A rail jam is a freestyle ski competition where athletes worldwide come together to throw down their best tricks. The rail jam includes rails, boxes, tubes, and more.
Northwood School has a Freestyle team in partnership with NYSEF. The two athletes on the team have had three rail jams so far during the 2023-24 season. Sometimes, there will be a “magic carpet,” a conveyor belt for skiers to get on so they don’t have to hike back to the top of the start. Typically, you must hike up and down the course during the jam.
The rail jam usually consists of two heats of younger and older athletes. Snowboarders and skiers alike compete on the same course. The judges score athletes based on their tricks’ variety, difficulty, and style.
Variety includes spinning both ways onto and off a feature, sliding left foot and right foot forward, and more. The style is how athletes look during the trick and how well they land/ride out. Difficulty is how technical and challenging your trick is.
Rail Jams can be held at almost any ski mountain with features. Whiteface Mountain (Northwood’s home mountain) normally has one or two rail jams a season.
Rail jams typically last 20-30 minutes, and they are either in open style or closed style. Open style is when athletes can go in whatever order they see fit. While hiking, if an athlete passes another, that athlete can choose to go before the one they passed. Closed style is when there is an order in which athletes must go in. A competition official has a list that determines the athletes’ order. That athlete waits for the judge to give the “ok,” sending the next athlete down to complete their run.
As the season progresses, athletes rack up their points at every rail jam they compete in. The athletes with the highest points go to Nationals, competing at a special mountain with the best features.
Below: Clay Fuller ’25 training recently. Video provided.
Below: Yosef Spear ’26 training recently. Video provided.