Sledder Slang 101 – Part II: Riders and Techniques
Within every sport there evolves a lingo, and mountain sledding is no exception. To the inexperienced ear, sledder slang may sound like pure gibberish. But knowing these words and phrases is important. Use a term the wrong way and you can easily be identified as a “newb”. To avoid that disaster, here’s Sledder Slang 101 – Part II.
Don’t want to be mistaken for a rookie? Then this list is for you. Here are some words that will help you understand and talk like a seasoned veteran sledder. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out Sledder Slang 101 – Part I: Snow and Riding Conditions!
Sledder Slang 101 – Part II: Riders and Techniques
22 Words to Describe Riders and Techniques
Freeriding
Freeriding: A lively, energetic style of riding that relies heavily on one’s interpretation of terrain and the ability to be creative, testing the limits of what can be done on a sled.
Steeze: Style + ease = steeze. A smooth rider like Brett Turcotte, who makes everything look effortless, has steeze. Good style may look effortless, but you’ve got to work at it.

Mr. Steeze, Riley Suhan.
Sesh: Short for session. An uninterrupted amount of time spent in a specific place or doing a specific thing, such as tree riding.
Whip: Refers to either (a) What you ride or drive or (b) What every freerider has been doing since Mountain Sledder proclaimed, “Straight Airs Are Dead.”
Ripper/Rippah: A very talented backcountry freerider.

Nic Mader, getting fancy with a pivot move. #goondockers
Re-Entry: Also known as a pivot. When you jump, whip around and land near where you took off.
Throw Down: Indicates something awesome is going to or has happened. Could also refer to top talent, as in, “he can really throw down some sick tricks.”
Did You Stick It? In other words, “Were you successful in landing the jump?” Or “Did you get stuck or not?”

Yep, he stuck it. Photo: Kirsten Armleder
Riders and Technique
Shredding: Aggressive, off-trail riding that leaves not a single patch of fresh snow unscathed.
She-Shredding: When a group of female snowmobilers go riding together.
Poke: To take a non-committal or exploratory ride into an unknown area.
Elevator: A controlled downhill descent in which the rider holds the sled on edge as it washes out and slides on its side down the hill. #HeavyOnTheRadFactor
Downhill U-Turn (Shit Hook): A maneuver that takes you back up the hill you just came down.
Wrong-Foot-Forward: A riding technique that places your right leg on the left-side running board (or vice versa) to help balance the sled.

Classis wrong-foot-forward technique. Photo: Kirsten Armleder
Dangle: Riding wrong-foot-forward on steep, off-camber terrain.
Carving: Riding through the snow with your sled on edge.
Pow Turns: Another word for carving but in fresh, untracked snow.
Things Gone Awry!
Yard Sale: When a rider makes a mistake and both they and the sled go tumbling uncontrollably down a slope.
Ski Pull: What good buddies are for when you get stuck.
Scorpion: Imagine your own feet kicking you in the back of the head. Usually, this happens when your sled comes to an abrupt stop but you don’t.
Lawn Dart: When you or your sled land nose-first into the ground, coming to an abrupt stop.
Ghost Ride: When you fall or bail off your sled and it continues, riderless down the hill, likely hitting the only tree on the whole damn mountain.
Sledder Slang 101 – Part II
Now, put it all together: After an epic tree sesh, our stoke factor was so high we decided to poke up a gnarly climb where we found a new zone and it must have been dumping in there for days because the pow was balls deep.
– Kirsten