Snowboarding jargon explained

Air – jumping, as in the air underneath the snowboard.

Après-ski – the social activities after the snowboarding.

Betty – a female snowboard rider.

Bale – to pull out of a snowboard manouevre.

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 travelling 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.