Slang You’ll Need to Watch Montana Skier Compete in X-Games

I love language. And slang, in particular, has an amusing way of creating communities. You probably have all kinds of acronyms at your job that only you and your coworkers understand. Or maybe you have a hobby with particular slang that, when said around "outsiders" they're left clueless. Ski culture, I think, has some of the most evocative slang.

Montana Skier Headed to X-Games

Coming up this weekend Montana skier Quinn Wolferman will be returning to the X-Games to compete in the "Knuckle Huck." Reading about Wolferman and watching him compete, I was struck not only by his talent but by the commentary during his runs. I heard so many phrases and words I'd never heard before.

I reached out to my pal Jared Maynard who has skied his whole life and has been watching the X-Games since he was in middle school. I asked him about all of the slang I heard and he became my ski slang translator.

If you're like me and you want to understand what the announcers are saying when you watch Quinn Wolferman compete this weekend, here is the slang to listen for, and what it means.

Definition: We pulled this one from a description in this video. The skier says it's an event that "takes place on the landing of the big jump." But I think you need to see it to really understand.

Definition: smearing across the snow like butter on toast, and this leads into the top of a jump.

You might hear someone say they "did a butter on their noses." That just means they smeared across the snow on the front of their skis.

Get our free mobile app

Definition: it's a trick where the skier isn't upright. They're spinning left and right and up and down at the same time. (Whoa.)

Definition: going down the mountain in a creative way, skiing "good" or "playfully."

Definition: a crash where you lose all your gear.

Definition: these are a bunch of hand grabs you can do. You can see pictures with definitions here.

Definition: making a hard trick look easy and cool with some added flair.

Definition: a type of jump.

Definition: crazy or risky, insane or cool

Definition: going straight down the mountain for the sake of speed.

Definition: dragging a hand on the snow for style.

Definition: doing as many runs in 20 minutes as you can, you're "just going."

Definition: going into a jump backward and landing it backward.

Good luck to Quinn Wolferman!

KEEP READING to see winning moments in sports history.