Sandboarding

Sandboarding in Dubai

Sandboarding

Sandboarding is a board sport similar to snowboarding. It is a recreational activity and takes place on sand dunes rather than snow-covered mountains. This boardsport has adherents throughout the world, most prevalently in desert areas or coastal areas with beach dunes.

It involves riding across or down a dune while standing with both feet strapped to a board, though some sandboarders use a board without bindings. It is less popular than snowboarding, partly because it is very difficult to build a mechanised ski lift on a sand dune, and so participants generally must walk back up to the top. Alternatively, they may ride a dune buggy or all-terrain vehicle back to the top of the dune. On the other hand, dunes are normally available year-round as opposed to ski resorts, which are usually seasonal.

Josh Tenge, professional sandboarding champion, holds the Guinness Book of World Records entry for the longest-distance back flip at 44' 10". Tenge is also a four-time world sandboarding champion and holds three world records. Erik Johnson, a professional snowboarder and sandboarder, holds the Guinness World Record for Speed on a Sandboard at 51 mph (82 km/h). Unofficial speeds of 60 mph (97 km/h) have reportedly been clocked.

Equipment

The sandboard base is much harder than a snowboard, and is built mostly out of formica or laminex with special base materials now being made for this sport. To glide in the sand, the board bottom is often waxed, usually with a paraffin-based sandboard wax, before a run. Afterwards, the bottom of the board may have a lightly sanded look to it, while 'Race Base' tends to polish smoother and glossier with use. Most terrain sandboards are composed of hardwood ply, while 'full-size' sandboards are a wood, fiber glass, and plastic composite. However, a snowboarding base will sometimes work on steeper dunes.

Worldwide

Sandboarding in Australia

Little Sahara on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, is a heritage area, with a sand dune system roughly covering two square kilometres. The highest dune is approximately 70 metres above sea level.

Lucky Bay, about 30 km south of Kalbarri, in Western Australia, is another sandboarding hotspot. Sandboarding Tours are offered in the area.

The Stockton dunes, 2.3 hours north from Sydney. Stockton Bight Sand Dunes system is up to one kilometre wide, 32 kilometres long, and covers an area of over 4,200 hectares. The massive sand dunes climb up to 40 metres high. Located only minutes from the centre of Nelson Bay, it is the largest sand dune system in Australia.

Sandboarding in Egypt

The best sand dunes for sandboarding in Egypt include the Great Sand Sea near Siwa Oasis واحة سيوة in Egypt's Western Desert, the Qattaniya القطانية sand dunes (1.5 hr drive on/off-road from Cairo), El Safra الصفراء and Hadudah هدودة dunes midway between Dahab and St. Catherine in Sinai. Sandboarding is said to be originated in Egypt in the time of the Pharaohs where they slid down dunes on pieces of wood.

Sandboarding in Namibia

Namibia features sand-skiing, which is similar to sandboarding, performed with skis instead of a board. Most of the sand-skiing is performed in the Namib desert dunes around Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. With a special permit it is sometimes possible to sand-ski at the world's highest dunes in Sossusvlei. In the area, they use two different sand-boarding styles, the ”Lie Down”, where the rider lies upon a special made board and slides headlong on the sand dunes and ”Stand Up Boarding”, where the techniques are quite similar with those of snowboarding. Any style you choose, the fun is guaranteed. The rides in the coastal desert of Namibia can offer the right adrenaline doze!

Henrik May, a German living in Namibia for some 10 years, set a Guinness World Record in speed sand-skiing on 6 June 2010. He reached a speed of 92.12 km/h.

Sandboarding has been a commercial tourism activity in Swakopmund since 1995. Beth Sarro and Chris Jason started taking holiday makers sandboarding on masonite boards. Using masonite boards involves lying down whilst sliding down the dunes and is similar to sledding. A few years later they imported a few snowboards and started offering standup sandboarding which is similar to snowboarding.

Between 2002 and 2004 the South African Sandboarding League held competitions on the Matterhorn Dune located between Swakopmund and Walvis bay. Competition events included dual slalom, boarder cross and big air events. In 2005 and 2006 Alter Action held sandboarding competitions at Matterhorn but the competitions no longer formed part of the South African Sandboarding League during those years.

Sandboarding in South Africa

A sandboarder does a jump on Fortaleza dunes.

After some pioneers like Derek Bredenkamp who boarded Swakopmund around 1974, commercial operators began offering sandboarding to tourists since 2006. In 2000 the Sandboarding South Africa league was established. Sandboarding competitions started in 2001 when SA camps were held in 2002 up and until 2004. The league collapsed, then the sport was revived again in 2007 with weekly sandboarding sessions in and around Cape Town and Gauteng.

Sandboarding in the U.S.

A boy sandboarding in Fuvahmulah, Maldives

Woman sandboarding at Atlantis Dunes in South Africa.

Sand Master Park, located in Florence, Oregon USA is the world's first sandboard park with 40 acres (160,000 m²) of private sculpted sand dunes and a full-time pro shop. Sand Master Park was opened in the year 2000 by sandboard pioneer, Lon Beale, and introduces sandboarding to about 25,000 people each year. Dune Riders International is the governing body for competitive sandboarding world wide and sanctions three events each season at Sand Master Park.

Sandboarding in South America

Sandboarding in San Pedro de Atacama

• Peru is known for having large sand dunes in Ica, some reaching up to 2 km. Duna Grande in Ica is the largest sand dune in the world. The Copa Sandboarding Perú (Peru – Sandboarding Cup) has been held near Paracas every year since 2009. There are also great dunes near the capital city (Lima) in Chilca.
• Chile sandboarding is practiced throughout the north of the country, including the Medanoso dunes in Copiapo (where the Dakar rally takes place), Puerto Viejo beach in Caldera, excellent dunes in Iquique, and some near Viña del Mar.

Sandboarding in Central America

• Nicaragua is home to Cerro Negro, the youngest volcano in Central America. Since it has steep slopes and volcanic sand, it is possible to sandboard down this active volcano.

Sandboarding in Europe

A rather small sand mountain is the Monte Kaolino in Hirschau, Germany. Being equipped with a lift to the 120m top it is also the host of the annual Sandboarding World Championships.

Events

• Sandboarding World Championship – The SWC was held annually in Hirschau (until 2007), Germany at Monte Kaolino, currently also the site of Europe’s largest sand hill. Riders can board down dunes over 300 feet (91 m) tall, riding into a water landing site at the base of the hill. It has a sand lift, the only one in the world. Events include slalom (akin to snowboarding's parallel giant slalom), freestyle (similar to freestyle snowboarding) and sandboard cross (cf. snowboard cross).
• Sand Master Jam – Annual sandboarding event that takes place in Florence, Oregon at Sand Master Park. This event occurs in late spring or early summer. The Sand Master Jam has been held since 1996.
• Pan-American Sandboarding Challenge – This event takes place in July in Aquiraz, Ceara, Brazil at Prainha’s Beach. It features amateurs and professionals who wish to compete in freestyle and jump events.
• Sand Sports Super Show – Annual outdoor event for all sand sports, including sandboarding. This three-day event takes place in September in Costa Mesa, California at the Orange County Fair and Expo Center.

• International Sandboarding Competition - From the 1st to the 5th of May, 2014, the International Sandboarding Competition will take place in Egypt.

External links

• 2009 Sandboarding World Championships, Monte Kaolino, Germany
• Kareem Hossam...the flyer over the sand