Welcome to the insane world of snowboarding, where the trick names are as crazy as the tricks themselves!
And with pro snowboarders regularly defying gravity (and logic) it’s almost impossible to keep up with the latest tricks. Â
So… today I’ve drafted a complete list of snowboarding trick names.
Many of them are achievable by mere mortals such as ourselves. How many do you already have dialled in? Which are you going to tick off this season?
Let’s take a look!
The Basics
Ollie – Jumping off the ground using the tail of the board.
Nollie – Jumping off the ground using the nose of the board.
Switch Riding – Riding with the opposite foot forward to your normal stance.
Switch Ollie – Jumping off the ground while riding switch (opposite) stance.
Jibbing – Taking the board on anything other than snow, for example rails, branches, obstacles and signs.Â
Shifty – Rotating your lower body 90 degrees whilst in the air.
Grabs
Rear Hand
Indy Grab – Grabbing the toe side edge with your back hand. Stay between the bindings. Drift too much towards the tail and it becomes the very unpopular Tindy grab.
Stalefish Grab – Grabbing the heel side edge of the board with your back hand behind the back leg.
Roastbeef Grab – Grabbing the heelside edge with the back hand, reaching through your legs.
Crail Grab – Grabbing the board with the front hand, ideally towards the nose, by reaching across your entire body.
Canadian Bacon Grab – Grabbing the toe edge between the bindings, by putting your back hand between your legs.
Nuclear Grab – Rear hand crossing over the body to grab the heel side edge behind the front foot.
Tailfish Grab –Â Cross between a Stalefish and a tail grab. Grabbing the heel edge of the board between the binding and tail (with the back hand). Considered poor form!
Tindy Grab –Â The ugly brother of the Indy Grab. Grabbing the board on the toe side edge between the binding and tail. Considered poor form!
Front Hand
Nose Grab – Grab the nose of the board with your front hand, straighten your back leg for full effect.Â
Mute Grab – Grabbing the board with the front hand between the bindings.
Melon Grab – Grabbing the board with the front hand on the heel edge between the bindings.
Seatbelt Grab – Grabbing the board with the front hand reaching across the body, similar to a seatbelt motion.
Method Grab – The most iconic grab in snowboarding! Grab the board with your front hand and extend the rear leg.
Japan Grab – Basically a super tweaked out Mute grab, but grabbed behind your back.
Chicken Salad Grab – Grabbing the heel edge with the front hand between the legs.
Slob Grab – Same as a mute grab, but bone out that back leg.Â
Both Hands
Double Grab (e.g. Double Indy, Double Mute) – Grabbing the board with both hands during a trick or jump.
Double Stiffy Grab – Extending both legs straight while grabbing the board with both hands.
Rocket Air Grab – Double handed nose grab.Â
Cross Rocket – Same as the above, but cross your hands over.
Truck Driver Grab – Grabbing the board with both hands, one in front of the front binding and the other behind the rear binding.
Cannonball Grab – Tucking the knees towards the chest, grabbing them with both hands. Basically a traditionally pool style cannonball.Â
Butter Tricks
Butter – Pressing the nose or tail of the board into the snow while rotating or sliding. Much easier on a specialized buttering snowboard.
Nose Roll – Roll the nose of the board along the snow, whilst rotating and lifting the tail in the air.Â
Tail Roll – Roll the tail of the board along the snow, whilst rotating and lifting the nose in the air.Â
Tripod – A tail press with your hands down on the snow (sort of like a press-up).Â
Butter 180 – Combining a butter maneuver with a 180-degree spin.
Butter 360 – Combining a butter maneuver with a full 360-degree spin.
Nose Press – Balancing on the nose of the board while sliding or pressing on an obstacle.
Tail Press – Balancing on the tail of the board while sliding or pressing on an obstacle.
Spins and Inverts
Spins
Frontside 180 – Rotating the board 180 degrees in the frontside direction.
Backside 180 – Rotating the board 180 degrees in the backside direction.
Alley-oop – Spinning against the directional of travel, usually in the halfpipe. Learn more.
Frontside 360 – Rotating the board 360 degrees in the frontside direction.
Backside 360 – Rotating the board 360 degrees in the backside direction.
Bigger Spins: Named after the degrees of rotation, e.g. 540, 720, 900, 1080, 1440, etc.
Switch Frontside 180 – Rotating the board 180 degrees in the frontside direction while riding switch.
Switch Backside 180 – Rotating the board 180 degrees in the backside direction while riding switch.
Cab 180 – Performing a switch frontside 180, popping off the nose of the board. Learn More.Â
Inverts
Front Flip – Performing a forward inverted rotation.Â
Backflip – Performing a backward inverted rotation flip.
Corkscrew (Corked variations like Cork 540, Cork 720) – An off-axis rotation. Head dips down horizontally but the rider doesn’t go entirely upside-down. Learn more.
Wildcat – An over the tail backflip. Sort of like a backwards cartwheel.Â
Tamedog – An over the nose front flip.Â
Rodeo (Rodeo variations like Rodeo 540, Rodeo 720) – A backward flipping rotation combined with a spin.
Misty Flip – An off-axis flip combined with a backside 540 spin.
Double Flip (e.g., Double Backflip, Double Frontflip) – Performing two flips in one jump or trick.
Triple Flip (e.g., Triple Cork) – Performing three flips in one jump or trick.
McTwist – A backflip with a 540-degree spin.
Rail and Box Tricks
50-50 Grind – Riding a rail or box with your board straight (parallel) on the feature.
Nose Bonk – Tapping the nose of the board on an obstacle.
Tail Bonk – Tapping the tail of the board on an obstacle.Â
Boardslide – Sliding on an obstacle sideways with the rail or feature in between the bindings. Can be frontside or backside – depending on the direction you approach the rail.Â

Frontside Boardslide medium.com
Nose Press – moving your weight forwards and balancing on the nose of your board.Â
Tail Press – moving your weight backwards and balancing only on the tail.Â
Lipslide – looks like a boardslide, except you bring your tail over the feature, rather than the nose.Â
Bluntslide – jumping across the rail, balancing only on the tail of your board. This can be a front blunt or back blunt depending on whether you get on forwards or backwards.Â
Bonus Tricks
One-Footed Tricks – Performing tricks with only one foot strapped into the board.
Hand Drag – Dragging one or both hands on the snow while performing a trick or turn.
Miller Flip – Basically an inverted 360 with a front hand hand-drag.
Lip Slide – Sliding on the edge of a halfpipe or quarterpipe.
Tail Block – Balancing on the tail of the board whilst stationary, with your front foot lifted off the ground.
Handplant – Placing one hand on an obstacle and balancing while the board remains off the ground.
Record Breaking Tricks
Backside 2160 – Courtesy of Hiroto Ogiwara.
Backside Quad 1980Â – Courtesy of Yuki Kadono.
Switch Quadruple Underflip 1620Â – Courtesy of Max Parrot.
For more ground-breaking snowboarding tricks, check out the hardest snowboard tricks in the world.
Final Thoughts on Snowboarding Trick Names
I could keep going, but the list of snowboarding trick names could go on forever!
If there’s a trick you’d like to see on the list, let me know in the comments below.
Otherwise, happy riding!