Aspect

The compass direction a slope faces. Crucial in decision making as it affects how much sun and wind exposure a slope receives. The snow quality and avalanche conditions are directly affected by the aspect of the slope. 

Bomb-Hole

A packed-out hole in a powder landing usually caused by another skier’s landing or crash.

Chalky

Dry, easily edgeable snow that often forms off-piste when it’s consistently cold and windy. This can be excellent for skiing the Big Mountain even when the snow is skied out.

Chute

A narrow, steep strip of snow flanked by rock walls, often challenging due to its constricted space and steepness.

Cirque

A bowl-shaped, steep-walled mountain basin, often formed by the erosion of glaciers.

Cliff Band

A natural shelf of terrain which results in a set of cliffs. This might have airs to hit or present a serious exposure risk which needs to be navigated around.

Cliff-Out

Some routes “cliff out,” meaning there's no safe exit. Know your line before committing.

Close-Out

A line that ends with a mandatory air. There is no option to ski around the feature once the skier is committed.

Compression

A part of a line in which speed and a change in angle (or hole) can cause a build up of forces to the skier. This can present a hazard if the skier is unbalanced.

Cornice

An overhanging edge of snow on a ridge or peak, often created by wind. It can create a challenging entrance or a hazard due to potential collapse. Cornices can change significantly in a short span of time.

Couloir

A narrow gully with steep walls. French for ‘hallway’.

Debris

Hard pieces of snow from collapsed cornices. Can present danger when combined with higher speed and lower visibility.

Drop

A piece of terrain where the skier leaves the ground travelling from higher to lower. Often over rocks or natural terrain feature.

Exposure

The possibility that a fall (even at slow speed) could take the skier over terrain (rocks or cliffs) that could injure or kill them.

Fall Line

The direction that a ball would roll down a hill due to gravity. The quickest path down a mountain. Understanding the fall line is crucial for controlling speed, navigating terrain and making turns.

Hit (Side Hit)

A jump, natural or man made. A side-hit refers to jumps which form on the side of runs.

Lip

A natural take-off point at the top of a ramp.

No-Fall Zone

A piece of terrain in which a fall could cause serious injury or death if the skier does not manage to self-arrest. 

Nose

The highest or most obvious take-off point of an air or cliff.

Pillows

Stacks of powder that form on top of boulders and under-snow formations. Are often varying levels of firm.

Rock-Well

A hazard created by the wind blowing round a boulder that creates a hole on the lee-side of the rock.

Self-Arrest

The ability of the skier to stop the momentum of their fall either with skis or without. They might use the edges of their skis to dig into the snow or stop themselves with their hands and feet. The ability to self-arrest is crucial when skiing in steep terrain or near any kind of exposure and is a skill which can be trained and practiced.

Skiied Out

A term referring to an area in which the higher quality or fresh snow has been mostly skied, leaving less desirable conditions

Sluff

Loose surface snow that moves on top of the snowpack. Often this is human-triggered and is more likely when skiing steep slopes.

Spine

Snow that forms on top of ridges and steep pieces of terrain in a natural ‘spine’ formation. Common on the huge faces of Alaska.

Straight-Line

A terrain feature which is too narrow to turn the skis sideways to manage speed. It necessitates going straight in the fall-line and managing speed using terrain or turns later.

Tabletop

A jump with a flat section on top and a down-slope afterwards.

Transition

The point at which the terrain changes angle from steep (or vertical) to flatter. A safe jump will have a steeper landing with a smoother transition.

Tree Well

A depression around the base of a pine tree caused by the sheltering effect of the pine branches. The snow tends to be less consolidated than the surrounding snow and can present a dangerous hazard if the skier becomes immersed in it.

Wind Loaded/Loading

The process where wind transports snow from windward slopes and deposits it on the lee (downwind) sides of terrain features, forming wind slabs. These wind slabs can become unstable, leading to avalanche hazards.