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It’s resort season. Many of you are past ready to get back to carving the slopes, but understandably, some of you reading this are bound to be snowboarding noobs that feel a little squirrelly about taking on the mountain.
While we can’t help you much with your technique—that’s up to your bunny slope instructor—we can at least get you acclimated to some of the terminology you may hear out there. Because while you may not be able perform like a champ just yet, you can at least sound the part thanks to our handy-dandy, crash-course lingo guide below—and of course, you sure as hell can look the part with Blender’s new snow goggle collection.
The following is far from comprehensive, but it is a fun little primer for ya:
Snowboarding Lingo 101
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Pow—this is shorthand for snow powder.
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Ridin’/Cruisin’—Heading down the slopes.
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Shreddin’ the Gnar— Short for riding across the terrain.
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Steez—This simply means “style.”
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Crunchy—This translates to “cool.”
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Knarley—Interchangeable with awesome, sick, rad, etc.
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Hittin’—This entails going off anything where you could potentially perform a trick (a jump, rail, etc.)
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Booter or kicker—Just another way to refer to a jump.
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Stomp—When you go off a jump and land the trick, as in, “I just stomped [stuck] that landing.”
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Bail—This is when you don’t land the trick.
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Yard Sale—A really rad “wipe out,” wherein some or all of your equipment is lost. Hat, snow goggles, board, etc. may be dispersed on the slope. Failing with style.
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Taco—A fall/wipe out that results in your body getting draped over a box or rail in a fashion that’s reminiscent of a taco shape.
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Chatter—When your snowboard jitters and shakes as a result of the terrain.
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Gaper—A wannabe that’s new to the mountain that gazes, slack-jawed, at the terrain or at really routine tricks. Someone that’s out of their element.
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Woolly—The awesome mascot of Mammoth Mountain here in CA.
