A different kind of ski vacation!
Do you already know sandboarding? Yes, you heard right, sandboarding. The name is composed of the elements you need for this sport. So sand and a board. It’s like snowboarding for those who are sensitive to cold.
If you love winter sports, traveling and the warmth, you could have a lot of fun sandboarding, because sandboarding will take you to the dunes of USA, Australia, Egypt, Namibia, South Africa, Central and South America. Partly there are even dunes in Germany, but these are then rather piled up sand hills.
How does sandboarding work anyway?
Sandboarding can be compared to snowboarding, except that it’s not a snow-covered slope, but a sand dune. The technique is the same, it feels like riding through wet snow in spring. The boards are usually made of wood with buckles for the feet. But there are also sandboards with bindings. Unlike snowboarding, helmets have not yet been made compulsory. Another advantage is that you can do sandboarding all year round. A big disadvantage of sandboarding, however, is that you quickly run out of breath when you boot up in the sand in the desert heat. This is because there are no lifts on the dunes. Sandboarders either have to climb the dunes themselves before they can jet back down them, or they have to rely on powerful jeeps.
Skiing vacation with a difference
Just like snowboarding, skiing has been adapted for warmer climes. Sand skiing is the name of the extreme sport in which you swing through the sand on skis.
The coating
Similar to winter, wax plays a major role in sand skiing. On the one hand, wax prevents the ski from sucking, on the other hand, the thin wax layer offers less resistance than the ski base.
If you want to try something new, you should definitely try sandboarding/skiing. If you don’t necessarily want to fly all the way to Namibia, you can also let off steam at Monte Kaolino in Bavaria!
Source coverimage: unsplash / Tomáš Malík
