The A-Z of snowboarding terms (2023)

FAQs

What is some snowboarding lingo? ›

Boned: A straightened leg during a jump. Bonk: Hitting a nonsnow object with the snowboard. Boost: Catching air off a jump. Bumps: Moguls or snow mounds. Burger Flip: A halfpipe trick in which the rider goes into the backside wall riding fakie, rotates 180° in the air, and then reenters the pipe doing a McTwist.

Steez—This simply means “style.” Crunchy—This translates to “cool.” Knarley—Interchangeable with awesome, sick, rad, etc. Hittin'—This entails going off anything where you could potentially perform a trick (a jump, rail, etc.)

Betty – a female snowboarder. Bone – straightening one or both legs while doing a half-pipe trick. Booter – a big jump which needs lots of speed to get some air.

It's Just a Board

We understand it is a snowboard and you are going snowboarding. But if you are learning the lingo, it's a board and you are going boarding.

Freshies – This is the word you want to hear while on ski holiday. You want to be getting freshies in the morning, or all day long. It's another term for fresh powder snow.

Bro: Bro is what a male snowboarder calls another male snowboarder. It is short for brother. Bulletproof: Bulletproof is a term used to describe when the slopes are covered in snow or are icy.

Mashed Potatoes:

Another slang name for snow. This refers to wet and heavy snow that can be quite difficult to ski on.

Jibbing is jumping, riding, or sliding on top of objects. Snowboarders often jib on boxes or rails, whether they're competing in slopestyle events or just having some fun.

Grommet (Grom) – Refers to a small, young snowboarder. H. Haakon Flip – An inverted switch 720 invented by Terje Haakonsen.

It basically means “someone who pretends to be someone whose not” and/or “someone who tries to fit in but with exaggeration” (courtesy of the urban dictionary). We're here to help people understand the definition of a kook and how to lower the chances of looking like one.

What is the snowboarding term for falling? ›

Bail: In snowboarding, the term bail has two common uses. First, bail can refer to a fall or falling while snowboarding, as in “He took a hard bail” or “She just bailed off that jump” (note that bail can be used as either a noun or a verb).

A goofy stance is when a snowboarder rides with their right foot forward. This is the opposite of a regular stance, where a snowboarder rides with their left foot forward. Three-time men's snowboard slopestyle bronze medalist Mark McMorris is a regular-footed rider, while 2022 gold medalist Max Parrot is goofy footed.

I'm a snowboarder. I ride my snowboard and am therefore also a rider.

Moguls: Mounds of snow, also known as bumps.

Avy: Short for avalanche. Often heard in reference to “Avy Dogs“.

The "triple cork," as it is called, is a move so difficult that it once landed White in the hospital.

Wu-Tang: This refers to the steep terrain features in snowboard cross. Similar to a quarter-pipe, the Wu-Tang curves up steeply and racers must jump and roll forwards at the same time.

Chionophile. Snow and cold weather lovers fall under this phile. Chion is from the Greek word khiōn, which means snow.

What is hardened snow called? ›

With sleet (ice pellets), the snowflake almost completely melts before refreezing thus sleet has a hard ice appearance. Soft hail grows in the same way snow pellets can grow and that is ice crystals and supercooled water accreting on the surface.

flurries – lightly falling snow. freshies – freshly fallen snow. glop – wet snow that sticks to the bottom of skis or skins. graupel – styrofoam-like balls that fall from the sky, often pooling in depressions.

A frontside 50/50 is where the feature faces your chest and you jump onto it from the side and land even weight between both feet, on top and parallel with the feature.

Bluebird is a distinctly American term for “a period of time characterized by sunny, cloudless weather, typically after a night of snowfall,” the term seems to be most popularly used in skiing, but there are examples of its usage in the hunting world as well.

This is a more advanced phrase, the type you'll use once you are deep, deep, deep in the snowboard culture. Squirrelly is an adjective that means loose, shaky, or unbalanced. The feeling of squirrellyness might leave a shredder nervous or frightened of pain and injury.

Advanced Level 7: You are now a very confident snowboarder who can tackle almost any terrain on and off groomer (piste). You might be starting to do backcountry excursions too, if that interests you. You are comfortable riding and turning at speed.

Snowboard Ability LEvels

Level 3: You are able to slide left and right in control on both edges or complete an independent heel and toe turn on green terrain.

Within the ski industry a “Jerry,” otherwise known as a “Gaper,” a “Joey,” a “Gorb,” etc. is someone [a skier or snowboarder] doing a boneheaded move. My personal definition of a Jerry is: An individual who exhibits a true lack of understanding for their sport, or for life in general.

A Melon grab is where the front hand grabs the heel edge between the feet. The board is kept flat. This grab is often a lot easier than trying to grab the toe edge. It will also help create a more balanced posture in the air due to its compact nature and acts as a key component towards dialling Method grabs.

Definition: A combination of the words 'style' and 'ease' used to describe effortless elegance on the slopes. Most commonly attached to freestyle skiers and backcountry powder hounds. “Candide's double backflip over that cable car was so steezy, man” “No doubt. He's the steeze king.”

What is a 900 snowboarding trick? ›

900 Air: An aerial manoeuvre in which the snowboarder rotates 900 degrees — two-and-a-half spins. Air to Fakie: Any trick in the halfpipe in which a rider approaches the wall riding forward, no rotation is made, and the rider lands backwards.

One of the first basic tricks you'll learn on a snowboard is an ollie, a move where you use the pop of the tail to spring off the ground and get air.

Moguls are bumps that are found on ski slopes at downhill areas, where that area of the slope hasn't been flattened. Moguls can be constructed by hand, but are typically formed naturally as skiers carve turns down a slope. During sharp turns, skis will carve snow out and push some away each time.

To snarl or growl.

You can always use walkie talkies to communicate while skiing or snowboarding. These devices typically come with two-way radios that let you interact with your companions in real time. You will need to attach the first walkie talkie to your person, jacket or helmet to keep your hands free while you ride.

mogul. noun. a pile of snow like a very small hill that you jump over when you are skiing.

English (Cumbria and Durham) and Scottish: occupational name for someone who looked after asses or working horses Middle English colthirde 'keeper of colts' (from Old English colt 'ass young horse' + hierde 'herdsman'). In Scotland often pronounced Cowtart. Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022.

Tomahawk – The start to a tomahawk is when the nose of the board (or tail if riding switch) catches in the snow and sends the rider into an uncontrollable cartwheel downhill. Little known fact, the longer the nose, the harsher the tommy.