Boarding on Sand?

The 2006 January edition of Men’s Journal (not online) has an article about a group guys who took Alpine skills to North Africa. The trip involved skiing and snowboarding on both snow and sand.

Here’s are some excerpts from the sand portion of the trip:

“A few miles out we can see the larger dunes; they are smooth, shapely mountains, nearly 1,000 feet high. I had been skeptical about the possibility of dune skiing–it seemed a little like a stunt, a few uneasy turns for a camera. But now as I gave over the terrain, I think it just might work.

[snip]

The sand is different from your average American beach sand. It’s very fine–sort of like orange baby powder–and inevitably finds it way up your nose.

[snip]

The view is remarkable: Giant waves of orange stretch as far as I can see. … We step into our skis and onto our snowboard, confident that we are the only skiers and rider for hundreds of miles. Fresh tracks, indeed.

The slopes is steep and perfectly smooth. If it were fresh powder we’d be in heaven, but none of us are sure how this will play out on sand.

[Snip]

(My skis) slide fairly easily and soon enough I’m moving along at a good, but controlled clip. The slowed motion is similar to skiing in deep powder.

[snip]
I start to find a rhythm, going very easy on the edges so as not to lose speed. … I reach the bottom and look up with pride at the pretty line of s’s I’ve carved. I’m out of breath and happy. Dune skiing is good. It’s even worth climbing up for another run.

Massimo comes screaming down on his snowboard, which gains considerably higher speeds on the sand. We’ve all been wondering what it would feel like to fall, and Massimo is the first to find out. He kicks up an impressive cloud of dust as he tumbles down after catching an edge. He recovers, though, and smiles the rest of the way down.”

I’m not sure what the author, Arthur Bradford, means when he talks about “considerably higher speeds on the sand.” Does he mean that the snowboarder had greater speed than the skier? If so, I suspect it has more to do with the rider than the equipment (though Bradford was using telemark skis, which, I think, would slow him down.) Or maybe he is saying that it’s the sand itself which is considerably faster than snow? But since he’s talking about the sand like it was powder, I’m not sure.

You can get more information, and see some photos, here.

Oh yes, there are plenty of sites for sandboarding, including Sandboard magazine.