As Webster's dictionary defines it, glissading is "to make a controlled slide down a snow covered slope." It might more simply be called "skiing without skis." As Chapter 3 shows glissading has many forms: lying down, sitting, squatting, and standing. The purest form explored in greater detail in Chapter 4 is the art of glissading in the standing position.

The skills and sensation involved in glissading fall somewhere between skiing, skate boarding, snow boarding and surfing. It is, however, easier to learn; requires less expensive equipment ($20 or less for homemade glissading shoes); safe (danger is minimal until the advanced stages); and more fun. The only sport that is at all close in cost and equipment requirements is "body surfing" which requires considerably more skil.l