A comprehensive certification program has been developed by the USSA AO Working Group and is in place on a nationwide basis. The program recognizes officials at six different levels and in a variety of categories or specialty areas.

The program is handled on a divisional basis according to nationally established guidelines, with certification at Level 4 based on divisional nomination and national AO Working Group approval. FIS technical delegates are certified only by FIS after national federation nomination and successful completion of the FIS examination and training program.

New officials, without certification credentials, but with USSA AO membership, will appear on the roster with no designation.

A USSA alpine official membership does not assume certification. Rosters of officials are available through the alpine department at USSA and at www.ussa.org. Rosters are managed by Divisional/State Chairs and submitted to USSA for update in the USSA database.

Certification Levels
The Alpine Officials Working Group has reviewed and modified the criteria for Alpine Officials advancement. The new criteria is competency based and can be found on the education/training page.

USSA Alpine Officials who are certified as Technical Delegate, Referee or Jury Adviser are required to attend an update/clinic at least every two years to maintain certification.

• If an official has missed an update for two years, he or she may be reinstated to the previous level by attending a recognized update.
• If an official has missed an update for three or more years, he or she may be reinstated by passing the appropriate examination, i.e. Level 1 or 2 must pass the Level 1 exam, Level 3 or 4 must pass the level 3 exam.
• An official may not violate the update rule for a second time and maintain certification.

Officials are recognized in eight specialty areas, reflecting different responsibilities, abilities and experience:

• Technical Delegate - TD
• Referee - RF
• Chief of Race - CR
• Chief of Course - CC
• Chief of Timing and Calculations - TC
• Race Administrator - RA
• Jury Advisor - JA (for Start and Finish Referees)
• Competition Official - CO
• Data Management - DM

Some USSA divisions may not recognize all categories at all levels, according to their own needs and circumstances. All officials should attend annual refresher seminars and work at least four days per year at USSA sanctioned events.

A variety of seminars or clinics for alpine officials are held annually in each geographic division of USSA. Seminars range from those designed as mandatory refresher for FIS-certified technical delegates and other senior officials to introductory sessions for those officials with little or no experience. Topics may include timing and calculation, rules, gate judging, course preparation, paperwork and the race secretariat, press relations and data management. There is an emphasis on fairness, competitor protection and respect for the rules in all courses. Attendance at recognized seminars may be required for certification and for maintaining certification. Certification exams are offered at many seminars, according to divisional/state needs; exams are generally ‘open-book’ but must be taken at a seminar. Retesting of a failed Alpine Officials exam may only occur after a revision of the applicable exam become available. Exams shall be revised annually.

Seminar schedules can be found here or at the local divisional and state organization websites.

USSA Alpine Officials levels are tracked by a dedicated group of volunteers around the country. Those volunteers then forward the information on each individual's levels to the national office for uploading into the USSA database. If you have questions on your levels, you should contact these volunteers and they will then contact USSA if a change needs to be made.

 

Officials Contacts

 

State or Division	Contact Name	Contact Email	Website
Eastern Region
Maine - MARA	Ron Bonnevie	ron.bonnevie@maine.edu	www.skimara.org
New Hampshire - NHARA	Ted Newman	tednewmanjr@hotmail.com	www.nhalpine.org
New Jersey - NJSRA	Stan Goldschmidt	stancpa@earthlink.net	www.njsra.org
New York - NYSSRA	Dirk Gouwens	dirkg@haltiusa.com	www.nyssra.org
Pennsylvania - PARA	Rob Lipton	rbl4@psu.edu	www.paracing.org
Southern - SARA (VA, WV, NC, TN)	Bob Brigham	bbrigham@rabungap.org	www.skisara.org
Tri-State - Tri-State (MA, CT, RI)	John Higgins	john.higgins@att.net	www.tristateskiracing.org
Vermont - VARA	Ted Dunn	ted.dunn@yellowcorp.com	www.vara.org
Rocky/Central Region
Central Division	Grant Lindemer	grant_9@msn.com	www.centralussa.org
Rocky Mountain Division	Esther DelliQuadri	estherdq@earthlink.net	www.rmsro.org
Western Region
Alaska Division	Doug Wahto	skiracers@gci.net	www.ussaak.org
Far West Division	Phil GilanFarr	pgilan@aol.com	www.fwskiing.org
Intermountain Division	Mike Hammer	mihammer@earthlink.net	www.ussa-imd.org
Northern Division	Mike Kelly	mkellybzn@hotmail.com	www.northernussa.org
Pacific Northwest Division	Ingrid Simonson	pnsa@pnsa.org	www.pnsa.org

Officials for Disabled events work under the structure of either the Alpine of Cross Country Officials communities. Please see those tabs for information.

The IJC's goal is to send the best possible judges to competitions. The certification is therefore based on the demand of judges. After the finishing of the competition schedule the IJC will determine how many judges will be needed for the upcoming season. The IJC will select the best possible judges out of the pool of those who participated in the certification / recertification process and certify them as pro judges. Please see the document below for more information.

IJC Certification Protocol

For Alpine Masters Officials information, please see the Alpine tabs.