Trying to get into snowboarding but don't know what the heck your friends are talking about? Be cool and learn the lingo, at least you'll be able to act the part! Have fun and get outside!

Backside
The backside of the snowboard is the side where your heels sit. The backside of a snowboarder is the side to which his/her back faces.

Baseless bindings
Snowboard bindings that don’t use a baseplate, so the boot sits directly on the snowboard. Some riders say it gives them a better feel for the snow and more control. Others find them just a worthless gimmick, no better than baseplates.

Blindside
Any rotation where the rider approaches or lands “blind” to the direction of travel such that he/she must look over his/her shoulder. An air performed with this technique usually increases the level of difficulty.

BoarderCross Competition
Like their motorcycle counterparts in motorcross, boardercross participants race through turns and obstacles and jumps in heats of 4-6 riders.

Bonk
To hit a non-snow object with the snowboard while riding as part of a trick.

Boost
To catch air off a jump or a halfpipe.

Bust
A more enthusiastic version of to the verb “to do”, e.g. “Check out this shot of Ryan busting a huge air!”

Camber
The amount of space beneath the center of a snowboard when it lays on a flat surface and its weight rests on the tip and tail.

Cant
The angle at which either foot points pigeon-toed or duck-footed. The angle of your feet affects whether your knees bend toward or away from each other.

Centered stance
Your stance is centered when your bindings are mounted on the snowboard so the distance between the tip and the front binding is the same as that between the tail and the rear binding. With your bindings set this way, you would have similar control riding forwards or backwards.

Chatter
Vibration of the snowboard as a result of high speed, tight turns, and/or icy conditions.

Corduroy
A term to describe the tracks left by a snowcat grooming a trail. Corduroy is usually great for laying out clean turns.

Dampening
Reducing vibration (chatter) to increase handling. A shock-absorbent material like rubber is sometimes laminated into boards for this purpose.

Delaminate
Separation of the layers in your snowboard, usually the result of long-term usage, impact from crashes, or a board defect.

Directional stance
Your stance is directional when your bindings are mounted on the snowboard so the distance between the tip and the front binding is different from that between the tail and the rear binding. With your bindings set this way, you would ride more easily in your preferred direction.

Duckfoot
You are duckfooted if your stance angles have your toes pointing outward like a duck.

Effective edge
The length of your snowboard’s metal edge that makes contact with the snow. When you turn, you shift your weight to your effective edge.

Fakie
Riding backwards, meaning the opposite direction than your usual stance.

Fall line
Like a plumb line is to wallpaper, the fall line is to a slope. It’s the path of gravity’s pull on you down the hill.

Flat bottom
The part of the halfpipe between the two walls.

Flex
Describes the stiffness of a snowboard. Different degrees of flex are better for different styles of riding.

Forward Lean
The degree to which the highbacks of traditional bindings or the boots of plate bindings keep your ankles and calves bent over your toes.

Freeriding
Snowboarding for fun on any terrain, not including a halfpipe.

Freestyle snowboarding
Usually associated with riding a halfpipe, but encompasses any kind of riding that includes tricks.

Front hand/foot
The hand/foot closest to the nose of the snowboard. For regular-footed riders, the front is the left hand and foot. For goofy footed riders, the front is the right hand and foot.

Frontside
The frontside of the snowboard is the side where your toes sit. The frontside of a snowboarder is the side to which his/her front faces

Goofy footed
Riding with the right foot closest to the nose of the snowboard.

Grab
To hold the edge of the snowboard with one or both hands during an air or other trick.

Halfpipe
Built with snow, a halfpipe is a vertical U-shaped structure used in freestyle snowboarding. Like a skateboarding halfpipe, riders use the opposing walls to get air and perform tricks as they travel down the fall line of the slope.

Hard boots
Similar to ski boots, hard boots are rigid and made from hard plastic. They are typically used for carving and racing. Many freeriders dislike the stiffness and prefer the soft boots typically used with strap bindings. The Belligerent" Sinch Strap gives the convenience of step-ins without sacrificing the comfort of soft boots.

Heel Drag/Overhang
Bindings should as centered as possible between the toe and heel edges. When they are placed too far toward the heel side, the heels drag in the snow while riding and interfere with turns, etc.

Heel edge
The edge of the snowboard where the heels sit.

Heelside turn
A turn made on the heelside edge.

Highback bindings
This type of binding includes a piece that supports the ankle and calf while edging and making heelside turns.

Hole Pattern
The layout of holes on the top of a snowboard, through which the bindings are fastened. Both three- and four-hole patterns are standard, but most snowboard companies use the 4-hole pattern.

Insert
The piece of metal laminated within a snowboard in order to secure the screws that attach the bindings.

Jib
To ride on a non-snow surface, e.g. rails, logs etc.

Leash
A lasso-like device used to attach the snowboard to the front foot so it won’t slide away while getting in or out of the bindings.

Lip
The top edge of the halfpipe wall.

Nose
The front end of the snowboard, specifically the tip.

Ollie
Borrowed from skateboarding, to Ollie is to get air by first lifting the front foot, springing off the back foot, then landing on both feet.

Pipe Dragon
A grooming machine used to groom halfpipes.

Plate Binding
Similar to ski bindings, a plate binding requires hard boots that connect directly to the snowboard through a flat plate. Unlike ski bindings, however, plate bindings are typically not designed to release the foot.

Poach
To ride regardless of posted signage; e.g. when the powder is out-of-bounds or the halfpipe is closed.

Poseur
Someone who pretends to be something he/she is not, in an attempt to impress his/her audience.

Quarterpipe
Designed like a halfpipe but with only one wall.

Rail
Part of a snowboard, consisting of a sidewall and an edge. Snowboards have two rails.

Railing
To make hard, fast turns. Not to be confused with railing (n.), which is a handrail- type structure on which freestyle riders might jib.

Rear hand/foot
The hand/foot closest to the tail of the snowboard. For regular-footed riders, the rear is the right hand and foot. For goofy-footed riders, the rear is the left hand and foot.

Regular footed
Riding with the left foot closest to the nose of the snowboard.

Rocker
The opposite of camber, so when the snowboard is placed on a flat surface, it rests only on the center portion.

Roll down the windows
What it looks like a person is trying to do when he/she is off-balance or out of control and rotates his/her arms in an attempt to recover.

Rollout deck
The horizontal part of the halfpipe wall that serves as a vantage point, waiting area, or walkway to the uphill end of the pipe.

Running length
The range of the bottom of the snowboard that comes in contact with the snow.

Session
Nonspecific length of time for which someone rides, e.g. “We had a great session this morning before it started storming.”

Sinch Strap
An innovative solution by Belligerent" to the hassles of conventional straps and the shortcomings of step-ins. The Sinch Strap keeps your desired ratchet setting and allows you to get in and out one-handed, without sitting down. The patented system retrofits to any existing baseplate and is also a feature of Belligerents" new complete binding line. (Visit www.belligerent.com or call 619.581.5080 for more information.)

SlopeStyle Competition
A freestyle event where the participant is judged on tricks performed while riding over a series of assorted jumps.

Soft boots
Boots worn for freestyle and freeride snowboarding. Most riders prefer the comfort and range of motion of soft boots to the rigidity of hard boots.

Speed check
To slide sideways in order to quickly slow down before a jump or other situation where speed control is necessary.

Stance
How one’s feet are positioned on the snowboard, as in regular or goofy-footed, but also including the width and angles of the placement.

Step-in binding
Like a ski binding, the rider steps into the step-in binding to engage it and pulls a lever to disengage. Special boots with compatible mechanisms are required for this kind of binding. Although some riders prefer step-ins, one of the largest problems is that the mechanism clogs with snow. The rider then has to sit down and clean it out before the binding will engage properly. The "Belligerent" Sinch Strap, however, allows the convenience of step-ins without the clog.

Stomp pad
The piece of non-slip material on the snowboard, attached next to the back binding. The stomp pad gives you a place to rest your back foot when youre getting on or off the lift.

Tail
The end of the snowboard closest to your back foot.

Toe edge
The edge of the snowboard where your toes sit.

Toeside turn
A turn made on the toeside edge.

Transition a.k.a. Tranny
The initial curved part of a halfpipe wall between the flat of the bottom and the vertical section of the wall.

Traverse
As in skiing, to ride perpendicular to the fall line of the slope. In the halfpipe, a freestyle rider traverses the flat bottom in order to perform tricks on either wall.

Twin tip
A snowboard whose nose and tail are shaped identically, so the board will ride equally well in either direction.

Vertical a.k.a. Vert
The topmost portion of the walls of a halfpipe. They are vertical in order to allow the rider to fly straight up from the halfpipe wall.

Wall
The opposing sections of the halfpipe. A wall is comprised of a transition (where the rider begins the ascent) and vertical section (where the rider launches and performs a trick).