficult they are.
However, while the audience sometimes needs slo-mo to understand the tricks performed by Johansson and his cohorts, the judges of the FMB World Tour know exactly what’s going on. Closely analysing, evaluating and rating each trick, landing and movement out on the course, they must weigh one run against the other to put together a final score. It’s no easy task and every judge-based sport comes with a lot of pressure. Something Paul Rak, the head judge at the Freeride Mountain Bike Association (FMBA), which runs the FMB World Tour, is well aware of.
Having been part of the judging crew since the beginning of Crankworx back in 2004, he’s witnessed the scene and sport develop with riders like Brandon Semenuk, Brett Rheeder and now Johansson pushing the sport to a new level. So before tuning in to the big Slopestyle show at the Crankworx World Tour, Rak helps to explain some of the mystique involved in the world of slopestyle judging, breaking down the judging criteria, as well as explaining what makes Johansson's runs so impressive.
Tune in to Red Bull TV on the 13th of November to watch Crankworx Slopestyle live from Rotorua, New Zealand.
Hello Paul, to begin with, please tell us bit about yourself?
I started judging snowboarding in Whistler, British Columbia around 1996. From there, I worked my way up to international events and also became a judging educator at the highest level. In Whistler, I was around a lot of events and once the first Crankworx came, they asked me to head judge it. I didn’t have much biking experience at that time but understood the tricks and the difficulty of them. Not long after that to started biking myself and traded my snow boots in for MTB shoes. Today I live in Squamish and ride some of the best trails in the world.
What does your role as head judge entail?
A head judge has a good understanding of the sport, knows their trick difficulty and constantly watches for execution of a trick. But also, at the same time has to manage three to six other judges; watching them and making sure they don’t miss anything and, most importantly, make sure they are all on the same page. A head judge also organise the other judges and their travel, lodging and payment.
How many judges are there at a Crankworx event and do you need a licence to be a judge?
At Crankworx we try and always have five judges plus a head judge. There are three basic judging licenses: A, B and C license. A C license is given to any judge that takes a clinic. Over time and experience, you can move up to an A license which lets you judge any MTB event in the world. I’ve been teaching the FMBA Judging Clinics since they started back in 2008.
What criteria are the riders judged on?
There are seven criteria but four of them weigh more heavily and are watched more carefully.
- Trick difficulty: the understanding of how tricks have evolved and what tricks are harder than others.
- Variety: doing different tricks, opposite tricks, combining tricks, and not repeating the one trick you are good at.
- Execution: the stability, fluidity and control of the tricks. Making it look easy shows that you have mastered the trick.
- Progression: doing tricks that have never been done before (which is actually becoming the norm these days at every Crankworx event!).
- Amplitude, Risk taking, Course use: These don’t way as heavy but are still considered during every run especially if a judge has a hard time deciding between two riders’ runs.
What's the process after a run has been completed?
All the judges, including the head judge, watch the entire run and go back over each trick. Once the run is done, the criteria help us achieve a proper score. The mountain bike athletes these days are very familiar with the judges and know exactly what we are looking for. We welcome them into any discussion about tricks, runs or options or different features.
How do you stop personal bias coming into?
Personal bias is in all of us: how you are raised, where you grew up, how your mountain biking evolved - it's different for everyone. The way you control bias is to turn off your brain about who is dropping in and just watch the run and score it for what it's worth. Not for the colour of the rider’s pants or their weird attitude.
It’s hard to talk about Slopestyle today and not mention Emil Johansson. With 8 consecutive Crankworx wins, what makes his runs score so high?
Emil is checking the trick difficulty and execution box at every event. He is doing tricks that many others can not grasp. At the same time, he’s doing tricks that no one else has done in MTB Slopestyle. He has the ability to add another trick to an already hard combo - his easiest trick in a Slopestyle run can be some other athlete’s hardest trick. Emil is completely mastering the sport at this point.
He is also very calculated when it comes to competitions. He will size up his competition the minute he sees a start list and sees who he is up against, then plans his run in a smart way - he plans to win.
Emil is completely mastering the sport at this point.
At Red Bull Joyride, what made Johansson's run score higher than Timothé Bringer's?
Red Bull Joyride has many trickable features and after watching both Timothé’s and Emil’s runs, it’s a quick comparison as to who had harder tricks, how many harder tricks and where on the course they were placed. The points are not as important to us, the judges, as to the public. The rank is the most important to us, the score is just a vessel to get us there.
Emil’s highest score ever is 98 points at Crankworx Innsbruck 2022. Would you say a 100-point run would be within the grasp of someone his caliber?
The 100-point run is within anyone's grasp. The only way a rider can achieve a 100-point run is to be the last to drop in for the Slopestyle run and beat everyone’s runs. But this is not a goal of ours (the judges). We score as best and consistently as possible and giving 100 points is not even a thought of ours. We always leave room for more. Again, at the end of the day, it’s about the rank and not the score. Only the media has a thing for the perfect 100-point score.
Again, at the end of the day, it’s about the rank and not the score. Only the media has a thing for the perfect 100-point score.
With riders like Emil and others before him pushing their skills and the sport to its limits, has the judging criteria changed over the years?
Judging is evolving at every event. We are constantly talking about how we can make it better, faster and more consistent. Since I started judging, it has changed drastically. We have tried many different ways to judge but the judging system we are using at this point is as good as it’s ever been. We are in constant chats with riders and they are always welcome to talk to us about their runs. We follow them on their social media outlets and see what they are doing, training and possibly bringing to the next event.
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