Steezy Slang: Lingo of the ski world (Part II)

Phil Bennett hucking off a bridge

If you’ve ever ridden up the chairlift with a couple of park rats talking about jibbing and jumping, you may have had a hard time following their conversation. Here I will translate their vexing vernacular into something a bit more comprehensible.

As this article is written about skiing I have left out many words that are unique to snowboarding, but many of the terms listed are applicable to both one- and two-plank park rats.

Terrain Park Jargon
180; 360; 540; 720; 900; 1080 – Aerial spins. 360 degrees is one full rotation (think circle); 540 is one and a half rotations; 720 is two; etc.
Bonk – To bounce off any object with your skis. A word most often used in the terrain park, but applicable to any situation. (Careful: In Britain, this means ‘to shag’)
Case – To case is to come up short on the landing of a jump and hit the knuckle, which compresses the knees and hurts like hell.
Corked – Sometimes called “tweaking” a trick, a corked spin is an off-axis rotation.
Daffy – Aerial with one ski in front and the other behind.
Deck – The top flat section on each side of the half pipe.
Grab – Applicable to any trick in which the skier grabs one or both skis. A million different variations exist and more are discovered every day.
Helicopter – Old-school name for the 360 (one full rotation)
Huck – To jump off anything.
Inverted – Upside-down.
Knuckle – The transition between the flat and the landing of a jump.
Half pipe – Resembles the bottom half of a pipe. The skier rides up one wall of the pipe, boosting above the deck then back down and up the other wall.
Pumping Tranny – To ‘pump the transition’ of the halfpipe; to use the transition between the flat and the wall to gain speed and momentum to boost out of the pipe.
Rodeo – Back flip with a spin.
Rolling up/down the windows – Common reaction when off-balance in the air; Arms are held out to the sides spinning circles as the skier attempts to regain balance. Resembles the rotating motion of rolling up or down manual windows in a car.
Running Man – Straight air jump in which you swing your legs back and forth to mimic running.
Snake – To ride past people who are patiently waiting to hit a jump, cutting them in line.
Speed Check – Scuffing speed by turning or sliding out the tails of your skis in order to slow down.
Spread eagle – Horizontal splits in the air.
Steez – Style. Most commonly used as an adjective (steezy). Not limited to the park, but most commonly heard there.
Straight Air – Jumping without any spins or flips; essentially a trickless jump. Typically used as warm-up to get the feel of the jump because every day, every jump is different.
Switch – Skiing backwards.

Clearly this does not cover all terrain park lingo, but I’ve included the most common and/or entertaining terms that I hear while spinning laps through the park.

Coming soon: Part III – The best of skier slang describing everything from big wrecks to equipment malfunctions.

For more info: Steezy Slang: Lingo of the ski world (Part I)