Alpine Points
The ability to measure one competitor's performance against another is the heart of competitive athletics. In a country as large as the USA, it's important to have measurement tools to evaluate the performance of skiers around the nation. Athlete performance is evaluated through various ranking lists. Athletes competing in scored competitions earn points, which are calculated mathematically to allow ranking lists to be developed. Ranking lists, in turn, are used by U.S. Ski & Snowboard for selection to teams, entry into higher-level competitions and development projects.
Alpine Ranking List Overview
Ski racers are: 1) scored by total points for each seeded competition in which they finish without disqualification, 2) ranked nationally and internationally according to their earned total points, and 3) seeded in subsequent competitions according to their total points earned in previous events. Thus, in ski racing, things are done "by the numbers".
Points are used in ski racing because of the unique character of the sport: there is no precisely defined standard field, track, or course for the competition. To compensate for courses of different length, on widely varying terrain, and on snow surfaces that can differ considerably, the FIS legislated 1) guidelines, such as minimum vertical drop, minimum and maximum number of gates, and gate dimensions, for the setting of courses, and 2) formulas for assigning points by relating a racer’s time to the winner’s time.
For more information on how the points are calculated, see Chapter 2, Points and Rankings, of the Alpine Competition Guide which can be found on the rules page.
Zeroing of National lists to FIS
U.S. Ski & Snowboard lists are zeroed each summer to bring them in line with the FIS points list - so that FIS and U.S. Ski & Snowboard points for a competitor appearing on both lists will be roughly equivalent. This is done by comparing the FIS and U.S. Ski & Snowboard points of the top USA-FIS racers in each sex/discipline. The zeroing factors shall be such that the average of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard points of these representative competitors after the factors have been added, approaches the average of the FIS points of these competitors. The adders are applied to every U.S. Ski & Snowboard racer’s points.
| DH | SL | GS | SG | AC | |
| Men | 10.60 | 2.60 | 2.61 | 7.75 | 25.00 |
| Women | 5.92 | 3.53 | 4.56 | 13.79 | 25.00 |
| List | National Close | National Valid | FIS Close | FIS Valid | Masters |
| Base List | July 14 | July 1 | |||
| List 1 | July 15 | July 15 | July 1 | July 1 | Dec 7 |
| List 2 | July 17 | July 21 | July 17 | July 21 | Jan 4 |
| List 3 | July 31 | Aug 4 | July 31 | Aug 4 | Feb 1 |
| List 4 | Aug 14 | Aug 18 | Aug 14 | Aug 18 | March 1 |
| List 5 | Aug 28 | Sept 1 | Aug 28 | Sept 1 | April 5 |
| List 6 | Sept 11 | Sept 15 | Sept 11 | Sept 15 | |
| List 7 | Sept 25 | Sept 29 | Sept 25 | Sept 29 | |
| List 8 | Oct 16 | Oct 20 | Oct 16 | Oct 20 | |
| List 9 | Oct 30 | Nov 3 | Oct 30 | Nov 3 | |
| List 10 | Nov 13 | Nov 17 | Nov 13 | Nov 17 | |
| List 11 | Nov 27 | Dec 1 | Nov 27 | Dec 1 | |
| List 12 | Dec 11 | Dec 15 | Dec 11 | Dec 15 | |
| List 13 | Dec 25 | Dec 29 | Dec 25 | Dec 29 | |
| List 14 | Jan 8 | Jan 12 | Jan 8 | Jan 12 | |
| List 15 | Jan 22 | Jan 26 | Jan 22 | Jan 26 | |
| List 16 | Jan 29 | Feb 2 | Jan 29 | Feb 2 | |
| List 17 | Feb 19 | Feb 23 | Feb 19 | Feb 23 | |
| List 18 | March 5 | March 9 | March 5 | March 9 | |
| List 19 | March 19 | March 23 | March 19 | March 23 | |
| List 20 | April 2 | April 6 | April 2 | April 6 | |
| List 21 | April 16 | April 20 | April 16 | April 20 | |
| List 22 | April 30 | May 1 | April 30 | May 1 | |
| List 23 | June 1 | June 1 | |||
To assure that your membership is processed for inclusion on any list, your membership materials must be received at least seven days prior to a closing date. Registrations are not considered received until they are complete. It is the athlete’s responsibility to ensure that his or her U.S. Ski & Snowboard membership registration is received; you can contact U.S. Ski & Snowboard member services (435.647.2666) to check the status of your application.
U.S. Ski & Snowboard and FIS points are not continually being updated; they are recalculated for each new list. For more information on how points are calculated and closing and valid dates, see chapter 2 of your Alpine Competition Guide which can be found in the Resources section. Closing and Valid dates for the points list are listed above.
Single Penalization Situations (sickness, injury, other obligations)
Competitors who are unable to compete in sufficient scored events to maintain their seed points because of injury, illness, studies, military obligations, or church commitments may protect their points through single penalization. Single penalization cannot be requested for lack of calendar opportunities. U.S. Ski & Snowboard and FIS membership must be renewed each year in order to maintain points, even when an athlete has single penalty protection. For more detailed information see the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Alpine Competition Guide, Chapter 2. The form for the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Single Penalty Protection is available on the right. FIS Single Penalty requests need to send an email to jeff.weinman@usskiandsnowboard.org with the name of the athlete and email contact for the athlete. The athlete will receive instructions on how to proceed. Single Penalty requests must be submitted to U.S. Ski & Snowboard for both FIS and U.S. Ski & Snowboard by April 15.
If you have a question regarding your U.S. Ski & Snowboard or FIS points or ranking, or an event result, please be sure to provide U.S. Ski & Snowboard with sufficient details to help you. Most notably, indicate your sport (alpine, cross country, freestyle, etc.).
- Name of athlete and U.S. Ski & Snowboardnumber (if known)
- Sport (alpine, cross country, freestyle, nordic combined, ski jumping, snowboard)
- U.S. Ski & Snowboard or FIS issue
- U.S. Ski & Snowboard or FIS event ID (if appropriate and known) or location and date(s)
- Your specific question
Click below to send an email with your specific question or contact:
Margo Yatkeman, National Rankings Coordinator
435.647.2037
margo.yatkeman@usskiandsnowboard.org
Resources
View AllAlpine Points List Downloads
- 7th National Alpine Points List for season 2023-24 - valid 28 Sept. - 11 Oct. 2023
- 7th FIS Alpine Points List for season 2023-24 - valid 28 Sept. - 11 Oct. 2023
- FIS Alpine List Cover Page
- 7th National Masters Membership List for season 2022-23 - updated 1 April 2023
To Lookup an athlete's current points, ranking, and race results use the Member tools.