Snowboard Glossary

Don't get what the heck your friends are talking about? Then, check the lingo out and get involved in snowboarding conversation!!



Alpine
- All competitive events whose basic element is down, for instance, downhill and slalom.


Approach - referred to as an action of running start for jumping.



Backflip - Flipping backward off a jump.


Backside - The backside of the snowboard is the side where your heels sit. The backside of a snowboarder is the side to which his/her back faces.


Base - The bottom of a snowboard. Most bases are made of some type of polyethylene.


Betty - A female rider whose intention is to get an attention.


Blindside - Any rotation where the rider approaches or lands to the direction of travel such that he/she must look over his/her shoulder. An air performed with this technique usually increases the level of difficulty.

Box - Literally a box that is set on the slope for jibbing.


Cab - A trick on halfpipe that begins fakie, spins 360, and lands riding forward.


Chatter - Vibration of the snowboard as a result of high speed, quick turns, and undesirable conditions.


Core - The inside of a snowboard. Cores are usually either wood or foam.


Crud - Varied and inconsistent snow.


Directional - A type of snowboards that nose and tail are shaped differently. This type of snowboard is for free-riding.


Directional Twin - A shape of snowboards that has identical nose and tail just as twin-tip, but the median point is set a little back of the snowboard.


Edges - The strips of metal usually made hard steel, on the outer edges of the running surface of snowboards.


Effective Edge - The length of your snowboard's metal edge that makes contact with the snow. When you turn, you shift your weight to your effective edge.


Eggplant - A one-handed 180 degree invert in which the front hand is planted on the lip of the wall and the rotation is backside.


Fakie - Riding a snowboard backwards


Flex - Describes the stiffness of snowboards. Different degrees of flex are better for different styles riding.


Freeriding - Snowboarding for fun on any terrain, not including a halfpipe.


Freestyle - Usually associated with riding a halfpipe, but encompasses any kind of riding that includes tricks.


Front Foot - The foot closest to the nose of the snowboard. For regular-footed riders, the front is the left foot. For goofy footed riders, the front is the right foot.


Frontside - The frontside of the snowboard is the side where your toes sit. The frontside of a snowboarder is the side to which his/her front faces.


Gap - Refers to the gap on the slope like a bump or a kicker.


Grab - To hold the edge of the snowboard with one or both hands during an air or other trick.


Ground Tricks - All the tricks made on the surface, not in the air.


Goofy - A riding position that the front is your right foot.


Halfpipe - Built with snow, a halfpipe is a vertical U-shaped structure used in freestyle snowboarding. Like a skateboarding halfpipe, riders use the opposing walls to get air and perform tricks as they travel down the fall line of the slope.


Hammer - To ride as hard as possible.


Heel - Usually refers to heel edge, which is the one that the heels rest.


High-back - A part of binding that supports the ankle and calf while edging and making heelside turns.


Jib - A style of riding on non-snow-ground, such as box, rail, and bonk trees.


Lip - The top edge of the halfpipe wall.


Kicker - A name for a jump ramp. Kickers usually have the property of throwing you up into the air rather than giving you distance.


Mogul - A snow bump formed by the action of skiers. Usually found on steeper slopes.


Nose - The front end of the snowboard, specifically the tip.


Nollie - Much like an Ollie, only you spring off of your nose instead of your tail.


Ollie - Borrowed from skateboarding, to Ollie is to get air by first lifting the front foot, springing off the back foot, then landing on both feet.


Regular - A riding position that the front is your left foot.


Rail - Part of a snowboard, consisting of a sidewall and an edge. Snowboards have two rails.


Rodeo - Turning frontside 180 while completing an inverted 360 rotation for a total of 540.


Safety Leash - A cord that fastens your snowboard to your leg or foot. Required by most ski areas, safety leashes help to prevent runaway snowboards.


Sidecut - The curve built into the sidewalls and edges of a board to enhance turning characteristics.


Stance - How your feet are positioned on the snowboard, referring the width and angles of the placement.


Step-in Binding - A type of binding, like a ski binding, the rider steps into the binding to engage it and pull the lever to disengate.


Stiff - Usually refer to snowboard being hard.


Strap Binding - A conventional type of binding that has two straps at toe and ankle.


Tail - The edge of the snowboard where your toes sit.


Tail Press - A ground trick that you press on the tail and go down the slope.


Twin Tip - A snowboard whose nose and tail are shaped identically, so the board will ride equally well in either direction.


Waist - The width measurement taken at the narrowest part of the board which is near
the middle of its length.


Wall - The opposing sections of the halfpipe.