every sport invents a language to keep you out. here’s the decoder.
nobody is born knowing this stuff. everyone who acts like they were is lying. read what you need, skip what you don’t, and if someone on a chairlift uses a word that isn’t here, ask them — watching someone explain their own jargon is half the fun.
the snow itself
- powder
- fresh, soft, deep snow. the thing everyone chases. also the thing that will eat your board and make you fall in slow motion, which is honestly the best kind of falling.
- groomers / corduroy
- runs that machines flattened overnight into neat ridged lines that look like corduroy fabric. smooth, predictable, fast. beginners: this is your best friend. ride it in the morning before everyone scrapes it off.
- hardpack
- snow that’s been packed down firm. east coast standard issue. edges matter here.
- ice
- you’ll know. everyone slides on ice, including the people who say they don’t.
- crud / chop
- powder after a few hundred people have ridden through it. lumpy, inconsistent, tiring.
- slush
- warm-day snow, wet and heavy. slow and forgiving. great for learning, terrible for your gloves.
- corn
- spring snow that melts and refreezes into loose ball-bearing pellets. weirdly fun.
- base
- the total packed snow depth under everything. more base = fewer rocks.
- gnar / gnarly
- difficult terrain, or anything impressive. yes, people still say it. no, you don’t have to.
the mountain
- green / blue / black
- trail difficulty, easiest to hardest. ratings are relative to that mountain — a blue at a small hill and a blue at a big resort are different animals. there is no prize for rushing to blacks. none.
- bunny hill / magic carpet
- the gentle learning slope and the conveyor belt that takes you up it. every single person on the mountain started here. every one.
- lift / chair / gondola
- chairlift = bench in the sky. gondola = enclosed cabin. getting off a chairlift gracefully takes everyone a few tries. falling at the top is a rite of passage and the lift operator has seen it nine thousand times.
- terrain park
- the area with jumps, rails, and boxes. you do not have to go in there. ever. plenty of lifelong riders never do.
- cat track
- a flat, narrow road connecting trails. snowboarders hate them because flat means unstrapping or scooting. now you know why everyone’s groaning.
- traverse
- cutting sideways across a slope instead of down it.
- backcountry / sidecountry
- terrain outside the resort’s patrolled boundaries. not a beginner thing, not even a little. inside the ropes, ski patrol has your back. outside, nobody does.
- après
- french for “the part where you eat fries in ski boots.” arguably the point of the whole sport.
riding words
- regular / goofy
- which foot you lead with. regular = left foot forward, goofy = right. neither is better. you find out by sliding on a wood floor in socks.
- heel edge / toe edge
- the two edges of your board. learning to control them is basically the whole first day.
- falling leaf
- sliding down the hill on one edge, drifting side to side like a leaf. it’s how everyone starts. anyone who mocks the falling leaf has simply forgotten their own first day.
- linking turns
- going from toe edge to heel edge and back, smoothly, down the hill. the first time you do it, you will feel like a god. that feeling is correct.
- carving
- turning on a tilted edge so the board cuts a clean line instead of skidding. the thing that looks and sounds incredible. it comes later. it’s worth the wait.
- catching an edge
- when the wrong edge digs into the snow and the mountain throws you at the ground with no warning. it happens to everyone at every level. it is the sport’s entry fee.
- skidding / scrubbing
- sliding the board sideways to control speed. completely legitimate. speed control is skill, not weakness.
- stance
- how your bindings are set up: width and angles. rentals come set up fine. don’t overthink it yet.
- switch
- riding with your non-dominant foot forward. a later chapter.
- send it
- to fully commit to something. often yelled. sending it is optional at all times.
- yard sale
- a fall big enough that your gear scatters across the slope like a yard sale. if it happens: collect your things, take a bow.
- steez / steezy
- style + ease. looking relaxed while riding. comes from mileage, not from gear.
- jerry / gaper
- mocking words for someone who looks new. you’ll hear them. here’s our position: everyone was new, the words are lame, and we don’t use them. ride past it.
gear words
- camber / rocker
- the curve profile of a board viewed from the side. matters when you buy your own board. does not matter on day one.
- flex
- how stiff a board or boot is. softer = more forgiving = better for learning.
- bindings
- the things that strap your boots to the board.
- leash
- a little strap some rental shops require so the board can’t toboggan off without you.
- waxing / edging
- board maintenance. shops do it cheap. not a day-one concern.
- base / topsheet
- bottom and top of the board. stickers go on top. scratches go on the bottom. both are fine.
missing a word you got confused by? there’s no shame in the question — that’s the entire point of this page.