Acid drop: To ride straight off of something and freefall to the ground.

Alley-oop: When a trick is performed in the opposite direction of which the skater is moving.

Backside: When a turn or trick is executed in a direction that the back of the body is facing the ramp's arc.

Bank: Any sloped area under 90 degrees.

Blunt: When a trick is performed with the contact spot of the board with the obstacle being the area of the tail behind the back trucks.

Board: The platform that the hardware is mounted to, usually Maple laminate.

Cabbalerial: While riding fakie (backwards), usually at the lip of a ramp, to complete a 360 in the air and head back down the ramp forwards without grabbing. Named after Steve Caballero.

Carve: To make a long, curving arc while skating.

Coping: A rounded lip at the top of a ramp or obstacle, usually made of metal, cement or PVC pipe.

Crooked Grind: Nosegrind with nose sliding at the same time. Also: K.

Durometer: A measurement of the resiliency of a urethane wheel, firmness of truck or bushing.

Elbow pad: A type of protective hard shell with padding worn on the elbows.

Fakie: Riding backwards with your weight balanced as in your normal stance. Not the same as riding switch.

Feeble grind: The back truck is grinding, front of body facing edge, with toe-side rail grinding edge also.

Frontside: When a turn or trick is executed in a direction that the front of the body is facing toward the outside of the ramp's arc.

Fifty-fifty: A double axle grind (on both trucks).

5-0 Grind: Grind with just back truck grinding.

Gay Twist: While riding fakie (backwards), usually at the lip of a ramp, to complete a 360 in the air while grabbing, and head back down the ramp forwards.

Goofy-foot: To ride with the right foot forward.

Grind: To scrape one or both axles on coping or an obstacle.

Grip tape: A sheet of sandpaper with adhesive on one side that is fixed to the surface of a board to provide traction.

Hand plant: A type of trick where one hand holds the board to the feet while doing a one-handed handstand on a ramp or obstacle.

Half Cab: A 180-degree Cabballarial.

Half pipe: A type of ramp that is shaped like a "U."

Hang up: When either the back or front truck catches on an obstacle, usually causing a fall.

Heelflip: While performing an ollie, the heel pushed down on the edge of the board causing it to flip over.

Hip: The spot where a ramp or obstacle comes to a point. Tricks are done while flying over or off of it.

Invert: Another name for a hand plant.

Jump ramp: A small ramp used to give the skater some air to perform a trick.

Kickflip: The same as a Heelflip except the toe pushes down to flip the board.

Kick turn: When pressure is applied to the tail of the board, lifting the front and turning it in another direction.

Knee slide: A way of controlling a fall by sliding on the plastic caps on knee pads.

Kneepad: A type of protective padding worn on the knees.

Lip: The top or upper edge of a ramp or obstacle.

Lipslide: To force the tail over the lip and slide on the surface before re-entry.

Manual: Another name for Wheelie. (Nose Manual on front)

McTwist: A 540-degree turn performed on a ramp. Named after Mike McGill.

Ollie: A no-handed air performed by tapping the tail of the board on the ground or ramp surface. Named after Alan Gelfand.

Nollie: An ollie performed by tapping the nose instead of the tail.

Nosegrind: Same as "grind" but on front truck.

Noseslide: Sliding on nose of board on ramp lip.

Rail: The edge of the board. Also refers to plastic strips attached to the underside of the board.

Railslide: To slide on an obstacle or lip with the contact point being the underside of the board.

Regular foot: To ride with the left foot forward.

Rock and roll: A trick where the underside of the board is tapped on the lip before a kickturn to reenter.

Run: A series of tricks in a sequence.

Session: A period of skating.

720: Two 360s forward or backward.

Shove it: A trick performed by spinning the board beneath the feet.

Smith grind: A type of grind trick where the inside edge of the board is below and touching the lip of the ramp or obstacle.

Tailslide: Sliding on tail of board.

Transition: The curved part of terrain between 0 and 90 degrees.

Truck: The hardware that is comprised of the axle and base plate, mounted to the underside of the board.

Varial: An aerial where the board is spun from backwards to forwards beneath the feet.

Wall: Any bank that is at or above 90 degrees.

Wallride: To ride on a wall that has no transition.

Canyon: The sunken area between ramps in dirt, and the empty space between two ramps in street. The big danger in dirt and street is when a rider may not go far enough, or may have trouble with a maneuver and doesn't make the second ramp, landing in the canyon.

Coping: The tubular steel strip along the edge of the vert ramp. Riders catch their pegs on the coping in order to stall, or do grinds across it.

Dirt: An event whose main distinction from vert (besides material) is that in vert the rider returns to the ramp he launched from, whereas in dirt the rider launches off one ramp and lands on another. The basic goal is to ride as fast as possible toward the initial ramp, take off as high as possible, then land cleanly on the second ramp. Competitors are often as high as 11' to 14' off the ground as they perform their maneuvers.

Fun Box: A four-sided box jump (ramp on every side) that is included in street courses.

Quarter Pipe: Used in street competitions. The quarter pipe is like a single wall of a vert ramp (or half-pipe). Called a quarter pipe because it is one-quarter of a full radius.

Street: An event consisting of different types and styles of ramps positioned so that they can be approached in many different ways. Competitors plan out their runs through these ramps according to individual style, combining different tricks and ramps to create the most impressive runs possible. There are two categories of tricks in street: aerials and lip tricks.

Sub Box: Street course jump consisting of two ramps, one on either side of a platform that is topped by an approximately 3-foot high box, with an approximately 2-foot deck on top. The height of the box, together with it's small surface make it easy for a rider to clip a back wheel. Using this jump usually entails a fairly high degree of difficulty. Probably only bike riders will use this jump. For that reason, skateboarders and in-line skaters refer to it as the BMX Box.

Vert: The half-pipe event. A half-pipe is like a big "U" with two transition areas at either end that extend to vertical stands, separated by the flat bottom in between. The half-pipe is entered from a platform which allows the rider to gain speed before leaving the other side. The smoother the rider, the higher he will be able to go. Riders have to be careful not to land on the lower part of the transition or the flat bottom or they will probably crash. There are two categories of tricks in vert: aerials and lip tricks.

Chillin': Really cool. ex: What's up with your hair? Yo, it's chillin'. (i.e., it looks like this because it's supposed to and it's cool this way).

Cooking Fish Sticks: Something easy. ex: Table Tops are like cooking fish sticks.

Crazy Hat: A rider who goes for a burly trick without thinking.

Curbed: When a rider has crashed hard; or when you're drunk; or how you feel after a hard day of work; or when a girl shoots you down.

Dialed: When a rider is pulling all of his tricks. ex: John pulled all of his tricks in his first run -- now that is dialed.

Hot Dog: A thrill seeker or daredevil.

Lame: When a rider crashes really hard.

Loopy: After a rider crashes really hard and he's a bit dazed.

McCoy: Doing whatever it takes in order to pull a trick. From veteran rider Dennis McCoy.

Pack o'Newports: Something harsh or rough. ex: The vert ramp at the X Games was like a pack o'Newports.

Pearl Jam: A contest that used to be cool, but got too big and isn't any more.

Pimp Vessel: A bike that a rider has kept in tip-top shape.

Pullin' a McCoy: When a rider runs into the crowd. From an unfortunate tendency exhibited by rider Dennis McCoy.

Shady: Someone down with the scene

Stick: When a rider goes for a trick and it looks like he can't pull it off, but somehow he lands it.

Street: When a rider goes off something and lands directly onto flat ground. ex: landing in the flat area in vert instead of on the sloping transition.

Super Street: When a rider breaks his bike on a landing, but still tries a trick anyway.

Tripping: A person being sketchy.

Tu Pac: A difficult set of hills. ex: The Dirt Tu Pac at the X Games was insane.

Tweaked: When a rider is all contorted doing a trick; or when the rider himself is being all weird.

Yo Madd Phat: Translation: "That was a cool trick."

Bouldering: Like free soloing, bouldering requires only shoes and a chalk bag. Unlike free soloing, bouldering is done much closer to the ground. Bouldering often consists of a series of extremely difficult and complicated moves that require repeated attempts to complete in one continuous effort. Since bouldering is done in relative close proximity to the ground, the individual moves are often more difficult than those encountered on roped climbs.

Free Climbing: Free climbing is the contemporary style of rock climbing whereby the climber on lead uses nothing to aid in the ascent, e.g. the rope, pitons, etc. In free climbing, the rope acts only as a safety net. Often confused with free soloing.

Free Soloing: Rock climbing without a rope or any kind of backup protection. A climber free soloing has only shoes and a chalk bag. A mistake in free soloing will lead to serious injury or death.

Sport Climbing: A style of free climbing where the climber's protection is pre-placed on the route, usually in the form of permanent bolts left in the rock with a metal hanger to attach the "quickdraw," a piece of nylon webbing with a carabiner at each end.

In sport climbing competitions, the quickdraws are left on the route, so the climber only has to attach the rope and keep climbing.

This type of climbing is a lot safer that traditional climbing. The climber doesn't have to stop and place the protection, and so his or her energy is used to do the physically harder moves. This is the reason that the hardest routes are sport routes.

Trad Climbing: Short for "traditional." A style of free climbing whereby the lead climber places the "protection" into the rock, using removable devices that are "cleaned" by the second climber who follows the leader up. These devices are attached by carabiners to the rope so that if the climber falls, and the protection is placed well, it will hold the fall. If it is not placed well, it can pull out.

Top rope: A "top rope" is when the rope is always above the climber. This is the method that is used in the speed climbing competition. With a top rope, the climber does not fall very far, as the rope is always above them.

Belay: The system used to protect a climber in the case of a fall, by using a rope and a friction device. The climber's partner, the "belayer," has the climber "on belay" when the rope is securely tied to their harness and then passed through a friction device attached to the belayer's harness.

In lead climbing, the belayer remains stationary and feeds the rope through the friction (belay) device as the climber ascends, never allowing the brake hand to leave the rope. If the climber falls, the belayer locks off the rope with the brake hand, stopping the fall once all slack has been taken up. With top rope climbing, the belayer stays on the ground, but as the climber gains height, the slack in the rope is pulled in through the belay device, so that if the climber falls, there is no descent.

Climbing competitions are generally held on man-made walls with small bolt holes in them, so that the holds can be attached in any order. With a blank wall and some good imagination, the route setter can create a climb of almost any degree of difficulty.

The holds themselves are made of resin and are textured to be similar to the feel of real rock. When the climbers are describing a route and the holds on it, the names of each hold are spoken with various tones in their voice, a "Big Jug" will sound like a feeling of relief, but a "Tiny Crimper" will sound like pain.

Bucket / Jug: A big hold, or one that is in-cut, that you can really get your hand into or around.

Crimper: A crimper is a small hold, just big enough for the fingertips, that you have to crimp your fingers to hold on to. A climb with lots of crimpers is "crimpy."

Edge: A bigger version of a crimper and more positive to use.

Ring / Thread: A hold that looks like a suitcase handle and the climbers hand or fingers can wrap around the hold entirely.

Pocket: A one-, two- or three-finger pocket is a hold with a depression that you can only get that many fingers into. As the climber has to isolate some fingers, they are quite strenuous.

Gaston: Imagine trying to open closed elevator doors with both hands that are pulling in opposite directions. That's the movement, but in climbing it's usually with one hand and the strength comes from the shoulder.

Pinch: A hold that you squeeze with your fingers on one side and your thumb on the other.

Tufa: A baguette looking hold, where the climber will have to pinch with one or two of their hands.

Sloper: Any hold that slopes downward so that the climber's fingers can't wrap around. The climber's body position below the hold, how rigid they can keep their body and the friction between their hand and the hold are all very important. They are very hard to rest on.

Sidepull: A hold that's turned so it can only be used from the side. This kind of hold requires the climber to have their feet off to the side so their legs are pushing, while their arms are pulling.

Undercling: A hold that's held from the bottom, pulling upward. Again, opposition with the legs are very important, to get maximum use out of this type of hold.

Backstep: Using the outside edge of the foot (at your little toe) as opposed to the front or inside of the foot.

Barndoor: The result of a climber getting out of balance, causing the body to swing out away from the wall like a barn door opening.

Body Tension: This is a key ingredient when climbing on steep walls and roofs. The best climbers will always be able to keep their torso and legs under a constant amount of tension, but still be able to breath evenly and stay relaxed at the same time. It keeps the body in a controlled position while the climber is moving from one hold to another, and so, the climber can make full use of the opposing forces of their feet pushing onto the holds and their arms pulling on the holds.

Campus: Where a climber uses just the arms to move from hold to hold, letting the legs hang free. Comes from "Campus Board," a wooden training device with small ledges that are used to train finger strength and dynos.

Crank: Powerfully pulling through a hold.

Deadpoint: A dynamic move where a climber lunges for a hold and hits it just at the point where they are no longer moving up or down. For example, lunging for a faraway pocket, where the fingers need to sink directly in. In other words, there's no chance of controlling the hold if the climber overshoots (can't grab it on the way back down), or undershoots.

Drop Knee: A very important technique for a competition climber. It can turn a bad foothold into a great way to keep the body close to the wall. By putting a foot on a high foothold and twisting the leg on it until the knee is pointing downwards, it gets more weight onto the feet and as the hips turn into the wall the climber gets more reach.

Dyno: A lunge for a faraway hold. Different to a deadpoint as the feet can easily fly off. The opposite of a controlled, "static" move. Sometimes also called a lunge.

Flag: Where a leg is held out to one side or draped beneath the climber for balance, but the foot is not on a hold.

Shake out: Vital for sport climbing is finding a place on a route where the climber can take an arm off, chalk up and shake some blood back into and shake some lactic acid out of their arm.

Toe Hook: Important on steep terrain. By hooking the top of their foot behind a hold they can stop their body from flying off the wall.

Heel hook: Putting the heel on a hold to pull inwards or upwards. This can help to take weight off the climbers arms so they can "shake out" an arm.

Figure Four: A great way to either get extra height and reach or a good rest position on steep terrain. The climber hangs from one arm and wraps their opposite leg over that arm at the same time. Made famous by Francois Legrand as a real crowd pleasing move!

High step: When a climber's foot is nearly as high as their hands, or sometimes as high or higher.

Lie back: Using a side pull by opposing the force of the hands and feet; i.e. the hands are pulling one way and the feet are pushing the other.

Mantle: Where a climber starts below a holdpulls above a hold, or over a lip, then pushes down on what he/she is holding onto. An extremely committing move since it's very difficult to reverse.

Match: Using one hold for both hands. You can also "match feet."

Smear: Using the sole of the shoe to generate friction where there is otherwise no hold.

Stem: When the feet are very wide apart, sometimes into a "splits" position.

Bomber: Any hold that is extremely solid and easy to use. Short for "bombproof." Protection can also be "bomber."

Brain Bucket: A helmet. Not all that much good in a fall (it's rare to fall head first), but very useful to stop falling rocks and other plummeting objects from cracking your melon.

Clip: When climbers pull the rope up and snap it into the carabiner, they've "made the clip." Competitors must "make all the clips" on a given route -- they're not allowed to skip no matter how strong they feel.

Crux: The hardest part of a climb. The spot on the wall where the climber might expect to be spit off.

Deck: Can be either a noun or a verb. Noun: the ground. Verb: hitting the ground.

Dirt Me: Lower me.

Flash: Leading a climb and finishing in one push, without ever falling or hanging on the rope, while having crucial information on how to do crux moves.

Grease: Slipping off a hold, usually referred to falling off a slopping hold.

Gripped: Paralyzed with fear.

Manky: The opposite of bomber. A manky hold does not feel solid and is very difficult to use. Inadequate. Protection can also be "manky."

Onsight: Getting to the top of a route on the very first attempt without falling and having no prior information on the moves of the route. All competition, since it's the first time a climber has been on the route, if they finish it then they've "Onsighted" the route.

Overhang: A wall, or portion of wall, that is more than vertical.

Pro: Short for protection.

Pumped: When a climber's arms are pumped full of lactic acid, leading ultimately to an inability to hold on. A really steep, exhausting climb is "pumpy."

Roof: A seriously overhanging bit of wall, more or less horizontal to the ground.

Send: Finish a route.

Sewing machine legs: When standing on a small hold, or in an awkward position for too long makes a climber's leg(s) shake uncontrollably. Sometimes called "Elvis Syndrome."

Slab: A wall that is less than vertical.

Short roping: Where a belayer doesn't give a leader enough rope to make a clip and the leader has to struggle to pull up more rope. Can pull a leader off the wall.

Take: Said by the leader when they want the belayer to "take" their weight on the rope. i.e. Take up slack; i.e. I'm letting go, or coming off. Rarely heard by competition climbers.

Whipper: A long fall.

Alley Oop: A term used to describe any maneuver in the halfpipe where one rotates 180 or more degrees in an uphill direction; that is, rotating backside on the frontside wall, or rotating frontside on the backside wall.

Alpine Snowboarding: Similar to "Alpine Skiing" this term is simply used to describe riding recreationally...most often at a ski resort.

Andrecht: A rear handed backside handplant with a front handed grab.

Backside: The backside of the snowboard is the side where the heels rest; and the backside of the rider is the side to which his/her back faces.

Backside Air: Any air performed on the backside wall of the halfpipe.

Backside Rotation: Rotating clockwise for a regular-footer and rotating counter-clockwise for a goofy-footer (e.g. backside 360). When riding switch-stance the exact reverse applies and a regular-footer will rotate counter-clockwise and a goofy-footer will rotate clockwise.

Backside Turn: A turn where the heel edge faces to the outside of the turn while the snowboard is riding on the toe edge. In other words, a right turn for a regular-footer and a left turn for a goofy-footer.

Backside Wall: When standing at the top of the halfpipe and looking down towards the bottom, the backside wall is the left wall for regular-footers and the right wall for goofy-footers. If you ride straight down the center of the halfpipe your backside wall is behind you.

Bevel: The degree of angle to which the edges of a board can be tuned. Snowboards used for racing and carving should have a greater bevel than say a board used in the halfpipe.

Blindside: A term given to any rotation where the snowboarder has oriented him/herself "blind" to his/her takeoff or landing and must stretch to look over their shoulder. Such a technique usually increases the difficulty.

Boned: A term used to explain the emphasis of style in a trick. In other words, if someone "boned out a method" they would grab hard and create an emphasis of the maneuver such that his/her legs or arms may appear extended or stretched to a maximum degree. The "Bone" means to straighten one or both legs.

Bonk: The act of hitting an object with the snowboard.

Caballerial (Cab): A trick in the halfpipe which begins fakie, spins 360 degrees, and lands riding forward. Named after skateboarding stud, Steve Caballero.

Chicken Salad Air: The rear hand reaches between the legs and grabs the heel edge between the bindings while the front leg is boned. Also, the wrist is rotated inward to complete the grab.

Coping: A reference to the edge of the lip which runs the length of a halfpipe wall.

Crail Air: The rear hand grabs the toe edge in front of the front foot while the rear leg is boned.

Crippler: An inverted aerial where the rider performs a 180 degree flip. The athlete approaches the wall riding forward, becomes airborne, rotates 90 degrees, flips over in the air, rotates another 90 degrees, and lands riding forward.

Crooked Cop Air: Free riding version of the mosquito air.

Disaster: A lip trick where one gets "hung up" on the coping, most often with the board perpendicular to the coping.

Double Grab: Basically, doing two separate tricks while in the air. One goes off of a jump, grabs the board one way, then grabs it in another way, then lands.

Duck: A term used to describe stance angles with toes pointing outward.

Effective Edge: The length of metal edge on the snowboard which touches the ground; it is the effective part which is used to make a turn. It does not include the edge of the tip and tail.

Eggflip: An Eggplant where the rider chooses to flip over in order to re-enter the pipe instead or rotating 180 degrees. This trick is performed forward to fakie or switch-stance (fakie to forward).

Eggplant: A one-handed 180 degree invert in which the front hand is planted on the lip of the wall and the rotation is backside.

Elgeurial (BFM): An invert where the halfpipe wall is approached fakie, the rear hand is planted, a 360 degree backside rotation is made, and the rider lands going forward.

Eurocarve: A term used to describe a certain mode of riding in which the rider makes large and hard cutting turns; usually getting way up on the edge and leaning the body parallel to the ground. Certain equipment may also be associated with the eurocarver: such as hard shell boots, plate bindings and certain clothing.

Fakie: A term used to describe riding backwards.

Fall Line: The path of least resistance down any given slope.

Fat (Phat): A term used to describe how rad something is... Like a "fat air".

Flat Bottom: The area in a halfpipe between the two opposing transitional walls.

Flatground: Term used to describe tricks performed on a flat slope without obstacles. (e.g. nose slide, blunt slide, tail wheelie)

Freeriding: Snowboarding on all types of terrain for fun ... no contests, no halfpipe, no gates, no rules.

Freestyle Snowboarding: The kind of snowboarding which is mostly associated with riding the halfpipe, but which may also be used to describe any type of snowboarding which includes tricks and maneuver.

Fresh Fish Air: The backside version of the Stale Fish.

Front Hand: The hand closest to the nose of the snowboard. The left hand for regular footers and the right hand for goofy footers.

Front Foot: The foot mounted closest to the nose. A regular-footer's left foot and a goofy-footer's right foot.

Frontside: The frontside of the snowboard is the side where the toes rest; and the frontside of the snowboarder is the side to which his/her chest faces.

Frontside Air: Sometimes called the "Frontside Indy" the trick is best described for its grab. The Indy grab is with the rear hand between the bindings on the toe edge; in this particular maneuver the front leg is boned. It can also be any air performed on the frontside wall of the halfpipe.

Frontside Rotation: Rotating counter-clockwise for a regular-footer, and rotating clockwise for a goofy-footer.

Frontside Turn: A turn where the toe edge faces to the outside of the turn while the snowboard is riding on the heel edge. A left turn for a regular-footer and a right turn for a goofy-footer.

Frontside Wall: When standing at the top of the halfpipe and looking down towards the bottom, the frontside wall is the right hand wall for regular-footers and the left hand wall for goofy-footers.

Gay Twist: A trick which spins 360 degrees and includes a grab.

Goofy Footed: Riding on a snowboard with the right foot in the forward position.

Grab: To grab either edge of the snowboard with one or both hands.

Grind: To slide with the board parallel to the coping.

Haakon Flip: A halfpipe trick named after freestyle sensation Terje Haakonsen of Norway. A Haakon Flip is like a McTwist, except you take off switch, spin 720 and land normal.

Half-Cab: Cannot be performed in the halfpipe. It is the freeriding version of the Caballerial in which one rotates 180 degrees from fakie to forward off of a straight jump.

Halfpipe: A snow structure built for freestyle snowboarding. It consists of opposing radial transition walls of the same height and size. Snowboarders utilize the halfpipe to catch air and perform tricks by traveling back and forth from wall to wall while moving down the fall line.

Handplant (Backside): A 180-degree handplant in which both hands or the rear hand may be planted on the lip of the wall and the rotation is backside.

Handplant (Frontside): A 180-degree handplant in which the front hand is planted on the lip of the wall and the rotation is frontside.

Handplant (Layback): A 180-degree handplant in which the rear hand is planted on the lip of the wall and the rotation is frontside.

Heel Edge: The edge in which the heels rest.

Ho Ho: A general term given to any two handed handplant.

Hucker: One who throws himself/herself wildly through the air and does not land on his/her feet.

Iguana Air: The rear hand grabs the toe edge near the tail.

Indy Air: A true "Indy Air" is performed backside with the rear hand grabbing between the bindings on the toe edge while the rear leg is boned. The term "Indy" may also be used to simply describe the location of the grab.

Invert: A trick where the head is beneath the board and the snowboarder balances on one or two hands.

Inverted Aerial: A maneuver where the rider becomes airborne and upside down at any given moment.

Inverted 180: see Crippler

Inverted 540: see McTwist

Inverted 720 (720 McTwist): An inverted aerial where the rider performs a 720-degree rotational flip. The rider approaches the wall riding forward, becomes airborne, rotates 720 degrees in a backside direction while performing a front flip, and lands riding fakie.

Japan Air: The front hand grabs the toe edge in front of the front foot, both knees are bent, the rear leg boned, and the board is pulled to the level of the head.

Jib: Riding which closely resembles street skating. "Jibbers" commonly slide rails, bonk trees and perform flatground tricks.

Kicker: A name for a jump ramp. Kickers usually have the property of throwing you up into the air rather than giving you distance.

Late: A term used to describe incorporating something into a trick just before its completion and landing.

Leash: A retention device used to attach the snowboard to the front foot so that it doesn't run away.

Lien Air: The front hand grabs the heel edge and the body leans out over the nose.

Lien Method Air: A cross between a Method and a Lien.

Lip: The top edge portion of the halfpipe wall.

Lip Trick: Any trick performed on or near the lip of the wall of the halfpipe.

Mashed Potato: An alley-oop air on the backside wall of the halfpipe where the front hand grabs the toe edge in front of the front foot and the back hand grabs the heel edge in front of the front foot behind the back.

McEgg: An invert where the rider plants the front hand on the wall, rotates 540 degrees in a backside direction and lands riding forward.

McTwist: An inverted aerial where the rider performs a 540-degree rotational flip. The rider approaches the halfpipe wall riding forward, becomes airborne, rotates 540 degrees in a backside direction while performing a front flip, and lands riding forward.

Melonchollie Air: The front hand reaches behind the front leg and grabs the heel edge between the bindings while the front leg is boned.

Method Air: The front hand grabs the heel edge, both knees are bent, and the board is pulled level to the head.

Miller Flip: An invert where the halfpipe wall is approached riding forward, the front hand is planted, a 360-degree frontside rotation is made, and the rider lands riding fakie.

Misty Flip: The freeriding version of the McTwist. It is a partially inverted 540-degree front flip that is performed off of a straight jump and which may be performed from forward to fakie or from fakie to forward.

Mosquito Air: The front hand reaches behind the front leg and grabs the heel edge between the bindings. The front knee is then bent to touch the board, tuck-knee style.

Mute Air: The front hand grabs the toe edge either between the toes or in front of the front foot.

Nollie: Much like an Ollie only you spring off of your nose instead of your tail.

Nollie Frontflip: Springing off of the nose while going off a jump and leaning forward, allows you to do a frontflip.

Nose: The front tip of the snowboard.

Nose Bonk: To hit an object with the nose of the board.

Nose Grab: The front hand grabs the nose of the board.

Nose Poke: Any maneuver where you bone your front leg and "poke" the nose of the board in a direction away from your body, usually while grabbing.

Nose Slide: To slide along the ground or an object solely on the nose of the snowboard.

Nuclear Air: The rear hand reaches across the front of the body and grabs the heel edge in front of the front foot.

Ollie: A method to obtain air without a jump by first lifting the front foot then lifting the rear foot as you spring off of the tail.

Palmer Air: A kind of method where the grab is near the nose, the board is pulled across the front of the body, and the nose is pointed downward. Named after Shaun Palmer.

Phillips 66: An invert where the rider approaches the halfpipe wall riding fakie, plants the rear hand on the lip of the wall while doing a "front flip" and lands on the transition riding forward.

Pop Tart: Airing from fakie to forward in the halfpipe without rotation.

Quarterpipe: A halfpipe with only one wall.

Rail: There are two rails on a snowboard; each comprised of a sidewall and an edge.

Rail Slide: To slide the rails of the snowboard onto almost anything, other than a flat slope. Some good rail sliding surfaces include: fallen tree branches/logs, the coping of a halfpipe, a picnic table.

Rear Hand: The hand closest to the tail of the board.

Rear Foot: The foot mounted closest to the tail.

Regular Footed: Riding on a board with the left foot in the forward position.

Revert: To switch from riding fakie to forward, or from forward to fakie, usually while the board is still touching the ground.

Rewind: A term used to describe any maneuver where a rotation is initiated, stopped, and its momentum reversed.

Roast Beef Air: The rear hand reaches between the legs and grabs the heel edge between the bindings while the rear leg is boned.

Rock and Roll: A lip trick where the athlete rides up a wall, balances on the lip with the board perpendicular to the coping, and reenters the pipe without any rotation.

Rocket Air: The front hand grabs the toe edge in front of the front foot and the back leg is boned while the board points perpendicular to the ground.

Rolling down the windows: A phrase used to describe when someone is caught off balance and they rotate their arms wildly in the air to try and recover.

Sad Plant: A term used to describe any handplant where the front leg is boned for style.

Seatbelt: The front hand reaches across the body and grabs the tail while the front leg is boned.

Shifty: A grabless trick where the upper torso and lower body are twisted in opposite directions and then returned to normal.

Shovel: The lifted or upward curved sections of a snowboard at the tip and tail.

Sick: An expression used to describe something really cool.

Sketching: The act of riding along precariously and near falling.

Slob Air: A frontside air where the front hand grabs mute, the back leg is boned, and the board is kept parallel with the ground.

Smith Grind: A lip trick where one slides with the coping perpendicular to the snowboard with the front leg boned and the nose is oriented below the coping and the tail above.

Spaghetti Air: The front hand reaches between the legs and behind the front leg to grab the toe edge in front of the front foot while the back leg is boned.

Stale Egg: An eggplant with a stalefish grab.

Stalefish Air: A frontside trick where the rear hand grabs the heel edge behind the rear leg and in between the bindings while the rear leg is boned.

Stalemasky Air: The front hand reaches between the legs and grabs the heel edge between the bindings while the front leg is boned.

Stalled: When a maneuver is performed such that the point of emphasis in the maneuver is held or "stalled" for an extended period of time.

Stance: The position of one's feet on the snowboard.

Stiffy Air: Any maneuver in which both legs are boned and a grab is incorporated.

Stinky: Riding with the legs spread open.

Swiss Cheese Air: The rear hand reaches between the legs and grabs the heel edge in front of the front foot while the back leg is boned.

Switch stance (Switch): The term for performing a trick while riding backwards. The rider is going backwards as if he/she were a goofy-footer instead of a regular-footer, or vice-versa, hence the term 'switch stance.'

Tail: The rear tip of the snowboard.

Tail Bonk: To hit an object with the tail of the snowboard.

Tail Grab: The rear hand grabs the tail of the snowboard.

Tail Poke: Any maneuver where you bone your rear leg and 'poke' the tail of the snowboard in a direction away from your body, usually while grabbing.

Tail Slide: To slide along the ground or an object solely on the tail of the snowboard.

Tail Tap: See Tail Bonk.

Tail Wheelie: To ride solely on the tail of the snowboard with the nose in the air.

Taipan Air: The front hand reaches behind the front foot and grabs the toe edge between the bindings. The front knee is then bent to touch the board, tuck-knee style.

Toe Edge: A snowboard has two different edges. The toe edge is the one at which the toes rest.

Transition (Tranny): The radial curved section of a halfpipe wall between the flat bottom and the vertical. A snowboarder pumps and rides the transition to gain speed, catch air and land.

Traverse: To ride perpendicular to the fall line. A halfpipe rider traverses from wall to wall in the halfpipe.

Tuck knee: A technique where one knee is bent and the ankle bent sideways in order to touch the knee to the snowboard between the bindings.

Tweaked: A term used to explain the emphasis of style in a trick.

Twin Tip: A type of snowboard designed for freestyle snowboarding. It has an identical tip and a tail so that the board may be ridden similarly in both directions.

Vertical: The vertical top portion of a wall in a halfpipe which allows the snowboarder to fly straight up into the air, and not out of the pipe, or into the pipe.

Wall: The wall of a halfpipe is comprised of a transition and a vertical section.

180: The snowboarder rotates 180 degrees in the air and lands riding fakie. In the halfpipe, the rider approaches the wall riding forward, rotates 180 degrees, and lands riding forward.

360: The snowboarder rotates 360 degrees in the air and lands riding forward. In the halfpipe, the rider approaches the wall riding forward, rotates 360 degrees, and lands riding fakie.

540: The snowboarder rotates 540 degrees in the air and lands riding fakie. In the halfpipe, the rider approaches the wall riding forward, rotates 540 degrees, and lands riding forward.

720: The rider rotates 720 degrees in the air and lands riding forward. In the halfpipe, the rider approaches the wall riding forward, rotates 720 degrees, and lands riding fakie.

900: The rider rotates 900 degrees in the air and lands riding fakie. In the halfpipe, the rider approaches the wall riding forward, rotates 900 degrees, and lands riding forward.

Alternative flying: The watershed term for parachuting disciplines such as skysurfing, freestyle, and chute assis that emphasize flying postures rather than traditional horizontal flying, also referred to as freeflight and 3-D flying.

Altimeter: An instrument for measuring altitude by registering changes in atmospheric pressure.

Biff: When an approach and landing are misjudged causing the jumper to not land on his or her feet as intended.

Bindings: The device by which the skysurfer's feet are fastened to the skyboard.

Burble: The rough air or vacuum above a freefalling body.

Camera flyer: The freefall photographer, who subjectively applies three dimensions to the camera perspective to creatively enhance a performance.

Canopy: Another term for the parachute. Each jumper carries two: the main and the reserve.

Chicken soup: When the planned move or jump routine does not go as planned

Chop: To jettison a canopy or skyboard for emergency reasons.

Climb-out: The act of getting into a starting position before exiting the aircraft while it is in flight.

Container: The pack on the parachutist's back containing the two canopies.

Cut: the command given to slow the speed of the aircraft once the spot is reached. This helps to easily facilitate the climb-out and hang.

Cypress: The brand name by which the AAD is often referred to.

Dialed in: To be in sync with a teammate or to know the performance parameters of your equipment.

Dirt-dive: The walking through of a routine on the ground.

Door jam: The practice of taking up starting positions in the door before the aircraft begins moving.

Drift: The amount a jumper is blown away from the spot during freefall by unusually strong upper-air currents. This is one of the many factors that go into spotting.

Dytter: The brand name commonly used to refer to an audible altimeter device that beeps for five seconds when it passes through a pre-set altitude.

Fall rate: The relative descent rate of one individual's terminal velocity to others'.

Formation flying: The traditional form of competitive parachuting in which teams of four or more fly at a rate relative to each other to create formations on a horizontal plane during freefall.

Frap hat: A soft, leather hat worn for warmth, to hold a Dytter in place, or to keep hair from tangling.

Freeflight: Coined by Olav Zipser, a term meaning the alternative or 3-D flying during freefall. This includes disciplines of skysurfing, freestyle, and chute assis.

Funnel: A situation that occurs when one person "steals the air" out from another causing a burble. The trick is to keep from falling onto the person below.

Hang: To take up a starting position of literally hanging outside the aircraft prior to exit. Usually, it is done by the camera flyer, also called taking the floater position.

Hill: The transitional period just after exiting the aircraft when the relative wind shifts from an angle to vertical.

Jump run: The final pass of an aircraft that is at the predetermined altitude on an imaginary path that crosses over the target along a line coinciding with the wind direction.

Kit: A parachutist's total package of equipment that includes the container, main, reserve, and AAD. Also referred to as the rig.

Load: The specific plane full of jumpers going up at one time.

Main: The primary canopy, always on the bottom of the container, used on every jump and repacked by the parachutist.

Pack job: The way a canopy is folded and placed into the container.

Pud: What the jumper grabs to pull the pilot chute into the air stream and initiate deployment of the main. Usually located on the right bottom side of the container or leg strap.

Relative wind: The direction from which the supporting column of air is coming.

Reserve: The back-up canopy used in an emergency and repacked only by a FAA certified expert.

Rig: The American term for kit.

Rigger: A FAA certified expert who modifies, repairs, and can repack reserves.

Ring sight: The sighting device that aims the cameraflyer's camera. Two pieces of glass with concentric rings that form a target can be aimed at the subject. On the ground, the ring site is calibrated with someone looking through the viewfinder at the same object that is in the ring site. It is usually located in front of his dominant eye.

Skygod: A person of noted freefall ability.

Sky Sportif International: This is Skysurfing's governing body. Pete McKeeman operates SSI from the office in Carrolton, Texas. The SSI mission is to merge the needs of the athletes, the sponsors, the competition and the tele-production to create the best event possible. The SSI goal is to provide the long-term business foundation for sky sport athletes to make a living doing what they love.

Slider: A piece of fabric that slows and controls the speed of a canopy's opening. Without one, most would open so hard that seams would blow out causing an explosion.

Snivel: When a canopy opens slowly. For cameraflyers, slow openings are easier on the neck.

Spot: The point where one exits the aircraft. It is determined in relation to the landing area, wind direction, and aircraft speed.

Terminal velocity: The maximum rate of descent for a given body position. For a belly-to-earth posture, it is about 120 mph, with speeds up to 160-180 mph for feet first and head first positions.

Three-ring: The patented interlocking concentric ring device found on all rigs to connect the main to the harness.

Toggles: The grips on the end of the steering line. When pulled down after the airflow on one side of a canopy's trailing edge, they initiate a turn.

Whuffo: A non-parachutist. Comes from a farmer who allegedly asked, "Wha'fo' you wannt go jump outta them perfectly good airplanes?"

Wings: The triangle of fabric on the flyer's suit that allows him to adjust his fall rate to match that of the skysurfer. Located from the armpit to the wrist to the waist or hip, the zero porosity nylon wings become rigid when he extends his arms out and forward and gradually collapse as they are tucked in.

Z.P.: Zero-porosity; usually refers to the non-porous nylon materials used for most canopies and by some camera flyers for jumpsuit wings.

Apex: The part of a bend or corner where the luge is nearest to the inside of the corner.

Push-Off Apron: The area immediately after the starting line where riders are allowed to push off to gain speed. Length of apron varies, depending on race course. On some courses, riders are allowed an unlimited push-off area.

Quickstop: See Stoppies.

Riding: At all times, pilots attempt to keep toes pointed, elbows in, and heads down and back to reduce wind resistance. Some say by lifting one's chest slightly, a wind break can be created for one's helmet.

Spew: See Puke a Wheel.

Starts: There are two types of starts in street luge. The most common is paddling with both hands at the same time. The other type involves paddling one hand at a time, like a swimming stroke.

Steering: All luges must be lean-activated, like a skateboard. See Trucks.

Trucks: The units on which the Luge Road Racing Wheels are suspended. They are activated by the pilot's leaning, causing the luge to turn to the direction in which he or she leans.

Wobbs: Also referred to as speed wobbles. Occurs when the rear suspension of the luge is improperly adjusted, causing it to veer left and right. The resulting steering wobbles can cause a violent rollover.