Classic:
This is the corner stone of telemark racing. Like the downhill race in Alpine ski racing, the Classic uses a one run format.  The course (drawing at right) generally takes a time of two plus minutes to complete as racers go through up to 40 gates.  In addition, the Classic includes features unique to Telemark such as a reipeløkke (360- banked turn), a jump (25m - 40m of distance covered), and a skating or cross country section that typically takes 45seconds to complete.  All this is laid out within and at the same speeds as seen on a giant slalom alpine race course.

Sprint Classic:
Similar to the Classic race, the Sprint Classic is a shorter, more viewer friendly two run format.

Telemark/Giant Slalom:
The Telemark or giant slalom is a more traditional ski race format.  The racers go through up to 40 gates.  This a medium to high speed two run race with a jump mid-way.

Slalom:
While not a World Cup event, the United States Telemark Ski Association (USTSA) includes a slalom event as part of their race schedule and US Telemark National Championships.  This event is usually held in a dual format, the racers skiing both courses (blue course and red course)  and the times from the two runs are combined. 


Judging in Telemark Racing:
Telemark racers must make proper telemark turns and therefore the turns at each gate are judged.  If a proper turn is not made at a gate, the racer will have a 1 second penalty added to their run time for that "gate penalty."  The components of a correct turn are:

1. The inside ski is trailing the lead ski to the extent that the tip of the trailing boot is at least one "boot length" behind the heel of the lead boot, measured in the direction of the ski.
2. The heel of the trailing foot is visibly off the ski.
3. Once the trailing foot starts to more forward and becomes less than one boot length behind the lead boot, it must move continuously through into a position where it is at least one boot length in front of the other foot.

The distance of the jumps are also judged in Telemark Racing.  Racers must clear a distance line when jumping and land in a Telemark position or they can be assessed a 2 second penalty for the jump and a 1 second penalty for the landing in the Telemark/Giant Slalom and Sprint Classic and up to a 6 second penalty in the Classic for the Jump and 1 second for the landing.