Westbound Boarder

A crew of kids showering the park jumps and jibs one, after another, or even at the same time!? They show each other up and even show you up. Whether it is a frontside five here, a rodeo, back flip or two, maybe even a HOT GARBAGE rail jib followed by a bonk and a poke on that ball jib (sometimes known as Park Monkeys!) Oh yeah, I roll with a crew like that!

We all have a shred buddy who is oh-so quick on that board… dodging bedrocks, slate rocks, mud, and gravel…anything, and maybe even jibbing the rocks?? Who knows?? Yet having a yabba dabba doo time bowling down and around that mountain as quick as BAM BAM! I’d like to say I have a little Shred Flintstone in me, what about you?

A fun yet tricky way to start your shredding… The rules? Ha-ha, there are none. Just point and go and be the first shredder to the bottom of the hill and you win! Shredders ready???

It’s like a boardslide, but on the water, sans a rail. The powerslide is a wakeboard trick that looks super sick and is really easy to accomplish. Best to try it outside of the wake by starting with your board parallel to the boat. Turn your board 90 degrees so you are on your heelside edge, lean back a little and that is it! You’re powersliding and look like a pro. Just be careful because there is a VERY thin line between the powerslide and your front edge - catch it, and it is game over.

Wakeboarding Powerslide Courtesy of Macbiff's Flickr

The next step? Try a toeside powerslide, by rotating back onto your toes, it is a little tougher, but that much cooler.

You love shredding them, but do you know what they are called? The natural cliffs, drops and ledges in the snow that you cruise over, balls to the wall - even though you don’t know whats below - are snow cornices. These cornices are created by natural crests from the mountain or by the inclement weather and wind blowing them into place.

We all love ourselves a good cornice on a pow day, so don’t break the cornice rules by chilling on the edge of it until it collapses, because you don’t have the nerve to charge it. Now go find yourself a cornice and make your day!

It happens to the worst of us, and hey, it even happens to the best of us. Either way, we have all experienced it. You know, a torn corn. I don’t want to be too explicit here, but use your imagination…your cruisin down the mountain or inspecting your latest rail and BAMN! You are down, on your a$$ with a torn corn… and we’re not talking edible cobs here, were talking behinds in despair.

Still in pain from a torn corn? What ever you do, don’t whine about it, or tell your friends about it, because a torn corn is just plain embarrassing.

There’s only a few more weeks (or maybe even months, depending on which hill you call home base) left in this year’s snow season, so we thought we’d squeeze in a few more shredictionary terms while we still can!  Which brings me to dropping.  No, not dropping snow balls, or dropping… droppings?  Dropping in shred language means one thing, and one thing only - “It’s my turn, I’m dropping!”  Translation, its the word you yell when you’re waiting in line to hit a feature and you want to stake your dibs on next hit.  It’s shred-iquitte!  In a perfect world, this would be common sense.  But for now… just call it, will ya?!

I’m sure you’ve been at the mountain and found yourself thinking at one point or another, “holy cow, that 10 year old is showing me up!”  Yes, you probably encountered the mini shred, an awesome, young snowboarder who totally rips.  “Woah, did you see that mini shred hit that 40 foot table?!  She’ll be pro in no time!”

Chris Nowack, Timberline, OR. Front side board slide.

Unlike a 50 50, a board slide is where you ride the rail with your board perpendicular to the rail, instead of parallel.  There are two main types - front side, where your body faces the hill, and back side, where your body faces in the direction of your momentum (away from the hill).  This jib trick is the root of many others.  “Hey, let’s see you board slide that box again; it was rad the last time!”

Perhaps one of the easiest tricks to learn on a rail, the 50 50 really sounds more complex then it actually is to perform.  But what is it?  Basically, a 50 50 is when you ride straight over the rail.  That’s all there is to it!  “Hey, what are you gonna do on the rail this time?” “I think I’m gonna switch 50 50 it; next time, 180 on, backflip off…”

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