A Skier’s Glossary of Gear and Tech Terms

Talking about ski gear can be overwhelming. Like, WTF is “titanal”? How is reverse camber different from rocker? I promise you that we know what all these terms mean, but we’ll forgive you if it can get confusing from time to time, so here’s a list of 35 commonly used ski terms in gear world. That should help you out as you choose your next setup with the help of our long list of ski, boot, apparel, and accessory reviews !

Airbag - An avalanche airbag is a safety tool used by backcountry skiers to prevent a full burial in the case of being caught in an avalanche. It’s a backpack worn by the skier that contains a large inflatable balloon that the skier can deploy if they are caught and will keep them on the surface of the snow during the slide.

All-Mountain - A type of ski that is designed to be a jack-of-all-trades, combining elements from both powder skis and carving skis to make a tool that works well across all conditions. They typically feature 95-110mm waist widths and can skew in either a more freestyle (twin-tipped) direction or feature a more traditional freeride (directional) shape. Here's our current crop of best all-mountain skis .

Alpine Binding - Your traditional ski binding. It clamps your boot to your ski, and will release in the case of a fall, based on how hard of a DIN setting it is tuned to. These do not allow for ski touring.

Beacon Interference - A dangerous phenomenon where electromagnetic interference from a cell phone or other electronic device causes an avalanche beacon to register false signals. This can be avoided by keeping these devices at least 50cm away from the beacon. Black Diamond Equipment published a 2024 study detailing this phenomenon .

BOA - We're not sure why this is always capitalized, but a BOA closure is a newer type of dial-actuated cable closure used in many ski boots. It replaces traditional buckles, and allows for more precise closure of the boot and a more comfortable wrap around your forefoot. Here are some of the best boots this year that feature BOA tech .

BSL - Boot Sole Length. This is the measurement, in millimeters, of how long the outside of your ski boot’s sole is and helps determine what your DIN setting will be. It does not directly correspond to your mondopoint size.

Camber - The traditional upward curve in the core structure of the ski and applies pressure to the tip and tail to help engage the edges during a turn. Cambered skis traditionally have better edge grip on hard snow and more pop and energy than non-cambered skis. A ski can contain both camber and rocker (in the tip and/or tail). Many all-mountain, touring, and carving skis feature camber.

Carbon fiber - A material often used in ski and boot construction that has a very high strength-to-weight ratio. It allows for product designers to develop lighter weight skis or boots, but often leads to overly stiff skis that do not feel natural to ski on. Many skis feature carbon fiber “stringers,” or long strings of the material along the length of the ski, to add rigidity and stiffness without adding much weight. Many high-performance skis also have a carbon fiber mesh inside the core for the same purpose.

Core construction - This refers to the combination of materials inside the core of a ski. Most skis feature a wood core (where different types of wood like maple, poplar, ash, aspen, balsa or paulownia can offer different characteristics and stiffnesses), as well as materials like metal (usually titanal), rubber, carbon fiber, or algae.

Damping - It’s “damping,” not “dampening.” This refers to the ability of the ski to stop or quiet down vibrations transmitted from the snow into your body. It works like suspension in your car or on your mountain bike, and most “damp” skis feature a lot of metal or materials like cork or rubber inside of them. Damp skis tend to feel heavy and less responsive than more lively or poppy skis but make it easier to carry high speeds through variable snow.

DIN - The setting your ski binding gets tuned to that determines how much force it takes for your ski to pop off in a crash. Typically goes from 0.75-18 for most ski bindings (some race bindings go higher). DIN stands for Deutsches Institut Für Normung (The German Institute for Norms and Standards) and is actually the governing body that certifies this standard. Each DIN value corresponds to a specific amount of force required by a certain boot sole length and is tested in a ski shop using a special machine.

Flex rating - This determines how stiff your boot feels when you flex into it. Despite numbers being assigned to this, there is no actual standard here, and the numbers merely exist to compare boots of the same manufacturer. The scale typically goes from 80-115 for most women’s boots and 90-130 for most men’s boots, though some freeride boots and race boots will go higher, reaching 140 or 150 flexes. A 130 flex boot is generally considered the stiffest boot you can buy and is appropriate for very aggressive skiers.

Footbed - Also called an insole or an orthotic, a footbed goes inside your ski boot’s liner and supports your arch and foot inside the boot. Stock footbeds inside ski boots are meant to be thrown away and replaced with a custom or aftermarket footbed that is tailored to your specific foot and skiing style. These are expensive, but well worth the investment, and are the “secret sauce” to make your ski boots more comfortable. Check out some of our favorite aftermarket footbed options .

Forward lean - This refers to how far forward your ski boot is angled, and will determine your skiing stance. It is measured in degrees. Some boots offer adjustment using shims or different settings on the back of the boot. Typically, more powerful skiers that like to carve and engage their edges prefer a more aggressive forward lean, while more playful freestyle skiers often prefer a more upright stance.

Freeride - A style of skiing that’s best defined by what it’s not. It’s not ski racing, it’s not park or freestyle skiing, and it’s not skimo. In some circles, it’s synonymous with big-mountain skiing, but we think that narrows it down too specifically to competitions. Freeride is the ultimate expression of freedom on the mountain and brings a combination of skills from freestyle, racing, and backcountry skiing into one happy family of shredders. Freeride skis tend to be directional, relatively stiff and damp, and very versatile across all conditions. Boots are very stiff, typically feature a walk mode, and are designed to offer high performance both in the resort and in the backcountry. Here's our guide on how to choose a freeride ski.

Freestyle - A style of skiing that is focused on performing tricks both in and out of the terrain park, often in competitions. Freestyle skis are (usually) twin-tipped, meant to be skied in both directions and often have soft flexes and a lot of pop and energy. Freestyle-specific boots are few and far between but offer features like comfortably wide last widths, shock-absorbing materials in the sole, softer flexes, and relatively upright forward leans.

Grilamid - A lightweight material popularly used in the construction of ski touring boots. Grilamid is very stiff for its weight, and allows boot manufacturers to save weight in their boot constructions. Two downsides of Grilamid are that these boots tend to be very cold, and it does not offer the same shock-absorbing qualities of a heavier material like Pebax or polyurethane, typically used in alpine boots.

Hybrid binding - A type of ski touring binding that allows a user to ski tour uphill using pins and ski downhill using a traditional alpine binding. Bindings that fall into this category are the Salomon/Atomic Shift , Marker Duke PT, and CAST Freetour 2.0 . They offer more security and better boot retention for aggressive skiing, with the downside of much heavier weights and added complexity for touring.

Last width - The internal width of your ski boot. A boot “last” is the mold that a manufacturer uses to shape a plastic ski boot in the factory. This is measured in millimeters and usually stated for a reference size (24.5 for women, 26.5 for men). A narrow boot falls in the <98mm category, mid-volume boots fall between 98 and 102mm, and wide boots are usually 102+mm wide.

Mondopoint - Ski boot size. This is generally measured as the length of your foot, flat on the ground, in centimeters.

Mount point - This refers to the point on your ski where the theoretical center of your binding is mounted. Most skis have a factory-recommended mount point, which is always the best place to start, but we will usually recommend a better point if we feel it’s not great (we find that many ski manufacturers suggest mount points that are too far back, making it harder to steer the ski).

PFAS - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. These are “forever chemicals” that have been used since the 1950s to help waterproof technical outerwear like Gore-Tex. In recent years, it has become clear that these are, in fact, horrible for the environment, and manufacturers have begun phasing them out. Read more about PFAS here .

Photochromic - A fancy word for transition lenses, or lenses that change tint based on light conditions. Photochromic sunglasses use special molecules inside the glass or plastic lens that change structure when sunlight strikes them. If it’s bright out, they get darker.

Pin binding - A type of ski touring binding that allows a ski touring boot to pivot vertically around the toe piece for efficient uphill travel. The heel then locks down for descending using two heel pins that slot into special inserts in the boot. This allows for a more natural stride and reduced system weight. A downside of these is that they do not offer the same release consistency as an alpine binding, nor do they offer the same power transmission from boot to ski. Please don’t ski these regularly in the resort.

Ramp angle - Easily confused with forward lean. Ramp angle is defined as the difference in height between a ski binding’s toe and heel piece, and combined with a boot’s forward lean influences a way a binding skis.

Release value - Similar to DIN, but specific to pin bindings. Some modern pin bindings feature actual DIN-certified release, but most older models have “RV” settings.

Reverse camber - The opposite of camber, where the middle of the ski is the only part that touches the ground when laid flat. This offers a much looser, surfier feel on snow and is a popular design for powder skis and some freestyle skis. Not to be confused with “rocker,” reverse camber means that truly only the underfoot section of the ski touches the snow.

Rocker - When the tip or tail of a ski flare upward. Skis can contain both camber underfoot and rocker in the tip and tail. Also called “early rise.”

Sidecut - The curved shape of a ski and what determines the turn radius. A ski's tip and tail tend to be much wider than the waist width, and this is what allows the ski to engage into a turn when tilted on edge.

Taper - A part of the sidecut equation. A ski with more taper has its widest point farther back from the tip (or farther forward from the tail). This allows designers to tweak how a ski feels when entering a turn by allowing for a tighter turning radius without affecting width dimensions.

Titanal - The type of metal most commonly used in ski construction. Titanal is an aluminum alloy prized for its low weight and ability to dampen vibrations inside skis. Many high-performance all-mountain and freeride skis feature Titanal in their cores.

Turn radius - The measurement, in meters, of how tight a ski’s sidecut is. This determines how responsive a ski feels when tilted on edge. A sub-15m radius is typical of carving skis, 15-20m is common in all-mountain and most touring skis, and above 20m is reserved for hard-charging freeride skis and many powder skis.

Two/three/four buckle boot - This refers to the number of buckles your ski boot has. For a deep dive into this, head to this explainer .

Waist width - How wide the narrowest part of your ski is right underneath your ski boot. This is measured in millimeters and is often used to determine what a ski is best used for. We’ll consider sub-95mm to be purely for skiing groomers, 95-110mm is the sweet spot for everyday all-mountain and touring use, and over 110mm is for the deepest powder days.

Walk mode - A lever on the back of a ski boot that allows the user to release the cuff and comfortably walk or ski tour in the boot. All ski touring boots and many resort-focused freeride boots feature a walk mode. Here are some of our favorite boots with a walk mode from this year .