Snowboarder Tricks

Snowboards allow users to do a variety of tricks. It helps that snowboarders do not carry poles, so your arms are uninhibited when you attempt to do a jump or trick. The sideways stance and single plank allow for easy maneuverability in the air and on the ground. An entire industry has grown around the tricks of snowboarders in the form of snowboard parks and specially construted halfpipes.

  1. Aerial Tricks

    • Basic aerial tricks include launching yourself off a jump or mound of snow. An "Air to Fakie" can be done with or without a launching platform. When you jump off the snow, you turn your body and board 180 degrees so you land with the opposite foot facing forward. This puts you in your "fakie" stance. An "Ollie" is a small jump you can do without the help of a ramp or launching device. You simply spring up on your board by lifting your front foot first and then push the back end of your board off the ground. It looks a bit like a frog hop. As you get better you will add more height to your Ollie.

    Surface Tricks

    • Surface tricks are little things that look impressive and help build your confidence when starting out. A "wheelie" simply requires bending your board as you lift your front foot off the snow. It mimics a wheelie on a bicycle. A "butter" requires you transfer your weight from your back to front foot while keeping your edges off the snow. You'll make a helicopter effect as you turn a full 360 degrees with your platform touching the snow. "Nose rolls" and "tail rolls" are similar except you only spin 180 degrees and you use your edge to do the turn.

    Rail Tricks

    • Rails tend to be set up in snowboard parks, though many snowboarders find "natural" rails to grind on as well. The act of riding on a rail is considered "grinding" because the metal of the board is grinding on the metal of the rail. A "50/50 grind" means jumping on a rail and continuing on it facing forward just as if you were going straight downhill, whereas a "180 grind" means you turn your board a quarter of a turn so you are facing forward but the board is perpendicular to the rail. A "Five-O grind" combines the surface trick of a wheelie and jumping on the rail. You get on the rail facing forward and then pop your wheelie while on the rail.

    Halfpipe Tricks

    • The halfpipe requires some advanced snowboarding ability. You need to gain enough speed to propel yourself up one of the vertical sides of the halfpipe. You then ride the side back down and across and up the next side. To do this you must be comfortable riding with your regular foot forward and then your opposite food forward. An "Alley Oop" is when you launch yourself past the top of one of the sides and turn 180 degrees to ride back down. In the beginning you can simply turn the board, but at least the nose must make it past the top of the wall. As you get better you can do the whole half turn in the air. Experienced halfpipe riders launch high enough to do a "Backside 720": two full rotations in the air. There are a number of other flips you can do such as going all the way upside down to complete a full rotation when your head is back up top. This is simply known as a "flip."