20 snowboard terms and slang every beginner needs to know

Anyone starting snowboard soon realises that learning to stand on the board is only part of the challenge. Instructors and snowboarders use a string of English words that can leave a beginner confused: heel edge, toe edge, falling leaf, switch, groomer.

Knowing this vocabulary makes lessons easier, helps you follow directions on the mountain and lets you talk with other riders. So we gathered 20 snowboard terms and slang especially useful for beginners.

Regular is the stance in which the snowboarder normally rides with the left foot forward on the board.

It does not mean this is the “correct” or more common stance for everyone. It is simply one of two possible orientations.

Goofy is the opposite of regular: the snowboarder prefers to keep the right foot forward.

Being goofy is not directly related to being right- or left-handed. The preference depends mostly on each person's posture and natural control.

The heel edge is the edge of the board on the heel side.

It is one of the first edges a beginner learns to control. By tilting the board properly on this edge, you can slow down, stop and start turns.

The toe edge is the opposite edge, on the toe side.

Learning to switch correctly between heel edge and toe edge is one of the fundamental bases of snowboard.

Falling leaf is a classic beginner exercise.

The snowboarder stays mostly on one edge and moves laterally from one side of the slope to the other. The movement resembles a leaf drifting slowly down through the air.

It is an important step before starting to link full turns.

A skidded turn is a turn performed with some degree of sideways slipping of the board.

It is extremely common while learning and should not be confused with carving, a more advanced technique in which the edge cuts the snow more cleanly.

To catch an edge means letting one of the board's edges “catch” the snow unexpectedly.

It is a classic cause of falls in snowboard, especially among beginners. Depending on the edge involved, the fall can happen quickly forward or backward.

Faceplant is the informal term for a fall straight forward, usually involving hands, arms, chest and eventually the face.

It is a word a beginner will probably hear — and perhaps experience — during the first days on the mountain.

Wipeout is a bigger or more spectacular fall.

The term is not exclusive to snowboard and also appears in sports like surfing and skateboarding.

Link turns means connecting one turn to the next, switching in a controlled way between heel edge and toe edge.

This is one of the main milestones in a beginner's progress. When the snowboarder can link turns consistently, they effectively start controlling their path down the slope.

Traverse means crossing the slope laterally or diagonally, rather than simply going straight down the fall line.

It is an important technique for controlling speed and positioning.

When traversing, however, it is essential to watch who is coming down the mountain to avoid unexpectedly crossing the path of other skiers and snowboarders.

Flat base means keeping the base of the board nearly flat on the snow, with no dominant pressure on either edge.

Although it is needed for certain situations, this position demands a beginner's attention, because an improper weight shift can cause a catch an edge.

A speed check is a small deliberate slide used to slow down quickly without necessarily coming to a full stop.

With more experience, the snowboarder learns to control speed mainly through the line and the shape of the turns.

A chairlift is the chairlift used to carry riders up the mountain.

For someone starting snowboard, going up is usually simple. The challenge is often getting off the chair, because normally only the front foot stays attached to the board.

One-foot means moving with only one foot attached to the snowboard.

It is needed mainly in lift lines, small movements and boarding and disembarking some chairlifts.

Practising this skill on flat ground before taking the first chairlift can make learning much easier.

A groomer is a slope whose snow has been prepared by specific machines, known as snowcats or groomers.

The surface tends to be more predictable and uniform, generally suitable for those developing their first turns.

In North America, a green run or green slope is usually a slope rated easy and marked with a green symbol.

It is where many beginners start practising.

Important: difficulty ratings are not perfectly standardised across countries and resorts. A slope rated easy at one mountain can be significantly harder at another.

Stance is the posture or setup of the snowboarder on the board.

The term can refer both to body position while riding and to the binding configuration — the boot mounts — including width and angles.

A balanced stance, with bent knees and the body properly centred over the board, makes control easier.

Counter-rotation is the excessive use of trunk and arm rotation in the opposite direction to the board's movement.

It is a common mistake among beginners who try to “force” the board to turn using their arms.

The goal, as technique evolves, is to control the board more efficiently through body position, pressure, tilt and edge use.

Bail is slang used when someone deliberately abandons an attempt or move, often to avoid a potentially worse fall.

It is more frequent in the context of jumps and tricks, but also appears informally in conversation among snowboarders.

There is no need to memorise the whole vocabulary before the first lesson. For a beginner, a few concepts take priority:

Regular or goofy → heel edge → toe edge → falling leaf → skidded turns → linked turns.

This sequence roughly follows the initial learning progression: find your natural stance, learn to control both edges and, finally, manage to link turns.

After that, terms like switch, carving, powder, jib, butter and park start making a lot more sense.

And there is one word nearly every snowboarder learns quickly: pow — short for powder, the fresh, light and soft snow that many consider one of the best conditions to ride.

At the start, though, the goal does not need to be chasing powder or learning tricks. Controlling the edges, speed and direction comes first.

That is what turns the first runs down — often full of faceplants and wipeouts — into real snowboard.