Snowboarding has a language of its own. To distinguish a snowboarding grab from a grind, and a regular from a 'goofy', we've come up with a quick guide to some of the more commonly used snowboarding jargon.
Here are some of the most commonly used pieces of snowboarding jargon:
Air – jumping, as in the air between you and the ground.
Après-ski – the social activities after the snowboarding.
Betty – a female snowboard rider.
Bale – to pull out of a snowboard manoeuvre.
Binding – the equipment that keeps the snowboard rider’s boots attached to the snowboard.
Board park – area set aside in a resort for practicing snowboard tricks.
Carving – using the edges of the snowboard to turn.
Drag lift – a lift that pulls you rather than actually picks you up, for example a t-bar lift.
Edges – the strips of metal on the outer perimeter of a snowboard.
Fakie – riding the snowboard backwards.
Freestyle – a type of riding that involves doing tricks and jumping – usually performed on a half pipe or in a board park.
Goofy foot – riding with the right foot forward.
Grab – a trick where the rider, while in mid-air reaches down and grabs the snowboard.
Grind – to ride on an object like a ledge with the edges making contact.
Half-pipe – a U-shaped structure used to perform snowboard tricks by traveling back and forth from wall to wall.
Heelside – the edge of the snowboard that your heels sit on.
Jibbing – a trick of momentarily riding on or hitting obstacles like fences, tree stumps etc.
Jump – a trick where the snowboard leaves contact with the snow.
Leash – a cable used to connect the snowboard to the boot – stops the board sliding away.
Nose-grab – grabbing the front of the snowboard during a jump.
P-Tex – a type of plastic used to make the base of most snowboards.
Piste – a groomed area of the slope to snowboard down.
Powder – freshly fallen snow, undisturbed.
Regular – riding with the left foot forward on the snowboard.
Rider – the snowboarder.
Tail – the rear edge or end of a snowboard.
Tip – the front edge or end of a snowboard.
Toeside – the edge of the board that you toes sit on.
Wax – applied to the base of a snowboard to make it run more smoothly.
Wipeout – a snowboarding crash.
So there you have it: snowboarding jargon explained. If there are any other bits of snowboarding jargon you don't understand just let us know in the comments below, and we will do our best to answer!
