Mountain Meanings and Nautical Nuances

I have now lived in Palm Beach for a year. I noticed some words that are used differently in the salty life than in the snowy life. I have put together a small list of terms to help anyone transitioning between the two environments. Just remember, this is all in fun and is taken from my own perceptions and certainly not from Webster's.

	Mountain Definition	Beach Definition
Berm	A pile of snow	A pile of sand
Coast	To drift on a bicycle, without pedaling, down a mountain pass at high speeds	Where the ocean meets the land
Clutch	A really cute purse	80-120 sea turtle eggs laid in a hole by a mama turtle in the middle of the night
Feeder Bands	Catering companies working with musical touring groups	The outer most rings of nasty weather from tropical storms. These babies can dump lots of rain and I guess, they feed the storms
Glory Hole	A reference to a place in a river in which the fish of a lifetime can be caught by fly fishing	A box in the boat, hinged to open on top, where ropes and tools are kept
Ground Scatter	The stuff on trees that turns brown in autumn and then falls to the ground	Images on a boat’s radar that are meaningless
Guarded Beach	Security Guards on Beaches? What?	Life Guards keep beach goers safe from marine life, rip currents and hopefully their own dumb selves
Heave	What happens when you drink too much alcohol at high altitude	The vertical  rise and fall of a wave
Slip	Made of silk, it is a piece of clothing worn under a dress so the static electricity doesn’t make the skirt cling and people don’t see your underwear	Made of wood, it is where you park your boat so people can get on and off and so it doesn’t drift off into the ocean
Spaghetti Models	Super thin fashion models OR The plates of display pasta you see at the Eat-a-Lot Corral	Lines shown on the Ocean’s map to attempt to predict a storm’s track
Storm Surge	The mass exodus to the mountains before a big winter storm hits the mountains OR the propensity to call in sick when the ski conditions are perfect	The advancing winds and water levels of a tropical storm or hurricane. Strongest in high tide and is often the most dangerous part of the storm
Wax	A substance placed on the bottom of skis to make them faster on the snow	(I had to look this one up) A substance placed on the top of a surfboard so the surfer doesn't fall off

I'm sure I missed a few. If you have a classic one (or one you just made up today) leave a comment...I'd love to hear it. See you soon, Eli

For more information check out The Nautical Dictionary, The Glossary of Rock, Ice and Mountain Climbing and for a really different set of vocabulary, a list of Snowboarder Tricks.