How about this, skiers below a certain level can opt into "novice" class, the score won't count, but you might be assured a certain number of passes/mulligans, say 3 or 4. It's tough to sit around for a couple of hours, blow it on your first pass due to nerves, get in the pick up boat, and go home. At least if you enter the tournament, you know you will ski a defined number of passes. As time goes on, you become more comfortable with the tournament format, get competitive, and stop opting into "novice" class. Seems to me that a guaranteed number of pulls would attract more skiers. You could have points count within novice class, so there is a competitive edge to it. If you ski pass a certain score, you get kicked out of novice. I'm pretty sure this is close to the way it works now, right or wrong??
Now if the really good skiers take a few minutes to give advice or encouragement to the "novices", then the fun factor is increased for both. My 2 cents.