2023 USS Congress Information &  Significant Action Items for 2023-24

For anyone looking for a recap, meeting minutes and reports have been posted online here.

Below is a summary of action items that were passed by the Alpine Sport Committee, along with other important informational items.

U18 Start Limitation
The U18 FIS start limitation for the technical events was modified to be 35 for second-year (YOB 2006) athletes. The limitation for first-year (YOB 2007) athletes will remain at 30 starts. There is no  limitation in the speed events of DH, SG, and AC. The exceptions will continue for technical starts at the World Cup, World Junior Championships, Youth Olympic Games, U.S. Alpine Championships, and U18 National Championships.

TRS for Scored Events
After being tested this year, the Teasdale and Randall System was officially approved for scored and non-scored competition. TRS is commonly known as random seeding. The method flips the start list for  the second run, then butterflies the original start list for the first run of the second day, and flips the butterfly for the second run on the second day.

Random Seeding at U16 Nationals
Random seeding was approved for the U16 National Championships to promote racing from any start position, and to solve for some of the unequal access to points that exists between divisions and regions  in different areas of the country. The plan is to randomize the field for Super-G and then re-randomize the start list and run TRS for the four runs of GS and SL racing.

Race Entry and Lift Ticket Cost
Race organizers must publish race entry fees separately from lift ticket costs.

U14 SG Training Run
Official training for U12 and U14 SG must include at least one SG training run prior to the first competition. Official training for U12 and U14 SG events is an integral part of the competition and all  athletes are required to participate. In exception cases, a jury decision can authorize a controlled free-ski run in lieu of an official training run. The jury decision must be documented in the jury minutes. If racing  with U16 athletes, U1256.4 applies: U14 and younger athletes must be provided a training run as provisioned in this rule.

U14 and Younger Race Local Policy
U14 and younger athletes wishing to race out of Region must have their home club coach obtain permission from their home Regional director and the director of the Region in which they are wishing to  race. Within their home Region, U14 and younger athletes wishing to race out of their home Division must have their home club coach get permission from their home Division and the Division in which they are wishing to race.

Divisions may designate certain races as “Open,” and these events can be open to competitors from the home Region without the requirement for specific/individual permission.

Ski Cross
Ski Cross was approved to move from Free Ski to Alpine and to report to the Alpine Sport Committee going forward. Coordination for events will continue with USASA and the Hole Shot Free Ski tour. An  effort will be made to calendar events adjacent to the Alpine calendar as well.

Event Registration
As a result of the partnership with Outside Media, U.S. Ski & Snowboard will no longer use its own internal Event Registration system. Instead, race organizers are encouraged to use other registration  systems that currently exist in the market, e.g. skireg.com or adminskiracing.com.

Coaches Education L100 Requirement
As a reminder, the L100 requirement is one season away. Starting in the 2024-25 season, all coaches will be required to have a L100 certification to access the race venue. A one-year grace period  will be allowed for first-year coaches.