What is a butter on a snowboard?

A butter is a ground trick where you press onto the nose or tail so the board flexes, often pivoting or spinning on the snow while you slide slowly.

How do you nose butter on a snowboard?

Ride slowly and straight, move your hips and chest toward your front foot so the tail lifts, then let your shoulders guide the tail around. Keep the board flat across its width so the edges don’t catch.

How do you do a tripod on a snowboard?

Learn it on flat ground: press the nose or tail and support yourself with one or both hands on the snow. Only lean onto your hands as far as you can control, and build up slowly.

How do you butter 360 on a snowboard?

Get 180 butters solid in both directions first. Then join a nose pivot and a tail pivot into one continuous rotation at very low speed, keeping the board flat across its width all the way around.

Do you need to detune your edges to butter?

No. Many riders butter on a normally tuned board by keeping it flat and moving slowly. Some prefer lightly detuned tips because they catch less, but it’s optional and hard to undo if you take off too much.

What is a manual on a snowboard?

A manual is another name for a tail press: you shift your weight over the tail so the nose lifts, and hold it while you slide. A nose manual, or nose press, does the same on the front of the board.

Next-level skills

Presses and board feel

How to butter on a snowboard

To butter on a snowboard, ride slowly on a gentle slope, shift your hips over the nose or tail until the other end lifts, then hold the press or let your shoulders pivot the board around. Start with straight presses, then add pivots, nose rolls and tripods.

Part of Snowboard tricks and the terrain park