It suddenly occurred to me that the slightest misjudgement of weight distribution would result in all kinds of trauma.
If you ever thought that sand dunes are just piles of sand, the backdrop of desert landscapes or stomping grounds for camels, think again! For centuries young enthusiasts have raced down these dunes on anything they could find with a burning desire to reach blinding speeds and get their adrenalin fixes.
Many have considered sandboarding to be the latest in board sports, but if the truth be told, it dates back to Ancient Egyptian times when young men were seen hurling themselves down great mountains of sand on nothing more than a piece of wood. I'm sure Cleopatra herself would have witnessed this and thought about throwing off the robe and joining in the festivities. Since then, people have used bodyboards, surfboards, car bonnets, pieces of wood and metal to name but a few mediums. The sport began taking off in the late 1960s, but soon took a back seat in the 70s when snowboarding erupted and took the world by storm. Ski resorts across the globe were bursting at the seams with everyone from Wu in China to Chuck is the US having been inundated with the massive media coverage the sport was receiving.
It was more than 10 years later that sandboarding came of age. When people in countries across the world with warmer climates heard of these great men and women riding down mountains of snow it fuelled a desire to achieve the same thrill. It wasn't long before they saw sand dunes as their answer to their lack of snow.
When technology took a step forward and the Internet was launched, boarders across the world came together for the first time. For years small communities of sandboarders were convinced they were the only ones taking advantage of the dunes, but now that the realm of infinite knowledge had arrived it didn't take long for word to spread of sandboarding communities in Peru, Chile, Australia, the USA, Egypt, Namibia and, of course, our very own SA. Competitions started popping up across the globe and the world was introduced to another extreme sport - sandboarding.
Sandboards come in various shapes and sizes, but the overall design is similar to that of the snowboard, except for a unique layer on the base called “Formica”, which enhances the board's speed and control. Due to the abrasive texture of sand a soft wax-like floor polish is also applied to the base of the board for added speed. As the sport has grown, young enthusiasts have searched far and wide across South Africa for hidden sand dunes that might offer that massive natural ramp, sweet bowl or simply a gigantic towering face upon which to achieve insane speeds. Locations such as Betty's Bay, Atlantis, Hout Bay, Jeffrey's Bay and even the mine dumps of Benoni are visited frequently, with more secret spots being discovered every year.
Any sandboarder will tell you that the feeling you get when you look down a monster dune, drop in and reach blinding speeds of up to 60km per hour, with nothing between you and the ground except a thin piece of wood and resin, is a feeling that stays with you forever. Like that of a surfer and the waves or a climber and the mountains, sandboarding is a way of life and one of respect for the dunes and the environment. One principle of sandboarding is that the only things left behind after a day on the dunes is footprints and great experiences.
So if the snow had dried up, the waves are non-existent or you have no one to climb with, grab a sandboard and head for the nearest dunes. But be warned, once the boarding bug bites you'll be hooked for life!
