Snowboard tricks are aerials or maneuvers performed on snowboards for fun, or in competitions. Most often, these maneuvers are performed on obstacles such as jumps, halfpipes, quarterpipes, hips, handrails, funboxes, or ledges, or on the surface of the snow. Many have their origins in precursory board sports such as skateboarding and surfing.
Snowboard trick nomenclature
Snowboard tricks are named in the same manner that earlier board sports (skateboarding, surfing) named their maneuvers.
Frontside and backside
The identifiers frontside and backside describe how a trick is performed. These identifiers are very important technical terms and are commonly misunderstood because of their different uses for jumps and rails.
For aerial maneuvers, frontside and backside identify the direction of rotation of a spin. For instance a regular rider doing a frontside spin off a jump would rotate his body counterclockwise opening his shoulders up so that his "front side" is the first side of his body going forward off the jump in the first 90 degrees of his spin. A regular rider doing a backside spin off a jump would rotate his body clockwise closing his shoulders so that his "back side" is the first side of his body going forward off the jump in the first 90 degrees of his spin.
For tricks performed on obstacles such as rails, frontside and backside refer to the direction from which the snowboarder approaches the obstacle. A regular rider approaching a rail from the left side of the rail would be considered frontside because the "front side" of his body is facing the rail. A regular rider approaching a rail from the right side of the rail would be considered backside because the "back side" of his body is facing the rail. A regular rider doing a frontside spin onto a rail would rotate his body clockwise and then land on the rail. A regular rider doing a backside spin onto a rail would rotate his body counterclockwise and then land on the rail.
Switch-stance and fakie
The terms switch-stance (switch) and fakie are often used interchangeably in snowboarding, though there is a distinct difference. The switch identifier refers to any trick that a snowboarder performs while traveling backwards, or the reverse of his/her natural stance. A snowboarder can also be said to be riding switch while traveling opposite from his/her natural stance, when no trick is being performed. At this time, the leading tip of his board is referred to as the nose.
Alternatively, the identifier fakie has its origin in skateboarding, a discipline where the feet are not attached to the board, but where the skateboarder's natural stance includes positioning the trailing foot on the kicked tail of the skateboard. On a skateboard, fakie refers to an instance where the skateboarder is traveling backwards, but his/her feet remain in the same position on the skateboard as their natural stance.
Snowboarders will distinguish between fakie and switch, even though their feet never change position on the snowboard. The term switch is far more common when describing snowboard tricks, and a switch trick is any trick that is initiated switch-stance. Landing switch means that the snowboarder has landed while traveling backwards.
The term fakie will sometimes refer to landing a trick or maneuver performed on a skateboard. An air-to-fakie for instance, would be a straight air on a vertical feature with no rotation, and re-entering the same transition. The rider would land fakie and would therefore be riding switch. Another common way that the term fakie is used is when the identifier switch creates a redundant description. For example, much like skateboarding's conventions, a snowboarder would say fakie ollie, rather than switch nollie.
Straight airs
- Ollie
- A trick in which the snowboarder springs off the tail of the board and into the air.
- Nollie
- A trick in which the snowboarder springs off the nose of the board and into the air.
- Switch ollie
- While riding switch, the snowboarder performs an ollie.
- Fakie ollie (Switch Nollie)
- While riding switch, the snowboarder springs off of his/her 'new nose' and into the air. This resembles a nollie, however the snowboarder is riding in switch.
- Shifty
- An aerial trick in which a snowboarder twists his body in order to shift or rotate his board about 90° from its normal position beneath him, and then returns the board to its original position before landing. This trick can be performed frontside or backside, and also in variation with other tricks and spins.
- Air-to-fakie
- Airing straight out of a vertical transition (halfpipe, quarterpipe) and then re-entering fakie, without rotation.
- Poptart
- Airing from fakie to forward on a quarterpipe or halfpipe without rotation.
Grabs
- One-Two
- A trick in which the rider's front hand grabs the heel edge behind his back foot.
- A B
- A trick in which the rider's rear hand grabs the heel side of the board front for the front bindings.
- Beef CarpaccioÂ
- A Roast Beef and Chicken Salad (in between the legs) at the same time with hands crossed.
- Beef CurtainsÂ
- A Roast Beef and Chicken Salad (in between the legs) at the same time. Also known as The King or Steak Tar Tar
- Bloody Dracula
- A trick in which the rider grabs the tail of the board with both hands. The rear hand grabs the board as it would do it during a regular tail-grab but the front hand blindly reaches for the board behind the riders back.
- Cannonball/UFO
- A trick in which the nose and tail of the board are grabbed simultaneously.
- Chicken salad
- A trick in which the leading hand passes through the legs from the front and grabs the heel edge between the feet.
- China air (West Coast) /Korean air (East Coast)
- An easier version of the Japan Air; the front hand grabs the toe side in front of the front foot. Both knees are then bent.
- Crail
- A trick in which the rear hand grabs the nose of the board. Alternatively, some consider any rear handed grab in front of the front foot on the toeside edge a crail grab, classifying a grab to the nose a "nose crail" or "real crail".
- Cross-rocket
- Advanced variation of a Rocket Air, where the arms are crossed in order to grab opposite sides of the nose of the board, while the rear leg is boned straight and the front leg is tucked up.
- Drunk Driver
- Similar to a Truck driver, it is a stalefish grab and mute grab performed at the same time.
- Frontside grab/indy
- A fundamental trick performed by grabbing the toe edge between the bindings with the trailing hand. This trick is referred to as a frontside grab on a straight air, or while performing a frontside spin. When performing a backside aerial or backside rotation, this grab is referred to as an Indy. The frontside air was popularized by skateboarder Tony Alva.
- Gorilla
- Both hands grab toeside between the bindings.
- Japan air
- The front hand grabs the toe edge just between/on the front foot. However, the arm must go around the outside of your front knee. The board is then pulled behind the rider (tweaked). Note: Advanced riders performing this trick will usually turn and move facing fully forward, or put the nose of the board close to the upper arm or shoulder.
- Lien air
- When performing a frontside air on transition, the snowboarder grabs heelside in front or behind the leading binding with his/her leading hand. In order for it to be a Lien air, the board can not be tweaked and has to be kept flat. The origin of the name of the trick is the reverse spelling of skateboarder Neil Blender's first name.
- Korean bacon
- The KB is when the leading arm reach between the legs from behind and grab the toe edge at the front foot bending the knees pulling the board to the back. (Tweaked).
- Melancholy; Melon
- Performed by grabbing the heel edge between the bindings with the leading hand, while the front leg is boned forward.
- Melon, water
- A melon grab where the rider bones the front leg and turns the board the 45° angle.
- Method
- A fundamental trick performed by bending the knees to lift the board behind the rider's back, and grabbing the heel edge of the snowboard with the leading hand. Variations on the method include :
- Power method, cross bone, or Palmer method
- Performed by grabbing the heel edge with the leading hand, and tucking up the board while kicking out the rear foot in such a way that the base of the board is facing forward. Derived from the snowboarder Chris Roach of Grass Valley, CA. Other notable riders who popularized this air include snowboarders Jamie Lynn, Shaun Palmer, Terry Kidwell, and skateboarders Steve Caballero and Christian Hosoi.
- Suitcase
- A method in which the knees are bent so that the front hand is able to grab the toe edge and hold the board 'like a suitcase.'
- Mindy, Super
- Both hands grab toeside outside of the bindings.
- Mule kick
- An early snowboarder adaptation of the skateboarders method air. Often called a Toyota air, after its similar posturing to the early 1980s Toyota "Oh What A Feeling" ad campaign featuring people jumping off the ground, performed by jumping into an aerial backbend with legs bending until nearly kicking yourself in the butt as with skiing's backscratcher air, both arms bent back high over the head and not grabbing the board. Still occasionally seen and widely regarded as terrible.
- Mute
- Front hand grabs the toe edge between the bindings. Variations include the Mute Stiffy, in which a mute grab is performed while straightening both legs, or alternatively, some snowboarders will grab mute and rotate the board frontside 90 degrees.
- Nosegrab
- Front hand grabs the nose of the board.
- Nuclear
- The rear hand grabs the heel side of the board in front of the front foot.
- Pickpocket
- The front hand reaches behind the back and grabs the toe side of the board in front of the back foot and tweaks it back.
- Perfect
- The front hand grabs the tail of the board.
- Roast beef
- Back hand grabs through the legs to the heel edge.
- Rocket Air
- Both hands grab the nose of the board, while the rear leg is boned and the front leg is pulled up.
- Rusty Trombone
- A Roast Beef and Nose grab performed at the same time.
- Seatbelt
- The front hand reaches across the body and grabs the toe edge behind the back binding.
- Slob
- A mute grab where the back leg is boned straight.
- Stiffy
- Grab indy in between the bindings and bone both legs 90° to the body.
- Stalefish
- Back hand grabs the heel edge of the board between the feet, around the outside of the knee.
- Squirrel
- A trick in which the rider's front hand grabs the heel edge in front of the front foot and his rear/back hand grabs the heel edge behind the rear foot.
- 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.
- Tailfish
- Similar in naming convention to a Tindy, Tailfish is a portmanteau of 'Tail' and 'Stalefish'. The trailing hand grabs the heel edge between rear binding and the tail.
- Tailgrab
- The trailing hand grabs the tail of the board. Variations include straightening, or 'boning' the front leg, or 'tweaking' the board slightly frontside or backside.
- Taipan air
- The back hand grabs the toe edge just in front of the rear foot. However, the arm must go around the outside of your rear knee. The board is then pulled behind the rider (tweaked). The name Taipan is a portmanteau of tail/Japan air.
- Tindy
- The tindy grab is a controversial grab, and the name is a portmanteau of 'tail' and 'indy'. The trailing hand grabs between the rear binding and the tail on the toe edge.
- Truck driver
- When both hands grab Indy and Melon.
Spins
Spins are typically performed in 180° increments due to the nature of the obstacles on which they are performed. Even in cases where spins are performed on unconventional obstacles, the rotation is regarded as the nearest increment of 180°, and can be identified by the direction of approach and landing (regular and switch). A spin attempted from a jump to a rail is the only time a spin can be referred to in a 90 degree increment, examples: 270 (between a 180 and 360 degree spin) or 450 (between a 360 and 540 degree spin). These spins can be frontside, backside, cab, or switch-backside just like any other spins. Billy Morgan landed the biggest spin ever, a quad cork 1800.
The term "Cab" in snowboarding generally refers to any switch-frontside spin (no matter what the amount of rotation) on any feature (halfpipe, jumps, rails, boxes). For example, a "switch-frontside 1080 double cork" off a jump would be referred to as a "cab 1080 double cork". The term was originally only applied to a switch-frontside 360 in a halfpipe in which a rider would take off a wall switch, spin 360 degrees frontside, and land on his/her comfortable stance (regular/goofy). Therefore, the term "Cab" only applied to tricks in the halfpipe in which rotations were in full 360 increments, such as a "Cab 360" or "Cab 720." For example, since a switch-frontside 540 would land a rider in the same switch position he/she took off from in the halfpipe, it was not referred to as a "Cab 540" because the rider did not take off switch, spin frontside, and land in his/her comfortable stance.
A Half-Cab is a switch-frontside 180 spin.
An alley-oop is a spin performed in a halfpipe or quarterpipe in which the spin is rotated in the opposite direction of the air. For example, performing a frontside rotation on the backside wall of a halfpipe, or spinning clockwise while traveling right-to-left through the air on a quarterpipe would mean the spin was alley-oop.
Hard Way: A term used when spinning onto a feature or off a jump using your opposite edge to start the direction of your spin. Example- If a regular rider was to spin Hard Way front side 270 onto rail, they would start that spin off their toe side edge. That would make the trick a Hard Way front side 270. Opposite of the traditional front side rotation starting with your heel edge. Same applies to goofy riders.
Flips and Inverted Rotations
- Back flip
- Flipping backwards (like a standing backflip) off of a jump.
- Front flip
- Flipping forward (like a standing frontflip) off of a jump.
- Crippler
- An inverted 540 degree spin performed on the frontside wall of the halfpipe
- Wildcat
- A backflip performed on a straight jump, with an axis of rotation in which the snowboarder flips in a backward, cartwheel-like fashion. A double wildcat is called a supercat.
- Tamedog
- A frontflip performed on a straight jump, with an axis of rotation in which the snowboarder flips in a forward, cartwheel-like fashion.
- McTwist
- A forward-flipping backside 540, performed in a halfpipe, quarterpipe, or similar obstacle. The rotation may continue beyond 540° (e.g., McTwist 720). The origin of this trick comes from vert ramp skateboarding, and was first performed on a skateboard by Mike McGill.
- Double McTwist
- Previously believed to have been Shaun White as the creator of the Double McTwist 1260, Ben Stewart is the first person known to have performed it in 2009 and coined the name "Soggy Wolf". Shaun White was the first athlete to perform the trick in competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics giving it worldwide recognition and giving it the name "Tomahawk". Since then, numerous athletes have performed the Double McTwist 1260 including Iouri Podladtchikov.
- Haakon flip
- An aerial maneuver performed in a halfpipe by taking off backwards, and performing an inverted 720° rotation. The rotation mimics a half-cab leading to McTwist, and is named after freestyle legend Terje Haakonsen of Norway.
- Lando-Roll
- A Frontside cork 540/720 method done by Alaskan snowboarder Mark Landvik.
- Backside Misty
- After a rider learns the basic backside 540 off the toes, the Misty Flip can be an easy next progression step. Misty Flip is quite different than the backside rodeo, because instead of corking over the heel edge with a back flip motion, the Misty corks off the toe edge specifically and has more of a Front Flip in the beginning of the trick, followed by a side flip coming out to the landing.
- Frontside Misty
- The Frontside misty ends up looking quite a bit like a frontside rodeo in the middle of the trick, but at take off the rider uses a more frontflip type of motion to start the trick. The frontside Misty can only be done off the toes and the rider will wind up to spin frontside, then snap their trailing shoulder towards their front foot and the lead shoulder will release towards the sky. as they unwind at takeoff release. Usually grabbing Indy the rider follows the lead shoulder through the rotation to 540, 720 and even 900.
- Chicane
- A chicane is a rarely done trick that involves doing a frontside 180 with a front flip on the X Axis. Opposite of the 90 roll, the chicane is frontside 90, tuck front flip, 90 degrees more to land switch, or vice versa.
- Frontside Rodeo
- The basic frontside rodeo is all together a 540. It essentially falls into a grey area between an off axis frontside 540 and a frontside 180 with a back flip blended into it. The grab choice and different line and pop factors can make it more flipy or more of an off-axis spin. Frontside rodeo can be done off the heels or toes and with a little more spin on the Z Axis can go to 720 or 900. It is possible to do it to a 1080 but, if there is too much flip in the spin, it can be hard not to over flip when going past 720 and 900. The bigger the Z Axis spin, the later the inverted part of the rotation should be. Gaining control on big spin rodeos, may lead to a double cork or a second flip rotation in the spin, if the rider has developed a comfort level with double flips on the tramp or other gymnastic environment.;Rodeo flip; frontside rodeo: A frontward-flipping frontside spin done off the toe-edge. Most commonly performed with a 540° rotation, but also performed as a 720°, 900°, etc..
- Backside Rodeo flip
- A backward-flipping backside spin. Most commonly performed with a 540° rotation, but also performed as a 720°, 900°, etc..
- Ninety Roll
- A trick performed by back-flipping toward the landing of a jump, with a total rotation of 180° backside (i.e. spin 90° backside-backflip-spin 90°), therefore landing fakie. Essentially, this is a backside 180 backflip. This trick is sometimes confused with a backside Rodeo, though the Ninety Roll has a much more linear axis of rotation.
- Michalchuk
- A trademark flip first performed in the halfpipe by Michael Michalchuk. A flat-spinning, on-axis backflip often grabbing melon, indy or method and rotating 540 degrees.
- Doublechuk
- A variation of the Michalchuk, but with two backflip rotations.
- Rippey flip
- A back-flipping frontside 360°, typically performed with a method grab. Named after its originator, Jim Rippey, although already performed 5 years earlier by former pro skateboarder and snowboarder John Cardiel.
- Sato flip
- Halfpipe trick done by Rob Kingwill (Sato is the Japanese word for sugar). It is something like a frontside McTwist. The rider rides up the transition of the pipe as if doing a frontside 540°, pops in the air and grabs frontside, then throws head, shoulders, and hips down.
- Cork
- Spins are corked or corkscrew when the axis of the spin allows for the snowboarder to be oriented sideways or upside-down in the air, typically without becoming completely inverted (though the head and shoulders should drop below the relative position of the board). A Double-Cork refers to a rotation in which a snowboarder inverts or orients himself sideways at two distinct times during an aerial rotation. David Benedek is the originator of the Double-Cork in the Half-pipe, but the Double-Cork is also a very common trick in Big-Air competitions. Shaun White is known for making this trick famous in the half-pipe. Several snowboarders have recently extended the limits of technical snowboarding by performing triple-cork variations, Torstein Horgmo being the first to land one in competition. Mark McMorris originated Backside Triple-Cork 1440's in 2011. In 2015 Billy Morgan demonstrated a quadruple cork.
Inverted Hand Plants
- Invert
- Overlaying term for handstands on the edge of a halfpipe
- Handplant
- A 180° degree handplant in which the rear hand is planted on the lip of the wall and the rotation is frontside.
- Sad plant
- An invert with a sad grab (melon grab).
- Elguerial
- 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. Named after Eddie Elguera.
- Eggplant
- A one-handed 180° invert in which the front hand is planted on the lip of the wall and the rotation is backside.
- 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 (fakie to forward).
- McEgg
- An invert where the rider plants the front hand on the wall, rotated 540 degrees in a backside direction and lands riding forward.
- Andrecht
- A rear handed backside handplant with a front-handed grab.
- Miller flip
- A 360° frontside handplant to fakie.
- Layback
- A non-inverted handplant in which the leading hand is planted during a slide. The rider literally lays back, hence the name.
- HoHo
- An invert but both hands are planted at the top of the halfpipe.
- Killer Stand
- You make an invert but you also take your back/rear hand on front hand's elbow.
- Fresh
- An invert (front hand) but back flip is boned; no grab
- J-Tear
- Inverted frontside 540 with a hand plant in the middle. Originally a variation on the Jacoby Terror Air. This trick was invented by Mike Jacoby for a contest that didn't allow inverted aerials; inverted handplants, however, were acceptable.
Slides
Slides are tricks performed along the surface of obstacles like handrails and funboxes. In skateboarding, slides are distinguished from grinds because some tricks are performed by sliding on the surface of the skateboard, and others are performed by grinding on the trucks of the skateboard. However, because snowboards don't have trucks, the term grind doesn't apply to these types of maneuvers. They can still be called grinds.
Many rail maneuvers are identified as frontside or backside, and these refer to the way in which the snowboarder approaches the obstacle. Frontside refers to a trick performed where a snowboarder approaches an obstacle that is in front of the toe edge of his snowboard. Backside refers to a trick performed in which a snowboarder approaches an obstacle that is behind the heel edge of his board. The direction that the snowboarder is facing while riding the obstacle has no bearing on the frontside or backside identifier. The frontside and backside identifiers are not used when a snowboarder travels straight toward the obstacle.
- 50-50
- A slide in which a snowboarder rides straight along a rail or other obstacle. This trick has its origin in skateboarding, where the trick is performed with both skateboard trucks grinding along a rail.
- Boardslide
- A slide performed where the riders leading foot passes over the rail on approach, with his/her snowboard traveling perpendicular along the rail or other obstacle. When performing a frontside boardslide, the snowboarder is facing uphill. When performing a backside boardslide, a snowboarder is facing downhill. This is often confusing to new riders learning the trick because with a frontside boardslide you are moving backward and with a backside boardslide you are moving forward.
- Lipslide
- A slide performed where the rider's trailing foot passes over the rail on approach, with his/her snowboard traveling perpendicular along the rail or other obstacle. When performing a frontside lipslide, the snowboarder is facing downhill. When performing a backside lipslide, a snowboarder is facing uphill.
- Bluntslide
- A slide performed where the rider's leading foot passes over the rail on approach, with their snowboard traveling perpendicular and trailing foot directly above the rail or other obstacle (like a tailslide). When performing a frontside bluntslide, the snowboarder is facing uphill. When performing a backside bluntslide, the snowboarder is backing downhill.
- Noseblunt
- A slide performed where the rider's trailing foot passes over the rail on approach, with their snowboard traveling perpendicular and leading foot directly above the rail or other obstacle (like a noseslide). When performing a frontside bluntslide, the snowboarder is facing uphill. When performing a backside bluntslide, the snowboarder is backing downhill.
- Noseslide
- Similar to a boardslide or lipslide, but only the nose of the board is on the feature. Proper noseslides are done with the feature directly under the front foot or farther out towards the nose.
- Tailslide
- Similar to a boardslide or lipslide, but only the tail of the board is on the feature. Proper tailslides are done with the feature directly under the back foot or farther out towards the tail.
- Nosepress
- A trick performed by sliding along an obstacle, with pressure being put on the nose of the board, such that the tail of the board is raised in the air.
- Tailpress
- A trick performed by sliding along an obstacle, with pressure being put on the tail of the board, such that the nose of the board is raised in the air.
- MJ
- A slide that somewhat resembles a 50-50, a snowboarder slides along an obstacle on his toe edge, reminiscent of a dance move made popular by Michael Jackson.
- Zeach
- A term used to describe any rail maneuver where the board is not solidly locked into the intended position. Named after Zach Leach, who popularized feeble or smith-esque slides in the early 2000s.:Â :
- The Gutterball
- The Gutterball is a one footed (front foot is strapped in and the rear foot is unstrapped ) front boardslide with a backhanded seatbelt nose grab, resembling the body position that someone would have after releasing a bowling ball down a bowling ally. This trick was invented and named by Jeremy Cameron which won him a first place in the Morrow Snowboards "FAME WAR" Best Trick contest in 2009.
Stalls
Stalls in snowboarding are derived from similar tricks in skateboarding, and are typically performed in halfpipes or on similar obstacles. Variations have been adapted as snowboards do not have trucks and wheels.
- Nose-pick
- Stalling on an object with the nose of the snowboard, while grabbing frontside, and then jumping back off the object into the jump you came off.
- Board-stall; Disaster
- A trick performed when a rider stalls on an object with his snowboard, with the point of contact between both bindings. The Disaster variation comes from skateboarding, and involves performing a frontside or backside 180 before stalling on the lip of the obstacle, and then re-entering.
- Nose-stall
- Similar to a board-stall, this variation involves stalling on the nose of the snowboard at the top of a transition or obstacle.
- Tail-stall
- The opposite of a nose-stall, this trick involves stalling on an obstacle with the tail of the snowboard. Often performed by approaching an obstacle fakie or by doing a 180 after approaching the feature normally,
- Blunt-stall
- Mimicking skateboarding, and similar to a board-stall, this trick is performed by stalling on an object with the tail of the board (blunt stall), or the nose of the board (nose blunt stall). Distinguished from a nose-stall or tail-stall because during the stall, most of the snowboard will be positioned above the obstacle and point of contact.
(most if not all stalls are referred to as nose or tail presses in current snowboarding whether or not they are actually tail and nose stalls or blunt stalls. blunt stalls are considered to be more stylish forms of nose or tail presses however.)
- Tail-block
- A trick typically performed on the snow at the peak of a transition, or occasionally on an object, in which the snowboarder springs up and stands on the tail of his board while grabbing the nose of the board.
- Nose-block
- Similar to a tail-block, but performed by standing on the nose while grabbing the tail of the board.
Tweaks and variations
- One-footed
- Tricks performed with one foot removed from the binding (typically the rear foot) are referred to as one-footed tricks. One footed tricks include fast plants in which the rear foot is dropped and initiates a straight air or rotation, the boneless, which is a fast-plant with a grab; and the no-comply, which is a front-footed fast plant.
- Shifty
- An aerial trick in which a snowboarder twists his body, rotating his/her board 90° and then returning it to its original position before landing. This trick can be performed frontside or backside, and also in variation with other tricks and spins.
- Stiffy
- Any grab where both the legs are boned-out (straightened as much as possible). Typically performed as a variation of a mute or frontside grab.
- Stink-bug
- Grabbing Frontside or Mute with the rider's elbow passing to the inside of the knees. Style conventions dictate that during a grab, the elbow should be positioned to the outside of the knee.
- Tuck knee
- Where the knee of either leg is dropped down to touch the top of the board. When referring to snowboarding it means that the rider attempts to put his knee on the board by putting their knee underneath the torso and then pulling down to the board.
- Tweak
- A term used in western ski areas for when a trick is highly refined in movement, such as with legs or arms fully extended, to give maximum aesthetic quality to a trick. Demonstrates high technical ability, much like in gymnastics.
- Poke
- A grab trick in which the front leg only or back leg only is boned-out.
Miscellaneous tricks and identifiers
- JibÂ
- To ride on any surface that is not snow, or to ride on any feature in a non-traditional way. I.e. tapping or spinning on a death cookie or snow embankment.
- ButterÂ
- While traveling along the surface of the snow, this trick is performed by pressuring either the nose or tail of the snowboard in such a way that the opposite half of the snowboard lifts off of the snow, allowing for a pivot-like rotation. A butter can be performed as a partial rotation (90°), which is then reverted, as a continuous rotation (180°, 360°, etc.), or as a lead-in to an aerial maneuver. (butters are similar to blunt slides in skateboarding)
- Manual; Nose manual
- While riding along the snow, pressuring the nose or tail such that the opposite end of the board is raised in the air.
- Pretzel
- Concluding a slide trick with a 270° spin opposite the direction in which you did a rotation during the trick's initiation.
- Sameway or Bagel
- Like a Pretzel, but spinning 270° off the rail in the same direction as you got on.
- Disaster
- When riding a wall ride, the rider performs a backside or frontside 180° spin and then stalls on the top of the wallride
- Bonk
- To tap an object or obstacle with your board.
- Penguin Walk
- To 'walk' while strapped into a snowboard by alternatively springing from nose to tail, propelling the snowboarder forward in a walking fashion. Also known as a "Crab" or "Duck" walk. This is an easy way to drop in to a slope after strapping in once you have the hang of it.
- Tail or Nose Tap
- Quickly tapping your tail or nose on a feature in the snow, or quickly tapping your nose or tail on the end of a rail or box just before you ride off of it.
- Revert
- To continue spinning on the snow after landing a jump in which a spinning trick was performed. This typically occurs unintentionally when the snowboarder cannot stop rotating as he lands his trick. Alternatively, this term can refer to a 'return' to riding position after performing a butter or rail trick in which there was some rotation performed. In this case, it is often the reversal of a prior, partial rotation, returning the snowboarder to his original stance.
References
External links
- Portable List of Snowboard Tricks
- Snowboarding Dictionary forum
- List of Freestyle Snowboard Movies