Freestyle with Avery (22 page)
Read Freestyle with Avery Online
Authors: Annie Bryant
Shredding Glossary
Air-to-Fakie
: (p. 42)–A trick in which the boarder takes off from the top of a snow wall, riding forward, and lands riding backward without turning around in the air.
Alley-Oop
: (p. 42)–Any maneuver in the halfpipe in which the boarder rotates 180 degrees or more in an uphill direction.
Backside
: (p. 125)–Riding turned to face up the hill; done on the toes.
Blindsided
: (p. 116)–When the boarder’s movements and visibility are limited or restrained.
Blue Square
: (p. 36)–A medium-difficulty slope to ski or board on.
Bonking
: (p. 40)–Hitting an object (like another snowboard) with your snowboard.
Bunny Slope
: (p. 108)–The super-easy hill where beginners can learn and practice.
Butterflies
: (p. 126)–A trick in which the boarder lifts up the front of her board while riding and goes in a circle.
Chicken Salad Air
: (p. 6)–A trick in which the boarder’s rear hand reaches between the legs and grabs the heel edge between the
bindings, keeping the front leg straight.
Crippler
: (p. 40)–A sweet trick in which the boarder rides forward up the halfpipe wall, becomes airborne, rotates 90 degrees, flips over, rotates another 90 degrees, and lands riding forward.
Crud
: (p. 98)–Varied, inconsistent, slushy, or icy snow; snow that’s not sweet to ride.
Dice
: (p. 121)–What you say when someone smoothly nails a complicated trick.
Digger
: (p. 65)–When a boarder takes a really bad wipeout and is injured. It’s called “digger” because of the body digging into the ground.
Double Black Diamond
: (p. 38)–One of the most difficult and dangerous slopes to ski or board on, appropriate only for really advanced skiers or boarders.
Effective Edge
: (p. 173)–The length of metal edge on the snowboard that touches the snow.
Eggplant
: (p. 124)–A one-handed, 180-degree invert, in which you turn in the air and put your front hand on the lip of the halfpipe wall.
Fakie
: (p. 42)–A term for riding backward.
Faceplant
: (p. 123)–To fall with your face flat in the snow.
Frontside
: (p. 126)–Riding turned to face down the hill; a frontside turn is done on your heels.
Garage Sale
: (p. 123)–Messing up a trick on the pipe and falling on your face.
Glading
: (p. 61)–Riding through the trees.
Gnarly
: (p. 123)–Sweet. Just plain-old sweet.
Goofy-Footed
: (p. 54)–Riding on a snowboard with the right foot in the forward position.
Grab
: (p. 44)–Grabbing your snowboard with one or both hands.
Green Circle
: (p. 109)–An easy slope to ski or board on; good for grommets.
Grommet
: (p. 34)–A small, young snowboarder.
Halfpipe
: (p. 42)–A snow structure built for freestyle snowboarding in which boarders can catch air and perform tricks by riding back and forth from wall to wall.
Hammer
: (p. 120)–To ride as hard as possible.
Handplant
: (p. 126)–A halfpipe trick in which the rider does a handstand on one or both hands.
Hardcore
: (p. 121)–Sweet, awesome, challenging; especially when referring to a trick.
Ho-Ho
: (p. 50)–A two-handed hand plant.
Hucker
: (p. 120)–A boarder who throws herself wildly through the air and does not land on her feet.
Indy
: (p. 126)–A grab of the toe edge with the back hand.
Knee Rocket
: (p. 116)–A little kid who skis and doesn’t know how to stop.
Backside air
: (p. 120)–For this trick the boarder goes off a jump and twists 540 degrees (one and a half circles) in the air.
McTwist
: (p. 120)–A trick in which the athlete approaches the halfpipe wall riding forward, goes airborne, rotates a backside 540 air, and lands riding forward. This trick was named after its inventor, skateboarder Mike McGill.
Melon
: (p. 126)–A grab of the heel edge with the front hand with both legs bent evenly.
Method
: (p. 126)–A grab of the heel edge with the front hand, bending both knees and pulling the board to head level.
Mute
: (p. 126)–A grab of the toe edge with the front hand.
Nose
: (p. 42)–The front tip of the snowboard.
Ollie
: (p. 33)–A trick used to get air without jumping by lifting the front foot, then raising the rear foot and springing off the snowboard tail.
Pop Tart
: (p. 121)–Airing from fakie to forward in the pipe with no rotation.
Roast Beef
: (p. 126)–A trick in which the rider reaches between
the legs, grabs the heel edge between the bindings, and holds the rear leg rigidly straight.
Rodeo Flip
: (p. 151)–An invert done riding fakie or forward in which the rider rotates frontside or backside while flipping.
Rolling down the windows
: (p. 122)–A boarder’s attempt to stop herself from losing her balance in the pipe by waving her arms wildly.
Shred Betty
: (p. 55)–An awesome female boarder.
Stalefish
: (p. 126)–A grab of the heel edge with the back hand.
Sick
: (p. 40)–Anything awesome in the snowboarding universe.
Slob Air
: (p. 42)–Grabbing the nose of the snowboard.
Snurfer
: (p. 3)–The first snowboard invented by Sherman Poppen in 1965. Poppen got the idea on Christmas day when his daughter wanted to sled standing up. He ran inside, bound two skis together, and tied a string to the nose so the rider could have control. Poppen’s wife thought of the name “Snurfer” as a combination of “snow” and “surf.” Soon everyone in the neighborhood wanted a Snurfer, and in the 1970s Poppen held the first Snurfer Competition.
Tail
: (p. 114)–Rear of the snowboard.
Tuck
: (p. 37)–A position in which the boarder crouches with her knees bent to achieve less wind resistance.
Wet Cat
: (p. 121)–A midair flip with one hand on the lip of the pipe, rotating forward 90 degrees and landing riding backwards.
Glossary courtesy of Telluride Ski Resort.
An Avery Madden Crazy Critters Exclusive
When you hear the word “raptor,” do you think of a small, toothy dinosaur? Well,
those
raptors have been extinct for about, oh, eighty million years or so, but plenty of raptors are still making a squawk today! Yup, many of today’s predatory birds are called raptors too. Today we’ll be talking to a very special member of this meat-loving bunch: my friend Ollie the red-tailed hawk.
Avery Madden: | So, Ollie. Do you feel at all nervous about your upcoming release into the wild? |
Ollie Hawk: | Puh-lease! We hawks were |
AM: | Wait a minute. I thought you were a red-tailed hawk! What exactly is this falcon stuff? |
OH: | Well, falcons and hawks are both raptors, but it’s true—we’re not the same. And falconry isn’t just about falcons. It’s actually the practice of training any bird of prey to hunt or pursue game. |
AM: | Cooool. So birds can be trained to hunt food for people? That’s generous of you guys |
OH: | Whoa, there’s been a misunderstanding. I expect to be paid for my services. I may be a bird, but I’m still an entrepreneur. The falconer trades me a piece of ready-to-eat meat for the fresh game I catch. I have a serious weakness for fast food. |
AM: | Whatever floats your feathers, Ollie. Hey, speaking of feathers, I noticed your tail doesn’t have the famous red-tailed hawk rusty red color. What’s up with that? |
OH: | Simple. Adults’ tails are rusty red, and I’m not fully grown yet. Look into my eyes if you don’t believe me. |
AM: | That’s okay … I believe you |
OH: | No, seriously. See the yellow in the irises of my eyes? That means I’m not completely mature yet. |
AM: | So I take it there’s no special someone in your life right now? |
OH: | We hawks usually wait to date until after we shed our baby feathers–you know, to make sure we’re looking our snazziest. |
AM: | And when you do settle down …? |
OH: | I just want the same as any other red-blooded American: a tree in a nice neighborhood, three eggs, and a cozy nest. |
AM: | Flap happy, Ollie! |
Craaazy Colorado Factoids
“This is a stick-up!”
The famous western bandit Butch Cassidy committed his first bank robbery in Telluride, Colorado, in 1889, getting away with more than twenty thousand dollars!
It’s a red state?
In Spanish, Colorado means “reddish-colored,” a name originally given to the reddish-looking Colorado River that runs through the state. When the state’s Capitol building was constructed in the 1890s and early 1900s, builders used a rare marble called Beulah Red to honor their namesake color. But they might have gone a teensy bit overboard, using up all the Beulah Red Marble in the world during construction! Bet they were pretty
red-faced
after that.
The City of Lights
Think you know where the “City of Lights” is located? Think again! Although Paris, France, is often called the “City of Lights” today, Telluride, Colorado, was given the distinctive title back in 1892 when it became the first city ever to have electric street lights.
Ooh la la
!
How spooky is this?
Mining booms in the late 1800s brought tons of people to Colorado towns (like Telluride) to harvest the natural resources, including silver, uranium, radium, and gold. But when people discovered richer sources in other parts of the world, most of those settlers skedaddled just as quickly as they arrived, leaving almost as many ghost towns in the state (about 500) as live ones (650)!
You go, girls!
Colorado may be famous for its cowboys, but it’s also seen some pretty exceptional cow
girls
. Katharine Lee Bates wrote the lyrics to “America the Beautiful” after being inspired by the view from Pikes Peak in Colorado.
He loves me, he loves me not …
Hundreds of thousands of valentines are mailed each year from Loveland, Colorado, through the town’s Valentine Remailing Program. People from all over the country send in pre-addressed valentines, and local volunteers spend hours carefully marking each valentine with a special Loveland stamp. You can be sure that when these Loveland-labeled love letters reach their recipients, they’re a real special delivery!