Sicktionary: Your Guide to Snowboarding Terms

Sicktionary is a monthly column in SNOWBOARDER Magazine in which we define snowboarding terms, lingo, and slang. In Snowboarder's January 2008 Issue we highlight some ski lift terms. Keep reading to learn some shredtacular vernacular.

In 2005, Italian Stallion and Olympic snowboarding star Giacomo Kratter collided with a lift tower while trying a switch backside 720 off a park jump. The massive impact caused Giacomo to fracture both of his arms and the lift tower to catch crabs. While this Mammoth quad is officially known as Chair Six, I will forever refer to it as the “Italian Grinder.” This unfortunate incident is the only instance that I can recall where a chair did something other than give snowboarders a lift.
-Pat Bridges

Lift Ticket [Lihft Tik-it] noun: Displayed to show that the bearer has paid handsomely for access to the ski area’s facilities, most notably the lifts.

Clipping Tickets [Klip-ping Tik-its] verb: Procuring lift tickets through less-than-legal means.

Clipped Ticket [Klipt Tik-it] noun: Having one’s ski area privileges revoked for any number of offenses.

Theft of Services [Thehpht Uhv Ser-vis-siz] noun: The offense that most people caught clipping tickets are guilty of.

Ski Lift [Skee Lihft] noun: Any people-mover which provides users a means to travel uphill. Different types can carry varying amounts of riders: doubles carry two, triples three, and quads four. Singles can carry only one skier at a time, because they are found at places like Mad River Glen which don’t allow snowboarders, and therefore don’t get many visitors.

Surface Lift [Suhr-fis Lihft] noun: A lift in which the passengers remain on the snow as they are pulled uphill.

Detachable [Dee-tach-ib-uhl] adj: Any lift that enables the chairs to be removed from the main cable to change its momentum during loading and unloading. The best part about detachable chairs is that they don’t want a long-term commitment.

Fixed-grip [Fixxd Grihp] noun: Older lifts that feature chairs which are permanently affixed to the cable.

Gondola [Gahn-doh-lah] noun: Cable-borne pods that transport from four to ten people to the top of the slopes.

Hotbox [4:20] adj: When a dirty, filthy, stinky, sickly, sketchy, lazy, no-good hippy smokes cannabis in the enclosed confines of a gondola, the lack of ventilation causes the cabin to fill with intoxicating smoke.

Ganjola [Gahn-jo-lah] noun: A gondola that is the preferred place to hotbox; also reefer-red to as a “chrondola”.

Tram [Trahm] noun: Short for aerial tramway. Basically, a gondola on steroids (without the backne). Instead of displacing the load over many vessels, a tram uses one or two large, boxlike containers to relay 60-200 people up to elevation.

Cabriolet [Kab-ree-oh-lay] adj: An open-air gondola.

Rope Tow [Rohp-toh] noun: The first lifts ever created were ropes strung between turnwheels at the top and bottom of a slope. They were propelled by car engines. Today they can still be found on beginner slopes around the world. Known to wreak havoc on gloves.

Handle Tow [Han-dul-toh] adj: Rope tows which have handles incorporated into their design to promote ease of use.

Magic Carpet [Maj-ik Kar-pit] adj: Conveyor belts which allow riders to simply stand on the surface and move uphill.

Nutcracker [Nuht Krak-ur] adj: Rope tows which utilize “personal” handles to be engaged by the user. Very difficult for novice riders to use.

Poma [Pah-muh] adj: Known in Europe as either a platter-pull or button lift, Pomas are surface lifts which drag riders to the hillcrest via long poles which have a disc at the lower end and are connected at the top to an overhead cable.

T-Bar [Tee Bahr] noun: Brought into service to replace the J- and L-Bars, T-Bars are similar to Poma lifts, except the round disc that one sits on is replaced by a flat bar which can accommodate two users. Of course, everyone knows that users are losers, so just say “no.”

Funicular [Fuhn-ik-u-lerr] noun: An alpine train which travels uphill on steel rails.

Jig-back [Jig Bak] noun: Any two-vesseled lift which utilizes the downward momentum of one vessel to propel the other uphill.

Liftline [Lihft-lin] noun: The maze of ropes meant to bring order to the mass of people attempting to access a chairlift. Also, the run directly below a ski lift, which is a hot dog magnet.

Midstation [Mid Sta-shun] noun: The points at which ski lifts are split up to provide users an opportunity to unload. Occasionally, midstations are utilized when a lift changes course.

Liftie [Stoner] noun: A mountain employee that assists passengers onto and off of a lift. Lifties can often be found hotboxing the ganjola on their break.

Rime [Rim] noun: Snow, ice, and frost that gathers on lifts and other ski-area features.

Roll-back [Rol Bak] adj: When the overloaded weight of a lift’s passengers causes the engine or gearbox to fail and the chairs achieve reverse momentum. Catastrophe is the result—fear the roll-back.

Safety Bar [Saph-tee Bahr] noun: A lowerable bar which provides people riding a chairlift a barrier to falling off. Some states, mainly in the eastern United States, have laws mandating their use. Also known as a retention bar.

Safety Gate [Saph-tee Gait] noun: A gate located at the top of a chair which will cause the lift to stop when tripped. Used to keep beginners and anyone else foolish enough not to unload from traveling back down the hill on the chair.

Safety Meeting [Saph-tee Mee-ting] noun: Whenever people gather slopeside to get lifted.

More Sicktionary Terms:
Sicktionary: Your Guide to Snowboarding Terms - SLC
Sicktionary: Your Guide to Snowboarding Terms- Superpark Terms
Sicktionary: Your Guide to Snowboarding Terms - Pipe Pro
Sicktionary: Your Guide to Snowboarding Terms - Quebe