Going skiing? Remember to tuck, huck and avoid chocolate chips!

Powder refers to a slope where the snow is deep and light. But here at Glacier 3000 in the Vaud Alps, Switzerland, it's heavily used and no longer a virgin slope. Photo: EPA

Did last winter’s ski instructor – “ski pros” they’re called – drive you crazy, going on and on about carving, corn and mashed potatoes? That wasn’t Thanksgiving dinner he was talking about. That was Ski Speak, the lingo you need to learn if you want to fit in with the “rippers” on the slopes. Shout a few phrases to your ski buddies and you’ll snow the “gapers” in the lift line.

BLACK DIAMOND: Steepest, most difficult run on the mountain. A double-black diamond run is even more so.