Front-side and Back-side

[slayer]

I was just watching some surf-skate videos, and realised my understanding of front-side and back-side has been wrong, at least in the surfing context! I am not a surfer, so I didn't know that: In surfing terms, frontside refers to when you're facing the wave. Backside means your back is to the wave as you approach it.

So if I am approaching a wave, goofy, facing the wave, and turn "right 180 degrees" on the wave, that is a frontside turn despite the fact I turned on my heels..

In extreme-carving, are we using the same context, since we do not have a direct wave analogy?

This is why I preferred "toe-side" and "heel-side" as ways to describe a turn from the perspective of the human performing the turn, not anything else, like a non-existent wave!

[fivat]

You are right! These different terminologies for the turns have always been a problem since day one in snowboarding.

On the snow I often use "toes-side" and "heel-side" terms.

But you have to distinguish the position of the rider and the turn itself.
Thus, "toes-side" = frontside position, and "heel-side" = backside position, in both surfing and snowboarding.
However, in surfing, the frontside turn is starting from the "toes-side" position and ending by the "heel-side" position. In snowboarding, this is called a backside turn!

Patrice Fivat