Après: Post-slopes debauchery. Bring on the shot ski! Lots of buzzed people dancing around in ski gear eating chili.

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Avalanche Terrain: The pile of snow looming overhead that MAY just decide to roll down the mountain at any minute as you traverse across a bumpy track.

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Backcountry: No lifts, no trams, just you and a taxing hike with your gear to ski down a pretty awesome run.

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Bindings: The fussy pieces of equipment that skiers and boarders step into to lock themselves in place.

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Black Diamond: The expert trail that frequently gets skiers and snowboarders the quickest “trail cred” for descending. Full of obstacles like moguls, cliffs, ice all usually under the lift line.

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Blue Square: The advanced level trail where you will frequently find Dads with their kids, ski groups standing at the top of a run discussing their angle of slope attack, and college kids in sports jerseys cruising around in chaos.

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Board: A wide ski with buckles on it to strap your feet onto. Snowboarders typically get a punk like reputation on the slopes.

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Boot: The plastic robotic boot you place on your feet, which you then snap into your skis, like a LEGO character.

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Bowl: The bowl-shaped bowl at the summit, little trees, plenty of rock cliffs, and a sweet spot to descend like you're in a giant bowl of ice cream.

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Camber: A technical term for the arch of a ski that you can use to blame subpar skiing ability on a powder day. “I’d cruise right through this powder like a knife slicing bread if it wasn’t for the camber on this ski.”

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Carve: Just like carving a turkey, you carve the edges of your ski into the trail. If you carve enough, you’ll get frequent compliments like “hey, nice carving!”

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Cat Walk: The long, windy part of a trail perfect for a lackadaisical scenic tour of the mountain. Nice and easy until you run out of speed and have to hop your way up to the top. Selfies on skis area.

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Chute: Another area frequently found below the bowl, like an open straw into a larger trail. A place of daring attempts for a great photo op hopping off a rock. “Stop and record me going down this chute real quick. If I wipe out cut the footage!”

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Cornice: 1, 2, 3 launch. The curve over the top of a trail that you can usually launch off of into a field of powder.

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Double Black Diamond: The ultimate test of a skier’s ability to stay calm while dropping into a mogul field. Halfway down the trail, sentiments usually change to “why did I come down here!”

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First Tracks: The phenomenon that overtakes skiers in the wee hours of the morning to forge the very first prints on the trail before other skiers arrive.

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Glade: A trail of trees between trails, usually with a secretive vibe, and trail names like “Secret Glade” or “Top Secret Glade”, “Shh, This Is A Secret Glade”.

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Gondola: The mini-pods that look like helicopter cabins that wedge riders in groups to head up the mountain.

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Green Circle: The trail that is mostly open with no obstacles other than people slowly perusing across the whole width of the trail at nominal speeds.

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Groomer: A trail that’s easy on the knees.

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Jerry: Holding up the lift line somewhere walked around skis in hand, jacket zipped open, goggles missing, and boots unbuckled.

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Keep Tips Up: Not a monetary tip, keep your skis up so you don’t get hooked off the lift, make a big scene, and shut down the lift.

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Liftie: The employee who is blaring music, standing in place, raking the ground, then swinging the chair around like a carousel ride.

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Magic Carpet: The conveyor belt embedded in a beginner slope that brings you from point A to point B to Point A and B like you’re at an airport.

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Mogul: The bump field on the trail, which only gets ridden to impress fellow skiers. “I just barreled through the mogul field, impressed?”

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Parallel Turn: Once you get a handle on your skis, it’s time to take parallel style turns, moving your skis in lines like French fries, or popsicle sticks, you get the idea.

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Rocker: A technical term for the part of a ski important for how much you can blame skiing performance on the rocker of the ski.

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Ski: The carbon fiber pair of sticks used to ski down the mountain.

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Ski Area Boundary: The imaginary line around the resort. Who knows what lies beyond, it’s no man’s land.

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Snow Cat: The tractor on tank-like tracks that grooms the trails, typically seen as a roaming night light wandering around the mountain in the dark. “What’s that light up there? That’s the snow cat, son.”

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Snow Bunny: Found in the lodge, buried in marshmallows, hot cocoa, and set up with their laptop in front of the fire, saying they’ll get around to the slopes someday.

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Slalom: Giant S turns like slalom.

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T-Bar: NOT a chairlift. Sometimes a bar. One to two skiers sit on or hold a handlebar, where you will frequently see a skier or boarder holding onto the bar like a fish on a fishing line, fumbling up the slope, refusing to let go of the rope.

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Terrain Park: The “street” and “edgy” part of the mountain where skiers attempt big tricks off big piles of snow and then grind their skis along rails and box jumps.

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Tram: The subway car on a wire that goes up and around the summit back to the bottom. Great for skiers, boarders, and snow bunnies.

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Tuning: After you go over a field of rocks and take a chunk out of your ski or board, take it to the tuning shop — the guy there will know what to do. “What’d you do? Half the ski is missing, luckily I’m a pro, it just needs a little wax, it’ll be like brand new.”

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Traverse: The runout on a trail that is usually a foot wide, full of unpredictable bumps, and with enough speed, a skier can traverse to the farthest corners of the trail like they are blazing into a new land.