By JOSEPH WILSON and EDDIE PELLS, Associated Press
LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — A backside double cork 1080! Followed by a cab triple cork 1440! Holy Crail, that was a sweet grab!
The snowboarders and freestyle skiers will be speaking a language all their own as they “shred some gnar” (ride some gnarly conditions) at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Can’t tell a melon from a method grab? No worries. Here’s a cheat sheet of some terms you might hear when the action starts in Livigno, Italy.
The main events
Halfpipe: Imagine a massive tunnel that you could drive a truck through, slice the top off, then transform it into hard-packed snow. That is the halfpipe where snowboarders and freeskiers take turns zooming across its inclined slope to gather speed before launching into a series of acrobatic jumps. The halfpipe at the Livigno ski resort hosting these Olympic events measures 240 yards in length, 24 yards in width, and rises to 23.6 feet in height.
Slopestyle: A course located on a slope where snowboarders and freestyle skiers take turns trying to put together the most polished and demanding series of tricks coming off rails and molded bumps for aerial lift. The Livigno slopestyle course allows for jumps that can exceed 27 yards.
Big air: The third of the “park” events consists of athletes performing one single “big” jump. The Livigno big air jump ramp peaks at over 40 yards.
The tricky details
180, 360, 540, 1440: The degrees of a spinning trick completed in a single jump. 360 is 1 complete spin, 720 two spins, etc. The most spins completed in competition are 6 1/2. That’s a 2340, both on snowboard and skis, and the massive spins like that almost always come in big air. On the halfpipe, anyone who pulls off a 1440 will be in contention for a medal. Important for street credibility: 2340 and the like are pronounced “twenty-three forty,” not “two thousand, three-hundred and forty.”
Backside: Facing backwards going into a rail on a slopestyle course, as well as when a rider or skier faces uphill when completing a spin on a jump. Frontside means a rider faces downhill when completing a spin.
Cork: A head-over-heels flip that produces a corkscrew effect. A double cork is two flips, a triple cork, three, etc. Triple corks are the trick that could win the men’s halfpipe.
Grabs: How the snowboarder reaches down and holds the board during a jump. There are many, but among those that come up for the top riders: Mute (front hand grabs the toe edge), melon (front hand grabs the back edge), stalefish (grab heel edge with rear hand). method (a melon but with a little flair, tweaking the board up and twisting) and, of course, the crail (both hands and back leg should be straight; do not try this at home). Judges look to see whether the rider actually grabs the board, not just places their hand on top of it, and some of these grabs need to be executed between bindings.
Grabs, Part 2: Freeskiing has its own glossary of these grabs, including Japan (behind and across to grab opposite ski) and seat belt (imagine putting a seatbelt on, but by bringing the buckle up to grab the latch).
Goofy: When a snowboarder leads with his “bad foot.” For a right-handed person, it would mean leading with the right foot.
Kicker: Another term for a slopestyle jump.
Lip: The top edge of the halfpipe.
Switch: Riding backwards, also called a “fakie.”
Rare and unusual terms
Tomahawk: A steak Shaun White ate at the X Games in Aspen that doubles as his preferred name for what’s more commonly known as the Double McTwist 1260, a trick with 3 1/2 spins (two of them head over heels) that starts with a backside spin and is still considered one of the toughest out there.
Cab: A basic of most halfpipe rides, it’s named after a skateboarder, Steve Caballero. It starts with a switch approach into a frontside spin.
Yolo: “You Only Live Once.” This is a Cab, double cork 1440 that was the focal point of the 2014 Olympics. White saw Swiss rider Iouri “iPod” Podladtchikov land it in the lead-up, then went about trying to perfect it himself; it was the iPod who pulled it off at the Olympics to win gold. The Yolo is still a relevant trick but in a sign of how much things have changed, it’s now a triple cork (or two) — not on the board eight years ago — that will likely win this year’s Olympics.
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