snow Speak - A glossary of terms

180 (one eighty) - When a rider jumps into the air and spins 180 degrees, landing in the opposite direction going switch.
360 (three sixty) - When a rider jumps into the air and spins 360 degrees, landing and facing in the same direction.
Back-country - the out-of-bounds area outside of boundaries of resorts. For the experienced & properly equipped only.
Base- The bottom or under side of a snowboard that runs along the snow. It is usually constructed out of p-tex and is where additional wax is applied. The base is also the average amount of snow that is on a ski trail, typically measured in cm's.
Bindings- The gear used to hold/secure a rider's feet onto the snowboard or ski.
Bones - there are 206 in the human body but don't worry, 2 in the middle ear have never been broken in a ski/snowboard accident!
Bowl- Naturally occurring or man-made “bowl-shaped” ski area.
Carve - Carving is when you turn with very little skidding, using the edges of your skis or the edge of your board,
Fakie (or switch) - riding backwards or facing the opposite way you would normally Freeride- A style of snowboarding with an emphasis on all mountain terrain, including cruising, powder, jumps and trees.
Freestyle -A style of snowboarding with an emphasis on park and pipe riding. Freestyle snowboarding involves a lot of tricks, switch or fakie riding and generally uses shorter boards with soft boots.
Freshies (Freshy’s) - short for fresh Tracks, fresh snow which has fallen over night creating very desirable conditions. Being amongst the first boarders / skiers
Front-side- The area in front of a rider's toeside edge. A frontside spin is when a rider turns into the spin frontside first (anti-clockwise for regular footed, clockwise for goofy footed riders.)
Goofy Footed - Riding with your right foot forward ie. your natural preference is to ride with the right foot in front.
Grab -Performed during a jump, a grab is when the rider holds on to their board with either hand while in the air. There are different types of grabs, such as indy, stalefish or tail grab.
Half-pipe or Pipe - A U-shaped cut into the snow (or naturally occurring gulley)used for riding back and forth inside it, ultimately to perform tricks in.
Heelside - The side of a snowboard that runs alongside the rider's heels. Also known as: blindside or backside
Moguls - Moguls are a series of bumps on a trail that a skier skis around, formed naturally after many skiers travel down the slope on the same path or man-made by machine.
Nose - The tip or front end of your snowboard - opposite the tail.
Off Piste -Off piste skiing is on ungroomed terrain that is not marked into trails.
Ollie - A move borrowed from skateboarding where you lift your front foot first and spring or pop off of the tail of the board with your back foot as a means of jumping into the air.
Park - An area maintained by a resort which is full of jumps and/or a halfpipe, rails and other obstacles.
Powder – Light, dry snow, extremely desirable. Longer ski’s / boards usually required.
Powder Hound- A very keen powder seeker.
Quarter Pipe - Half of a half pipe. A quarterpipe is a jump where the rider takes off straight into the air and comes back down to the same place as she started.
Regular Footed (or Natural Footed)- Riding with your right foot forward ie. your natural preference is to ride with the right foot in front.
Sic, Sick - Awesome, great, cool
Snowboarder / Skier - Some-one who pays an arm and a leg for the opportunity to break them.
Stomp pad- A stomp pad is a place for your rear foot to get some traction on your board, when you back foot is out of the binding. Usually when you are skating or getting on and off the chairlift.
Tail - The back end of your snowboard
Toe-side- The side of a snowboard that runs alongside the rider's toes. (related to front-side)




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