Trick guide
Ski & snowboard trick names, explained
"Switch Left Double Cork 1260 Mute." "Cab 720 Melon." "Rodeo 540 Japan." Freestyle trick names look like code, but they follow a few simple rules: which way you took off, how far you spun, how you went over, and what you grabbed.
This guide covers every trick ShredIndex Play calls out as you land it, what each one means on a real mountain, and how to throw it on a keyboard, a controller or a phone.
How a trick name is built
Read it left to right, in this order:
- Take-off: switch if you left the lip backwards, or a butter or knuckle huck you popped from.
- Direction: left or right on skis; frontside, backside or cab on a snowboard.
- Inversions: double, triple, quad, if you went upside down more than once.
- Axis: cork, bio, rodeo, misty, flatspin, or a backflip or frontflip.
- Degrees: how far round you spun, in 180s.
- Grab: what you held, in order if you changed.
So "Switch Left Double Cork 1260 Mute" is: took off backwards, spun left, went upside down twice on a tilted axis, three and a half turns, holding a mute.
Spins
Spins: 180, 360, 540 and up
A spin is named by how far round the skis or board pointed, in halves of a turn: 180, 360, 540, 720, 900, 1080, 1260, 1440. Riders shout the short version, the first figures: a 720 is a "7", a 1080 a "10".
Words in front say which way and how: "Switch Left 1080" is three turns to the left taking off backwards. On a snowboard it is frontside or backside instead of left or right.
How to throw it in the game
Keyboard
Hold Space to crouch, hold ← or → to wind up the spin, let go of Space to pop. Keep the arrow held to keep spinning; let go and it slows to land straight. Space in the air tucks you to spin faster.
Controller
Hold A (Xbox) or Cross (PlayStation), push the left stick sideways to wind up, let go to pop. The left stick keeps it going in the air.
Phone
Hold your right thumb still to crouch, push the left stick sideways to wind up, lift the thumb to pop. Steer the spin with the left stick in the air.
| Trick | Called | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 180 | Half a turn: you take off forwards and land backwards (or the other way round). | |
| 360 | 3 | One full turn, landing the way you took off. |
| 540 | 5 | One and a half turns: land backwards. |
| 720 | 7 | Two full turns. |
| 900 | 9 | Two and a half turns. |
| 1080 | 10 | Three full turns. The point where spins start to be called big. |
| 1260 | 12 | Three and a half turns. |
| 1440 | 14 | Four full turns. Past this the numbers keep going in 180s: 1620, 1800 and beyond. |
| Trick | What it is |
|---|---|
| Left / Right | On skis, which way you turned, said once it is a 360 or more: "Left 720". |
| Frontside / Backside | On a snowboard, whether your chest or your back opened up to the way you were going first. Said from a 180: "Backside 540". |
| Switch | Taking off riding backwards. A switch take-off is worth more than landing switch. |
| Cab | Snowboard only: a switch frontside spin, named after the skater Steve Caballero. "Cab 720". |
| Half-cab | A switch frontside 180 on a snowboard. |
| Bring-back | Spun one way and brought back the other before landing. |
Off-axis
Corks, bios, rodeos and misties
An off-axis trick spins and goes upside down at the same time, on a tilted axis. What it is called depends on how the body went over: sideways while spinning is a cork (going back) or a bio (going forward); over the back or front with the spin along for the ride is a rodeo or a misty.
The spin number still counts the whole turn, so a Double Cork 1080 is three turns round with two times upside down along the way. Off-axis tricks score more than flat spins for the same rotation.
How to throw it in the game
Keyboard
Wind up a spin and a flip together before you pop: ↓ with ← or → for a cork or a rodeo, ↑ with ← or → for a bio or a misty. More spin than flip goes over sideways (a cork); more flip than spin goes over the back (a rodeo).
Controller
In the air the right stick flips: diagonally down throws a rodeo, diagonally up a misty. Spin the left stick as well and the same flip comes round as a cork or a bio.
Phone
Hold the left stick on a diagonal while you wind up and in the air: down and across for corks and rodeos, up and across for bios and misties.
| Trick | Called | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Cork | Cork 7, Dub 10 | Spinning while the body goes over sideways, head dropping below the feet on a tilted axis. A backward-going off-axis spin. Two inversions is a Double Cork, a "dub". |
| Bio | The forward-going cousin of the cork: going over sideways while spinning, but leading with the front of the body. | |
| Rodeo | Rodeo 5 | Mostly a backflip, with the spin along for the ride: you go over the back, off-axis. "Rodeo 540". |
| Misty | Misty 7 | Mostly a frontflip, with spin: you go over the front, off-axis. "Misty 720". |
| Flatspin | Flat 5 | Laid right out, nearly horizontal through the spin, but never actually upside down. |
| Double, Triple, Quad | How many times you went upside down: "Double Cork 1260", "Triple Cork 1440". |
Flips
Backflips, frontflips and layouts
A flip goes over with hardly any spin. Each time you are upside down counts, so two backflips is a Double Backflip. How you hold your body matters: tucked, you come round faster; laid out straight with nothing held, it is a Layout and worth more.
How to throw it in the game
Keyboard
Hold Space, hold ↓ to wind up a backflip (↑ for a frontflip), let go of Space to pop. Keep the arrow held to keep flipping. Hold nothing and stay straight through it for a layout.
Controller
Hold A or Cross and push the left stick down (back) or up (front), then let go to pop. Or flip in the air with the right stick: down back, up front.
Phone
Hold your right thumb still and push the left stick down or up, then lift your thumb to pop.
| Trick | What it is |
|---|---|
| Backflip | Over backwards with hardly any spin. Two is a Double Backflip. |
| Frontflip | Over forwards with hardly any spin. |
| Layout | A flip done stretched out straight with nothing held, instead of tucked: "Layout Backflip". Slower to come round, so it is worth more. |
| Tucked | Knees pulled to the chest. A tucked flip turns faster and is named plainly: "Backflip". |
| Wildcat | Snowboard: a backflip end over end along the way you are going, over the tail. |
| Tamedog | Snowboard: the frontflip version, over the nose. |
Ski grabs
Ski grabs: from a safety to a venom
A grab is a hand on a ski in the air. It goes on the end of the trick's name, in order if you change grab mid-air: "Left 900 Mute → Japan". The longer you hold it the more it scores, up to about two seconds, and a tweak adds half again. Let go before you land; grab too late and the trick is worth half.
The names follow how judges describe them in the freeski rulebook.
How to throw it in the game
Keyboard
Q is the left hand, E the right. The W A S D keys pick where it reaches: nothing for a safety, W for the tip, S for the tail, across the body for a mute, across and forward for a critical, across and back for a japan, out to the hand's own side for a seatbelt, out and back for a stale. Both hands at once make the doubles. Shift tweaks.
Controller
The shoulder buttons are fixed grabs: LB/L1 mute, RB/R1 safety, LT/L2 tail, RT/R2 tip. Together they make the rest: LB+LT japan, RB+RT critical, LB+RT rocket, LT+RB octograb, all four a venom. X or Square tweaks.
Phone
Slide the right stick out in the air; each of its eight directions is a grab (right safety, up tip, left mute, down tail, and the diagonals critical, japan, seatbelt and stale). Push it right out to the edge for both hands, tweaked.
| Trick | What it is |
|---|---|
| Safety | Hand on the outside of its own ski, under the boot. The easiest grab there is. |
| Tip | Hand on the tip of its own ski, the ski pulled up to meet it. |
| Tail | Hand back for the tail of its own ski. |
| Mute | Hand across the body for the outside edge of the other ski, in front of the binding. The skis cross. |
| Critical | Hand across for the inside edge of the other ski, in front of the binding. The skis stay parallel. |
| Japan | One leg stretched out ahead, the other ski tucked up behind it, and the hand reaching round the straight leg for it. |
| Seatbelt | A safety across the body: the hand reaches over both knees for the other ski, under the boot. |
| Stale | All the way back and round for the other ski's tail. Awkward, which is the point. |
| Truck driver | Both hands on both tips, held like a steering wheel, knees up at the chest. |
| Rocket | Both hands on their own tips. |
| Venom | Two mutes at once: tips crossed evenly, each hand on the tip that has come over to its side. |
| Octograb | One hand on a tip, the other on a tail, crossing the skis. |
| Indi-truck | A critical with one hand and a safety with the other. |
| Double tail, Double safety | The same grab with both hands. |
Snowboard grabs
Snowboard grabs: indy, melon, method and the rest
On a snowboard the same buttons reach for the board, and the grab's name depends on which hand and which edge. Toe edge is the side your toes point at, heel edge the side behind your heels. A spin and a grab together read like "Cab Double Cork 1080 Melon" or "Backside 540 Indy".
How to throw it in the game
Keyboard
The same keys as on skis: Q and E for each hand, W A S D to aim. Which hand is the front one depends on whether you ride regular or goofy, set in the menu.
Controller
The same shoulder buttons as on skis. RB/R1 alone is a mute with the front hand or an indy with the back, depending on your stance.
Phone
The same eight ways on the right stick as on skis.
| Trick | What it is |
|---|---|
| Indy | Back hand on the toe edge, between the bindings. The classic. |
| Mute | Front hand on the toe edge, between the bindings. |
| Melon | Front hand on the heel edge, between the bindings, reaching behind the front leg. |
| Stalefish | Back hand round behind the back leg for the heel edge. |
| Method | Front hand on the heel edge, the board pulled up behind you and the body arched. |
| Roast beef | Back hand reaching between the legs for the heel edge. |
| Japan | Front hand on the toe edge, front knee tucked, the board pulled up behind. |
| Crail | Back hand reaching all the way forward to the toe edge near the nose. |
| Lien | Front hand on the heel edge near the nose, leaning out over it. |
| Seatbelt | Front hand reaching across the body to the tail. |
| Tindy | Back hand on the toe edge between the back binding and the tail. |
| Nose / Tail | A hand on the nose or the tail of the board. |
| Stiffy | A mute and an indy at once, both legs straightened. |
| Japan indy, Method indy, Double heel, Nose + tail | Two hands, two grabs: the front hand's grab first, then the back's. |
| Tweaked | Any grab pushed further: the board or skis pulled out of line for style. Worth half as much again. |
Want to know which grabs are hardest? See the snowboard grab difficulty ratings.
Rails and jibs
Rails, boxes and pipes
Ride or drop onto a box or rail in a terrain park and you lock on. Pointing along it is a 50-50; across it is a slide. You score for how long and how far you stay on, with more for a rail than a box, for a slide, for switch, for spinning on, for each switch-up and for staying steady.
How to throw it in the game
Keyboard
Pop onto it, then balance with A and D against the lean. Flick ← or → and back to switch between a 50-50 and a slide; hold it over to wind up and spin off the end. Q and E grab on a rail too.
Controller
Balance with the left stick; flick the right stick across and back to switch between a 50-50 and a slide, or hold it over to wind up a spin off the end.
Phone
Balance with the left stick. On a rail the right stick grabs, the same eight ways as in the air.
| Trick | What it is |
|---|---|
| 50-50 | Sliding along a box or rail with the skis (or board) pointing along it. |
| Switch 50-50 | A 50-50 riding backwards. |
| Slide | Skis across the rail instead of along it. On a snowboard it is a boardslide. |
| 270 on | Spun onto the rail: "270 on 50-50". Every 90 degrees of spin onto it adds points. |
| Switch-up | Changing stance on the rail: "50-50 to slide". Each change scores. |
| Straight air / Air to fakie | Out of a halfpipe or quarterpipe and back in with nothing thrown; to fakie if you land backwards. |
Butters and presses
Butters and presses
A butter is a trick on the snow: pressing onto the tips or the tails and pivoting round on them. It scores on its own for how long you hold it and how far round it goes, and if you pop off it into the air the butter leads the name and the whole trick is worth more.
How to throw it in the game
Keyboard
T presses the nose, G the tail. Steer while you hold it to spin round on it, and pop off it with Space.
Controller
On the snow the right stick butters: up on the nose, down on the tail, across to twist.
Phone
Slide the right stick up for the nose or down for the tail.
| Trick | What it is |
|---|---|
| Nose butter / Tail butter | Pressing onto the tips or the tails on the snow, the other end lifted. Scored for how long you hold it. |
| Nose butter 360 | Spinning round on the pressed end. Ending it straight is clean, and worth half as much again. |
| Nose press / Tail press | The snowboard words for a butter. |
| Nose roll / Tail roll | Snowboard: spinning round on an end of the board. |
| Ollie / Nollie | Snowboard: popping off the tail or the nose. Pop off a press and it goes in the name: "Backside nollie 360". |
| Nose butter 540 | On skis, popping out of a butter into a spin puts the butter first in the name, and is worth more. |
Hand drags
Hand drags and knuckle hucks
A hand dragged in the snow is a trick of its own, and better over a jump's knuckle. A knuckle huck skips the kicker: you pop off the rounded edge of the table instead, which scores extra for the style.
How to throw it in the game
Keyboard
On the snow, Q drags the left hand and E the right. In a butter the hand plants and swings you round.
Controller
On the snow the bumpers and triggers drag that side's hand.
Phone
Slide the right stick out to a side to drag that hand.
| Trick | What it is |
|---|---|
| Hand drag | A hand trailed in the snow mid-turn. The longer, the more it is worth. |
| Double hand drag | Both hands down at once. |
| Knuckle drag | A hand dragged over the knuckle (the rounded top edge) of a jump's table. |
| Knuckle huck | Popping off the knuckle instead of the kicker, for the style: "Knuckle huck nose butter 540 hand drag". |
| Hand drag (in a butter) | The pivot hand planted through a butter spin: "Nose butter 360 hand drag". |
| Tripod | Snowboard: a press with a hand planted, making three points on the snow. |
Scoring
How tricks are scored in ShredIndex Play
Points reward the same things judges look for: rotation, difficulty, a held grab and a clean landing. A trick comp goes to whoever banks the most points by the finish line.
- Rotation
- 100 points for each 180 of spin and 400 for each time upside down, times an off-axis bonus: a quarter more for a cork or bio, 30% more for a rodeo or misty.
- Grabs
- 100 points a grab plus 250 for each second held, up to two seconds. A tweaked grab is worth half again.
- Clean landing
- Landing straight and smooth multiplies the trick by one and a half.
- Switch
- Taking off switch is worth a quarter more; only landing switch, a tenth.
- Late grab
- Still holding the grab as you touch down halves the trick.
- Combos
- Land another trick within three seconds on the snow of the last and they chain. The combo's points are multiplied by how many tricks are in it and banked when you have been on the snow too long. Crash and the combo is lost.
- Other airs
- Nothing thrown still counts if it is big: a cliff drop, a heli drop off the skid, or plain big air off a kicker. Getting bounced by a bump in the terrain does not count.
Questions
What is a double cork?
A double cork is an off-axis spin where you go upside down twice, on a tilted axis, while spinning. A Double Cork 1080 is three full turns with two inversions. Riders call it a "dub": a "dub 10".
What is the difference between a cork and a rodeo?
Both go over the back off-axis. A cork is mostly spin, going over sideways; a rodeo is mostly a backflip with spin along for the ride. A misty is the forward version of a rodeo, and a bio the forward version of a cork.
What does 540 mean in skiing?
It is the degrees of rotation: 540 is one and a half turns, so you take off forwards and land backwards. Spins go up in 180s: 180, 360, 540, 720, 900, 1080, 1260, 1440.
What is a cab on a snowboard?
A cab is a switch frontside spin: riding backwards, turning so your chest opens up first. A half-cab is a switch frontside 180. The name comes from the skateboarder Steve Caballero.
What is the difference between a mute and an indy?
On a snowboard both grab the toe edge between the bindings: a mute with the front hand, an indy with the back hand. On skis a mute is a hand across the body for the outside edge of the other ski, crossing the skis.
What is a japan grab?
On skis, one leg stretches out ahead while the other ski tucks up behind it, and the hand reaches round the straight leg to hold it. On a snowboard, the front hand grabs the toe edge with the front knee tucked and the board pulled up behind.
What is a butter in skiing?
A butter is pressing onto the tips or tails of your skis on the snow and pivoting round on them, often spinning a 180 or 360 on the snow. Snowboarders call it a press.
Can I practise these tricks in a game?
Yes. ShredIndex Play is a free ski and snowboard game in your browser, on the real runs of over 5,700 ski resorts. It names every trick on this page as you land it, and scores it the way this guide describes. It works with a keyboard, an Xbox or PlayStation controller, or a phone.
Go and land one
The park at Whistler has jump lines, rails and a superpipe. Free in your browser.