Ski and Snowboard Glossary: From Chairlift to Off-Piste

On your first visit to a ski resort, the language instructors and other skiers use can sound a little foreign. In this glossary we have grouped the terms you will hear most often by topic. A quick read makes it much easier to follow what is being said on the slopes.

Resort and lifts

• Lift pass: The ticket or card that lets you use the lifts, for one day or several.
• Chairlift: An open lift where you ride up seated. Lower the safety bar once you sit down.
• Drag lift: A lift that pulls you uphill with your skis on the snow, holding a T-bar or button. You do not sit on it.
• Gondola: A lift with enclosed cabins. Skis go in racks outside the cabin or inside with you.
• Magic carpet: A conveyor belt lift used in beginner areas, much like the moving walkways at airports.
• Piste basher: The tracked vehicle that grooms the runs every night.
• Piste map: The map showing the runs, lifts and facilities.
• Ski patrol: The team that monitors the runs and gives first aid after accidents. Your first call in an emergency.

Runs and snow

• Piste: A marked, groomed and patrolled ski run.
• Off-piste: Ungroomed areas outside the marked runs. Because of avalanche risk, they are only for experienced skiers with a guide.
• Moguls: Rows of snow bumps that build up on a run over time.
• Powder: Freshly fallen, light, dry snow, the type skiers love most.
• Ice: Hard, slippery snow. Edges struggle to grip, so take care.
• Slush: Snow that softens and gets heavy on sunny spring days.
• Avalanche danger level: The avalanche risk announced at ski resorts on a scale from 1 to 5. Always check it before leaving the marked runs.

Ski technique

• Snowplough: The braking and turning technique where you bring the ski tips together and push the tails apart.
• Parallel turn: A more advanced turn in which the skis stay parallel to each other.
• Carving: A clean turn drawn on the edge of the ski without skidding.
• Edge: The steel edge along the underside of a ski or snowboard. Turns are made using the edges.
• Fall line: The steepest line down the slope, the way a ball would roll; turns are described in relation to it.

Snowboard terms

• Regular and goofy: Riding with your left foot forward is regular; right foot forward is goofy.
• Heel edge and toe edge: The two long edges of a snowboard. A turn is a switch between them.
• Falling leaf: The basic exercise where you drift left and right across the slope on one edge.
• Switch: Riding with the opposite foot forward to your usual stance.
• Ollie: A jump made by using the tail of the board like a spring.
• Snowpark: An area with jumps, rails and boxes.
• Half-pipe: A U-shaped snow channel with high walls on both sides.

Off the slopes

• Après-ski: Social activities and get-togethers after a day on the slopes.
• Ski school: A school where instructors teach lessons in groups organised by level.
• Guide: An experienced rider who leads skiers around the slopes and looks after their safety.

From glossary to slope

You will hear most of these terms in your very first lesson. We explain run difficulty in our guide to ski piste colours and stopping and turning in our guide to the snowplough. For the gates and lifts at Erciyes, see our Erciyes ski resort guide.

• Ski terms
• Snowboarding
• Beginners
• Glossary