[mcdermott2]

Is FRONTSIDE (a surfing/snowboarding/skateboarding term) common enough for use in a crossword?

[SJS]

I've not heard the term.  If it was clued really evocatively, though, it might be OK.  Solvers sometimes like learning a new term and I could imagine a well-written clue could provide a satisfying learning experience.  Going for you is that FRONTSIDE is a compound word of two common words, so between a good clue and getting a couple of crossing letters, a solver could take an educated guess.

[DrewE]

I also was unfamiliar with the term, though I'm not a boarder of any sort.  (I guess in college when I lived in a dorm and had a meal plan I was a boarder, but that was some time ago.)

It would seem to me that a clue for FRONTSIDE might be possible in a more generic sense, as well.  Most anything that has a back side should logically also have a front side.

[lavicohn]

I also was unfamiliar with the term, though I'm not a boarder of any sort.  (I guess in college when I lived in a dorm and had a meal plan I was a boarder, but that was some time ago.)

It would seem to me that a clue for FRONTSIDE might be possible in a more generic sense, as well.  Most anything that has a back side should logically also have a front side.

I'm not also familiar with it, but, well, I think I agree with you...
Yet, looking on the bright side, I think it would be challenging in solving new terms like this.