From time to time I'll add a few ski terms. I don't mean the basics like boot or ski. The list will cover terms any ski girls should know, or terms I've covered in other posts. Don't expect a full dictionary just yet. Like all good things....give it time.
Apres' Ski - The popular term for celebrating at the end of the ski day. It is used in reference to happy hours, cocktail parties, or a general social gathering. Apres' is French and it means after. So go out and ski first. Ski hard, then enjoy a little Apres' Ski.
Bonk - The moment when the day's energy exerted on the hill exceeds the day's energy derived from the calories consumed. You crash hard, but not necessarily into anything. Your intensity crashes as all stamina drains from your body. Let's hope you have the right kind of snack in your pocket to recharge.
Chondola - This hybrid lift, also known as a telemix, is half detachable chairlift, half gondola. Chairs and gonodola cars are interspersed on the same cable, utilizing the one set of lift towers. Skiers can go through the chair line, or the gondola line. The concept for these lifts, first launched in Europe is to allow advanced, intermediate and beginner skiers to be comfortable on lifts accessing terrain in one general area, while utilizing a single lift system
Death Cookies - Ruthless chunks of ice that litter the hill. They might appear to be clumps of snow, or snowballs lying on the slope. Hit one of these with your ski and you will find it is not soft snow, but unforgiving, rock-hard ice. Death cookies can gouge your skis, fly up in your face, throw off your stance or catch an edge. Be wary of the death cookie.
F.I.S. - Federation Internationale des Ski was founded during the 1924 Olympic Games in Chamonix, France. The International Ski Federation has over 100 member nations and sets the standard for ski competition, organizing major international events including the World Cup.
Magic Carpet - Magic carpets have nothing to do with Aladdin when it comes to snow sports. Picture an escalator on a beginner slope, gently taking skiers up the hill. Of course that won't work. Skis don't fit on tiny steps. Squash the steps and flatten that escalator like a conveyor belt. You now have a conveyor transporting skiers and riders one by one up beginner land. Just walk on your skis up to the belt. Step onto it. Stand, ride and wait to ski off at the top. It's a lot easier than a rope tow and a lot less work than side stepping up the hill.
Off-Piste - Think of this as off the beaten path, I mean trail. Take your skis on a little adventure off the groomed terrain or wide open trails. Duck into the trees, or follow one of those slightly beaten trails of skis that veer off the trail into the unknown. See where you end up. You're skiing off-piste.
Tree Well - It is best to know what a tree well is before you fall into one. I first discovered tree wells when a Nor-easter dropped 4 foot of snow on Vermont over two days. Friends and I drove up to the Green Mountains where one of our group dropped into a tree well. The snow right under the trees near the trunks is like a soft underbelly. It is sheltered by the branches, may contain air pockets, may not be packed down and can be highly unstable and dangerous. Tree wells occur most often after heavy snowfalls in glades, off-piste trails, or in my example on a cut across between trails. It is very hard to dig yourself out alone. Enjoy the fresh powder after a big dump, but ski with a friend and watch the trees!
Telemix - See Chondola
