Glossary

1. Organizations & History

  • FIS (International Ski and Snowboard Federation): The supreme international governing body for skiing and snowboarding, responsible for the Olympic pathway, World Championships (WSC), and World Cups.
  • WSF (World Snowboard Federation): The international authority for grassroots and youth snowboarding. It manages the World Rookie Rank and collaborates with FIS on the athlete pathway.
  • IJC (International Judges Commission): Historical. An independent educational body formed in 1998 to train judges for TTR and ISF events. It developed judging concepts like “Overall Impression” and the “Steno” system.
  • TTR (Ticket To Ride): Historical. A major independent world tour (TTR World Snowboard Tour) that used a “Star” rating system (1-6 Stars) to classify events. It pioneered formats like Slopestyle and unified independent events.
  • ISF (International Snowboard Federation): Historical. The former rider-run governing body (defunct in the early 2000s) known for establishing early course and judging standards.
  • WSPL (World Snowboarding Points List): The unified international ranking system for freestyle snowboarding, owned by FIS and operated in cooperation with WSF.

2. Snowboard Basics & Equipment

  • Stance: The position of the feet on the board, defined by the distance between bindings, angles, and setback.
    • Regular: Left foot forward.
    • Goofy: Right foot forward.
    • Duck Stance: A stance where the toes point outward in opposite directions (negative angle on the back binding).
  • Effective Edge: The length of the metal edge that touches the snow and is used to make a turn (excludes tip and tail).
  • Sidecut: The curved shape of the board’s edge. A smaller radius allows for tighter turns.
  • Flex: How soft or stiff the board feels when bent. Freestyle boards generally have a softer flex than racing boards.
  • Camber/Rocker: The profile of the board. (Implicit in modern design discussions, though specifically “Camber” refers to the arch of the board).
  • Detune: Dulling the edges slightly at the nose and tail to prevent catching in the snow.

3. Disciplines

  • Halfpipe (HP): Competitors perform tricks while traversing from wall to wall in a U-shaped channel constructed in the snow.
  • Slopestyle (SS): A course containing a variety of features (jumps, rails, boxes, quarterpipes) with multiple lines. Riders are judged on their sequence of tricks through the course.
  • Big Air (BA): A single large jump where competitors perform one major trick. Judged on amplitude, difficulty, and execution.
  • Snowboard Cross (SBX): A timed qualification followed by knockout heats where 4 or 6 riders race simultaneously over a course with banks, rollers, and jumps.
  • Alpine / Parallel (PGS/PSL): Racing disciplines where two riders compete side-by-side on parallel courses (red and blue). Includes Parallel Giant Slalom (PGS) and Parallel Slalom (PSL).
  • Rail Jam (RE): An event held on a compact course featuring only rails, boxes, and urban features.
  • Banked Slalom (BSL): A timed race through a course of banked turns, often in a natural gulley.

4. Course Features & Obstacles

  • Transition (Tranny): The radial curved section of a pipe or jump between the flat bottom and the vertical/takeoff.
  • Vert (Vertical): The completely vertical top portion of a halfpipe wall that allows riders to fly straight up.
  • Tabletop (Kicker): A jump where the takeoff and landing are separated by a flat “table” or deck.
  • Knuckle: The break-over point where the flat deck of a jump transitions into the steep landing slope.
  • Step-Up: A jump where the landing is at a higher elevation than the takeoff.
  • Hip / Corner: A jump with a landing 90 degrees to the takeoff.
  • Spine: Two quarterpipes placed back-to-back.
  • Quarterpipe: A single wall with transition and vert, used for one big air trick.
  • Rails & Boxes: Jib features made of metal or plastic. Shapes include Straight, Kink (changes in angle), Rainbow (arched), C-Rail, and S-Rail.

5. Tricks & Manoeuvres

Stance & Direction

  • Normal/Forward: Riding in the natural stance direction.
  • Fakie: Riding backward but standing in the normal stance (e.g., landing a straight air backward).
  • Switch: Riding backward while changing the body position to mirror the natural stance (e.g., a Regular rider riding as Goofy).
  • Alley-Oop: Rotating roughly 180 degrees or more in the uphill direction within the halfpipe (spinning against the momentum).
  • Cab (Caballerial): A Switch Frontside rotation. Originally defined as a Fakie 360, now applies to any Switch Frontside spin.

Rotations

  • Frontside: Rotating so the chest faces the direction of travel (heelside takeoff) or the pipe wall first.
  • Backside: Rotating so the back faces the direction of travel (toeside takeoff) first.
  • Hard Way: Spinning onto a rail feature against the natural rotation of the approach (e.g., Frontside rotation from a Frontside approach).

Inverts & Axes

  • Cork / Off-Axis: A rotation where the axis is tilted but not fully inverted.
  • Inverted: The head is beneath the board at some point.
  • Rodeo: An inversion where the rider rotates (Frontside or Backside) while flipping (often described as a backflip with a rotation).
  • Misty Flip: A partially inverted Frontside 540 (McTwist off a straight jump).
  • McTwist: An inverted Backside 540 performed in the halfpipe.
  • Double/Triple Cork: Tricks involving two or three distinct off-axis/inverted maneuvers within a single jump.

Grabs (Board Contact)

  • Weddle (formerly Mute): Front hand grabs the toe edge between the bindings. Note: Historically called “Mute” in older docs, but renamed to honour Chris Weddle the inventor of the trick.
  • Indy: Rear hand grabs the toe edge between the bindings.
  • Melon: Front hand grabs the heel edge between the bindings (often boned).
  • Stalefish: Rear hand grabs the heel edge behind the rear leg.
  • Method: Front hand grabs the heel edge, both knees bent, board pulled up to level of head (classic style trick).
  • Roastbeef: Rear hand reaches through the legs to grab the heel edge.
  • Canadian Bacon: Rear hand reaches behind the rear leg to grab the toe edge.
  • Crail: Rear hand grabs the toe edge in front of the front foot.
  • Tweak / Bone: Straightening one leg or twisting the body to emphasize the style of a grab.

Rail Tricks

  • 50-50: Sliding with the board parallel to the feature.
  • Boardslide: Sliding with the rail between the bindings, board perpendicular. Rider passes the nose over the rail to enter.
  • Lipslide: Rider lifts the tail over the rail to enter (requires more rotation to initiate).
  • Bluntslide: Sliding on the tail (or nose) with the board tweaked almost vertical; rail is under the tail/nose, not between bindings.
  • Nose/Tail Press: Sliding on the nose or tail while lifting the opposite end of the board.
  • Pretzel: Spinning out of a rail feature in the opposite direction of the entry spin.

6. Judging & Scoring

Criteria

Judges evaluate runs based on D.E.A.L. (Big Air) or D.A.V.E. (Halfpipe), or overall criteria:

  1. Execution: Control, stability, landing quality (no hand touches, reverts), grab holding.
  2. Difficulty: Technicality of tricks (rotations, axis, blind landings, switch takeoffs).
  3. Amplitude: Height and distance of jumps.
  4. Variety: Mixing spins (FS, BS, Cab, Switch BS), grabs, and axes.
  5. Progression: Performing new or uncommon tricks; creativity.
  6. Flow/Composition: How the run connects, line selection, rhythm (crucial in Slopestyle).

Systems

  • Overall Impression (OI): Judges give a single score (0-100) for the entire run based on all criteria. Used in TTR, FIS Finals.
  • Section by Section (SBS) / SLS: Used in Slopestyle. Judges are divided into Trick Judges (score specific features) and Composition/Flow Judges (score the whole run). Typically weighted 60% Tricks / 40% Flow.
  • Ranking System: Judges rank riders relative to each other rather than assigning absolute points (common in Jam sessions).

Deductions & Mistakes

  • Hand Touch: Lightly touching the snow to regain balance.
  • Butt Check: Landing and briefly sitting/bouncing off the snow.
  • Revert: Landing and immediately sliding/pivoting to correct direction (major deduction).
  • Speed Check: Turning sideways momentarily to scrub speed (deduction in flow).
  • Windows: Flailing arms in the air (sign of instability).

7. Competition Formats

  • Heat System: Competitors are divided into groups (heats). The best riders from each heat advance.
  • Knockout (KO): Head-to-head format where riders compete in pairs/brackets. Winners advance to the next round.
  • Jam Session: Riders take multiple runs within a set time limit (e.g., 45-60 mins). The best run or overall impression counts.
  • Cut Down: The field is reduced in stages (e.g., Qualifiers → Semis → Finals).
  • Double Up: Two heats run simultaneously on the same course (or pipe) with alternating drops to save time.
  • Best of 2 / Best of 3: Competitors get 2 or 3 runs; only the single highest score counts.

8. Officials & Roles

  • Technical Supervisor (TS) / Technical Delegate (TD): The official representative of the sanctioning body (FIS/TTR). Ensures rules are followed, oversees safety, and advises the jury.
  • Head Judge (HJ): Leads the judging panel, ensures consistency, handles protests, and communicates with the TD. Does not usually score runs.
  • Competition Director (CD) / Race Director (RD): Manages the operational aspects, schedule, and course construction. Chairs the Jury at major events.
  • Chief of Course: Responsible for course preparation and maintenance.
  • Starter / Start Referee: Controls the start area and gives start commands.
  • Video Controller: Reviews footage for interference (SBX) or scoring verification.

9. Snowboard Cross (SBX) Specifics

  • Interference: Contact between riders.
    • Intentional: Red Card (DSQ).
    • Involuntary: Yellow Card (Ranked As Last – RAL).
    • Incidental: No sanction (racing incident).
  • Holeshot: Being the first rider to reach the first turn/feature.
  • Stubby: A short, flexible turning pole used to mark the inside of a turn.
  • Banks & Wu-Tangs: Specific features in a cross course (banked turns and steep transition jumps).