Skim-Boarding Terms

* A-frame: the peak formed when a side wave meets an incoming wave

* Bedrock: rocks exposed on a normally sandy beach

* Charging: skimming well or aggressively (also: going off )

* Doghouse: a wave that ends by churning in the same spot because of the beach geography. Usage: “I got caught in the doghouse and couldn’t do anything with it.”

* Grande: waves that are too big to skim (also: maxed out )

* Gull: a skimmer who steals waves (also: heathen)

* Gumby: a maneuver in which one foot is off the skim board. Usage: “He pulled a gumby, but the judges knew it was weak.”

* Heritage: a skim-boarder older than 35

* Kryptonic: desirable conditions (also: classic, epic, all-time )

* 911: an accident-prone or dangerous skimmer. Usage: “That heritage is a 911.”

* Paddle takeoff: beginning the ride from within the wave, like a surfer (also: skurfing )

Pole position: where a gull tends to situate himself (also: helm )

* Sider: a wave that runs parallel to shore; sometimes used to catch large incoming waves (also: side wave or side wash )

* Sider knob: a skim-boarder who robs other skimmers of siders. Usage: “Someone get that sider knob off the helm.”

* Slash: to cut back aggressively on a wave (also: charge )

* Spank: to beat fellow competitors soundly in a contest

* Tooled : injured

* Weak: waveless conditions or poor performance (also: feeble )

* Wanker: a tourist or someone who lives east of I-5

Wanking: skimming poorly

* Weeded: victimized by a bad fall. Usage: “He got weeded at the A-frame.”

* Westy loop: a stunt in which the skimmer grabs the board’s edges and somersaults up and over the wave (also: widdly )