Alternative flying: the watershed term for Avalanche: the maneuver in which full twisting layouts are repeated one after the another.
Barrel roll: the maneuver in which the skysurfer flips from an upright position.
Belly-to-earth: the standard horizontal position in traditional parachuting and formation flying.
Biff: when an approach and landing are misjudged causing the jumper to not land on their feet as intended.
Bindings: the device by which the skysurfer's feet are fastened to the skyboard.
Body roll: when the skysurfer rotates around the parallel to the ground with their arms out. This technical move is very difficult because the body and board are on two separate axes.
Burble: the rough air or vacuum just above a freefalling body.
Camera flyer: the freefall photographer who subjectively applies three dimensions to the camera perspective to creatively enhance a performance.
Canopy: another term for the parachute. Each jumper carries two: the main and the reserve.
Chicken soup: when the planned move or jump routine does not go as planned.
Chop: to jettison a canopy or skyboard for emergency reasons.
Chute assis: the French term that literally translates to "sit flying." It is a new alternative discipline in which the participants freefall as though sitting in a straight backed chair. This position greatly increases their rate of descent.
Climb-out: the act of getting into a starting position before exiting the aircraft while it is in flight.
Container: the pack on the parachutist's back containing the two canopies.
Cut: the command given to slow the speed of the aircraft once the spot is reached. This helps to easily facilitate the climb-out and hang.
Cypress: the brand name by which the AAD is often referred to.
Dialed in: to be in sync with a teammate or to know the performance parameters of your equipment.
Dirt-dive: the walking through of a routine on the ground.
Door jam: the practice of taking up starting positions in the door before the aircraft begins moving.
Drift: the amount a jumper is blown away from the spot during freefall by unusually strong upper air currents. This is one of the many factors that goes into spotting.
Dytter: the brand name commonly used to refer to an audible altimeter device that beeps for five seconds when it passes through a pre-set altitude.
Egyptian: the stationary maneuver, either upright or upside down, in which the skysurfer rests one hand on the back of their head and the other points off in the distance.
Fall rate: the relative descent rate of one individual's terminal velocity to others.
Flail: to appear to be or to actually be out of control during freefall.
Flare: occurs when the forward speed of the canopy is converted to upward lift by pulling down both steering toggles simultaneously. It is usually timed to coincide with the last few feet of a person's landing under canopy. Timed correctly, it essentially stalls the canopy to create a feather-light touchdown at landing.
Float: to rise or fall away vertically in relation to another person in freefall.
Fly-by: when the surfer tracks away from the camera flyer, turns 180 degrees, and builds up enough horizontal speed to initiate a trick just as they pass the camera.
Formation flying: the traditional form of competitive parachuting in which teams of four or more fly at a rate relative to each other to create formations on a horizontal plane during freefall.
Frap hat: a soft, leather hat worn for warmth, to hold a Dytter in place, or to keep hair from tangling.
Freeflight: coined by Olav Zipser, a term meaning the alternative or 3-D flying during freefall. This includes disciplines of skysurfing, freestyle, and chute assis.
Funnel: a situation that occurs when one person "steals the air" from another which causes them both to descend faster.
Galean: similar to a sit-spin, the skysurfer grabs the back of the board and heads straight down towards the ground. Maneuver achieves the skysurfer's highest speed.
Gyro: short for gyroscope, a transition from a helicopter to a sit-spin. Name stems from the fact that the skysurfer's center of gravity and speed remain the same while changing positions.
Hang: to take up a starting position of literally hanging outside the aircraft prior to exit. Usually it is done by the camera flyer. Also called taking the floater position.
Helicopter: the upside down maneuver in which the skysurfer remains vertical and their skyboard spins around like the blades of a helicopter. Although a basic maneuver, the faster, tighter, and straighter it appears, the better technical score for the routine.
Hill: the transitional period just after exiting the aircraft when the relative wind shifts from an angle to vertical.
Hook turn: a controversial front riser turn of 180 degrees which is banned in some places. It trades considerable altitude for maximum forward speed very low to the ground. Timed correctly, it results in a maximum turf-surf exhibition; incorrectly, some serious biffing.
Jack-in-the-Box: inverted camera view of a skysurfer's parachute deployment.
Jump run: the final pass of an aircraft that is at the predetermined altitude on an imaginary path that crosses over the target along a line coinciding with the wind direction.
Kit: a parachutist's total package of equipment that includes the container, main, reserve, and AAD. Also referred to as the rig.
Lay-out: when the skysurfer flips from an upright position.
Load: the specific plane full of jumpers going up at one time.
Main: the primary canopy, always on the bottom of the container, used on every jump and repacked by the parachutist.
Olav: to fly vertically head first in freefall. Named by Olav Zipser, who perfected the technique.
Pack job: the way a canopy is folded and placed into the container.
Punch a cloud: to go through a cloud bank in freefall, against basic safety regulations.
Pud: what the jumper grabs to pull the pilot chute into the air stream and initiate deployment of the main. Usually located on the right bottom side of the container or leg strap.
Rogaine: a rail grab move in which the skysurfer uses one or both hands to grab the board. Named after the hair medication, it can be done from any position including the crouch, inverted, or sit-spin lay-out.
Relative wind: the direction from which the supporting column of air is coming.
Reserve: the back up canopy used in an emergency and repacked only by an FAA certified expert.
Rig: the American term for kit.
Rigger: an FAA certified expert who modifies, repairs, or repacks reserves.
Ring sight: the transparent parallax sighting device which aims the camera flyer's camera. It is usually located in front of his dominant eye.
Riser turn: the rapid turn initiated by pulling down on a group of lines.
Skygod: a person of noted freefall ability, whether in fact or in their own mind.
Skysportif International: formerly Skysports International, this is the sport's governing body. Pete McKeeman serves as the head from the offices in Carrolton, Texas.
Sit-spin: leaning all the way back, the skysurfer sits on the back of the board and begins spinning around like a barrel roll.
Slider: piece of fabric which slows and controls the speed of a canopy's opening. Without one, most would open so hard that seams would blow out causing an explosion.
Snivel: when a canopy opens slowly. Camera flyers like slow openings because they are easier on the neck.
Spot: the point where one exits the aircraft. It is determined in relation to the landing area, wind direction and aircraft speed.
Swoop: to approach very rapidly, then brake quickly for a soft approach. Applies to both landing and flying in the air.
Terminal velocity: the maximum rate of descent for a given body position. For a belly-to-earth posture it is about 120 mph and 160-180 mph for feet-first or head-first postures.
Three-ring: the patented interlocking concentric ring device found on all rigs to connect the main to the harness.
Tydy bowl in the hole: highly difficult, interactive move between the skysurfer and camera flyer. While the surfer goes into a helicopter, the camera flyer flies over and then upside down for an unusual angle and tapes the helicopter staying upside down.
Toggles: the grips on the end of the steering line. When pulled down after the airflow on one side of a canopy's trailing edge, they initiate a turn.
Tracking: moving horizontally during freefall.
Whuffo: a non-parachutist. Comes from a farmer who allegedly asked, "Wha'fo' you want go jump outta them perfectly good airplanes?"
Wings: the triangle of fabric used on the flyer's suit which allows him to adjust his fall rate to match that of the skysurfer. Located from the armpit to the wrist to the waist or hip, the zero porosity nylon wings become rigid when he extends his arms out and forward and gradually collapse as they are tucked in.
