663SANDBOARDING

SANDBOARDING

BY KARINA DREYER

If you fancy a breeze whooshing throu= gh your hair and heaps of sand smushing between your toes, then sandboarding is the sport for you. Even way b= ack in ancient Egypt people used wooden planks to glide down shimmering sand dunes.

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In the spring of 1972, Lon Beale, who= now publishes Sandboard Magazine, was introduced to sandboarding. “I was immediately intrigued by the possibility of boarding on the sand dunes! After all, I was living in the Mojave Desert<= /st1:place> and we had a good number of sand dunes to choose from.”

The sandboard industry borrowed ideas= from snowboard research. The sandb= oard had to be designed to handle sand firm enough to propel it downward. Some of the materials used today f= or the base of the sandboard are: Formica (a trademark used for a variety of high-pressure laminated plastic sheets), Stainless steel, hardwood and plas= tic.

For the impatient kids out there kill= ing time waiting for a tad of snow to fall on a nearby mountain is history. Now you can seek out any old mount= ain or hill or sand dune...you get the idea!

Bring your faithful snow disc along, = or even Dad’s new Plasma TV cardboard box. Take your helmet, gloves and elbow= pads. Hike to the top of your magnificent sand dune, set the cardboard down and p= oint it downhill. Obviously, there= is only one direction you really want to go! Sit up straight with your knees b= ent and grip the cardboard to curve up over your feet. Push yourself forward and off you go, blasting down the dune.

The fun never ends. You’ll want= to ride again and again and again... Try lying down on your stomach and shoot down with your head first. = The experience is quite different. Soon you’ll master the basic skills to control your cardboard or snow disc when sitting or lying down.<= /b>

Until you get the hang of stopping du= ring a decent, you can always roll over or fall down on the sand. The beauty of sandboarding is that the sand is not rough at all and it makes <= /b>

for a soft powdery landing. Remember to keep your mouth shut. Trust me; you don’t want to = eat sand!

If you determine that your cardboard = box or snow disc is slowing you down, then you’re ready for an adrenaline-ru= sh. If you have an ancient snowboard, wax it up. You can use mom’s kitchen floor wax. Actually, it won&#= 8217;t hurt if you offer to wash and wax her kitchen floor. Chances are she won’t even notice that the bottle of wax is rather empty. Take the wax and shmear it evenly = on the bottom of the snowboard, just like cream cheese on a bagel.<= /p>

Climb your sandy dune again, strap yo= urself in and balance your weight on the board by bending your knees. Point the board downhill and put m= ore weight on your front foot. Lean forward a bit - and you’re off! It’ll be a high-speed chase = to the base of the dune. The more you practice, the easier it gets. In no time, you’ll be ready to try some small jumps and maneuvers.

Today sandboarding is a well-liked sport worldwide. People fly down dunes from maximum speeds of 15-20mph in the early 1990’s to 55mph today. Several popular sandboard sites ca= n be found in Australia, Namibia, C= hina, Egypt and the USA.

Every year competitions are held where sandboard enthusiasts race d= own dunes at mind-boggling speeds. One such a location is Sand Master Park in Florence, Oregon. Another place is the Huacachina Dunes in Peru. And for the grand finale, the World Sandboarding Championships are held once a year at Monte Kaolino in Hirschau, Germany.

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Assignment 10=

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SIDEBAR

To read = more about Lon Beale’s Sandboard Magazine, visit the website www.sandboard.com.

Sandboard Equipment can be found in a number of sport and online shops. Sand Master Park is one example: www.sandmas= terpark.com

Check ou= t the event calendar on www.sandboard.= com for more information on competitions.