The edge of your snowboard that your heels are closest to. Also known as your heelside.

A little friend you can trust to watch your board while you are grabbing some grub.

Applying pressure to the nose or tail of the board to spread style on the hill.

A clean turn on the edge of your board, with no skidding.

Riding hard and really going for it.

A negative effect of vibration at high speeds-when your edge bounces off the snow instead of holding during a turn.

The sideways streak of snot on your face that appears at the bottom of the run.

Yellow stuff they grow in Iowa, or, small, round kernels of snow, typically in the springtime.

A snowboard stance that looks unnaturally wide.

Icy chunks of snow created by variable conditions, temperature changes and/or grooming.

The fastest, most natural route down a slope.

Easing down the hill on one edge in a side-to-side fashion. A good technique for learning edge control.

A mythical lift chair that few mortal snowboarders ever actually get to sit on. The result of hard work and dedication, setting your alarm, waking up before the sun and getting to the mountain first. But man, is it ever worth it.

Making your mark on a freshly powdered trail first. Can be the result of getting the first chair or being at the right place at the right time for a "rope drop"-the moment that a closed trail opens. Also, many advanced riders hike backcountry in the relentless search of first tracks.

A style of riding that is just about having fun wherever you are on the mountain, in any terrain, in any conditions.

A type of riding focused on being able to go anywhere and do anything with style. Big air, technical tricks (spinning, grabs), riding switch-stance-freestyle is about doing it all while making the difficult look easy.

The edge of your snowboard that your toes point to, also known as your toeside. Now that makes sense, doesn't it?

A person who, while completely unaware of his/her surroundings, gets in the way: "Man, those gapers are standing there taking their vacation pictures right on top of the jump."

A tell-tale sign of a good day riding.

A right-foot-first rider.

The embarrassing gap between the goggles and the helmet that causes brain freeze and funny tan lines and most importantly just looks bad. Also referred to as the "Gaper-Gap."

A young ripper: "Look at that Grom tear up the pipe!"

Also known as corduroy, smooth trails created by Snow Cats. Provides a consistent surface, perfect for railing turns.

Board, Boots, Bindings and Helmet.

A result of improper boot size.

An uncontrolled jump.

Grabbing your frontside edge with your trailing hand in between the bindings. A good grab to get you started.

A highly versatile snowboard term related to a trick, typically performed in conjunction with a feature or object: "Hey, we should jib that stump next run." Jib comes from Jibblet, an old-school name for a crop of young rippers who brought skate style tricks to snowboarding.

A jump. Also known as booter, hit, table, hip or cheese wedge.

Somebody who doesn't get it and doesn't play well with others.

A cord from your leg to your binding, designed to prevent runaway snowboards. Ok, it's really designed to make the ski patrol happy, but JUST IN CASE, right?

The people who run the chair lift. They are your new best friends. Learn their names, bribe them with candy, whatever you have to do, just so they are there for you the one day you forget your pass.

What you get when you apply lip-gloss instead of lip-balm on bright, sunny days.

Wet, lumpy snow that makes carving difficult.

Grabbing your heelside edge with your leading hand, and pulling your board up towards your butt. One of the easiest snowboard grabs to do, but one of the hardest to master. Reference snowboard legends Craig Kelly, Jamie Lynn and Terje Haakonsen for method perfection.

Well, you, if you are reading this book. A term of endearment for a beginner or novice.

The front tip of your board.

Jumping by popping off the tail of your board. Taken from skate boarding, the ollie consists of: loading up the tail of the board by subtly shifting your weight back, pulling up your front foot and popping off your back foot, and then shifting your weight back to center to even the tail out with the height of the nose.

Half-pipe. A U-shaped snow gulley used to ride back and forth while launching off each wall to perform tricks.

Getting first tracks BEFORE the rope drop. Typically frowned upon by Ski Patrol. Our advice on poaching? Safety first, don't wear bright clothing and don't fall.

Also known as "the friend maker." A small screwdriver carried by many MacGyver-like riders for tightening loose binding screws. Not really a concern until you need one-then a pocket tool means the difference between ripping with your friends, and taking a long, lonely walk down.