From their pauses it was clear that the route down was not obvious. The maximum time to complete the course was set at 4 minutes 30 seconds, quite a long time and reflective of the difficulty and length of the course. As you would expect, the skiing was from good to fabulous. There are various types of Telemark competitions, including gate racing, which is judged by speed, extreme skiing, which is judged by extremity, and free skiing, which is judged according to the all around quality of skiing. Air does not increase this score.
Judges deduct for double pole plants, for instance.
This is where skiers can get points for air and tricks which increase the difficulty of the run. Aggressiveness is rewarded, and this is another area where air may contribute to the score, but the skiers must be in control. Skiers are timed. All skiers must complete two runs to finish. Skiers placed according to their combined scores on all three runs.