Variety of descents a skier or snowboarder go to a particular slope. Lap: to ski or snowboard a slope various times. The chosen course a skier or snowboarder takes down a slope, mountain, or particular area of either. Verb: to alter AT bindings from the rotating walk mode to locked-down ski mode where the heel is locked in place.

Likewise guy tea or brocuzzie. A jacuzzi complete of men. Dense, heavy snow usually connected with warming temperatures. Be prepared for saturated ski pants. An area in the mountains where a skier can not afford to fall, thanks to some sort of terrain listed below that will lead to injury or death.

In some cases the reason for an existential crisis, such as "Why am I here?" A form of hot-dogging in which long, skinny skis are positioned as tightly together as possible when making turns. Typically described as hippie wiggles. A reference to the instructions a ski slope faces. Desirable, many times, due to the fact that north-facing slopes do not get as much direct sunshine and for that reason the snow remains grainy for longer amounts of time.

Your goal for the day. Usually used in reference to a mountaintop or ski slope you desire to reach. "It's always excellent to have a goal, but take care of being too objective-oriented," states professional skier Jess McMillan. "Set a turn-around time, constantly understand altering conditions, and if anyone in your group feels alarmed, be OK with turning around.

The method an overserved ski bum leans at the end of a long night. Sections of a mountain that sit beyond the ski area limit. Also referred to as the backcountry. French for out-of-bounds. A down slope dotted by stones that look like fluffy pillows when covered with snow. Skiers and snowboarders normally come down by jumping from "pillow to pillow" without hitting actual rock.

To make a turn in deep powder. Often results in a face shot. A skier's pal. An olive's nightmare. When your foot and leg fail a crusty top layer of snow into softer, rotten snow below, producing what appears like a hole big enough for a post. An excellent way to overexert yourself and an appropriate place to start dropping f-bombs.

Short for an insulated outer layer like the Marmot Quasar Nova Hoody. Short for quadriceps. The big thigh muscles that can fire up into burning masses on high runs or grueling uphills. The integral part of one's lap or leg seat for a main capture. A kind of snow shelter. Formed by shoveling snow into a large pile and after that burrowing a living space inside.

Your collection of skis. Use: "I have a powder ski, an exploring ski, and a rock ski in my quiver." To fall violently head-over-heels down a slope in such a way that the movement of one's limbs appears to be out of one's control entirely, as if they were lifeless and attached to a doll.

French for any trip through the mountains on foot. Here in the United States we equate randonee with. An avalanche security system. Little RECCO reflectors are embedded into ski clothing and those reflectors can be discovered by a portable transmitter-receiver in case of an avalanche. Discovered in some ski pants, like Marmot Sanctuary.

A rockered ski has an upward arch when laid flat on the ground. This helps the ski maneuver through powder. Likewise a method to reference any particularly upturned part of a ski. Rocker and camber can be utilized together, as in, "The ski has a rockered pointer however camber underfoot." A great way to get face shots.

Backcountry skiers must always regroup in safe zones when awaiting each other. To ski aggressively and fluidly through tough surface, often at great speed. A generally undesirable form of snow similar to that arises from tracked out powder going through various freeze-thaw cycles to end up being something like a less slushy slush.

Used to remove avalanche victims. The route you utilize to skin up a slope. A vital part of backcountry navigation. "Among the most crucial active ingredients for an excellent day of ski touring is setting an excellent track," says guide Zach Crist. "Typically people tend to pick a straighter line to the top, however that technique ends up being highly inefficient when the slope angle increases.

Typically reached by riding the ski area's chairlift. The term is going out of fashion. Now more typically described as lift-served backcountry. Falling snow that's knocked loose by a skier, normally on a steep pitch. Not the same thing as an avalanche, but efficient in sweeping a skier off his or her feet.

Avalanche forecasters study the layers in snowpack to figure out the probability of an avalanche. A highly-breathable outer layer like the Marmot ROM (in both guys's and women's coats) that cuts the wind and adds warmth but it not completely waterproof. Perfect for backcountry skiing on bluebird days. A kind of snowboard that separates down the middle along the tip-to-tail axis to become 2 "skis" for much easier uphill mobility when integrated with climbing up skins.

Adjective explaining a fluid, relaxed style that exhibits confidence. Can likewise be used to a piece of gear. The turn section of the zig-zag paths that skiers utilize to skin up high fields of snow (see:. A type of light-weight, two-piece AT binding. Various from a frame backcountry binding.

Turns are started by sliding the uphill ski forward and the downhill ski backward to put the user into a "drop knee" position. A location where snow from an avalanche can gather and bury a victim. Like a river bed below a couloir. Backcountry travelers need to be familiar with terrain traps at all times.

Like Glen Plake in Blizzard of Aahhh's. A hazardous area of deep, unconsolidated snow that forms under a tree and around its trunk. Skiers and snowboarders die every year from falling under tree wells and suffocating. Norse god competent on skis and with a bow. The patron saint of skiers.

The giver of the goods, the keeper of the gnar, the lord of winter season. Mother Nature's side dude. Otherwise understood as uphill skiing. Performed with specialized ski gear that enables a skier to rise a slope covered in snow (see:,,. A reference to variable snow conditions on a specific slope.

Short for vertical, or the quantity of elevation modification in between the top of a run and its end point. A setting on alpine touring or telemark boots that increases their forward and backwards flex, so they can have a more natural stride when snowboarding uphill. Walk mode is altered to ski mode at the top, which stiffens the boot for the descent.

Nobody's dancing all night in alpine boots. A descent through deep powder in which face shots end up being so regular that a skier can grow disoriented, as if standing in an all white space with no specifying edges. A noise triggered by weak layers in the snowpack collapsing, typically under the weight of a backcountry skier.