Sand skiing

Skiing in the Sahara

Sand skiing (occasionally sand-skiing) is a sport and form of skiing in which the skier rides down a sand dune or strides across a beach on skis. It is practised in many sandy areas, including Sossusvlei, Namibia and Peru,[1] along with other boardsports such as sandboarding. Sand skiing equipment includes a pair of skis with a laminate base and wax that needs to be applied to reduce friction from the sand.[2] An International Sandboarding and Sandski Association (InterSands) was founded in 2014 at St. Gallen, Switzerland.[3]

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.[4][5]

Competitions over the years have included:

* International Sand Ski Tournament in Florida held from 1949 to 1951[6]
* Sandblast held in Prince George, British Columbia annually from 1971 to 2003[7]
* World Sand Skiing Championships held at Redondo Beach, CA[8]
* Nevada Sand Mountain GS Championship[9]
* international European championships in sand skiing held regularly on Monte Kaolino since 2007
* Freestyle SandSnow was first held in 2018

In 2018, Fayoum University held a sand skiing event in Fayoum with students from around Egypt joining in on the fun.[10]

## History

[edit]

Egypt 1939

Skiing on sand has been reported before 1920 in Germany,[11] [12] in 1927 Sahara,[13] on an Asian expedition[14] and throughout the 1930s in

* Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado[15][16]
* French Algeria[17]
* Cronulla sand dunes, Australia[18]
* Venice Beach, California[19]
* Shirahama Beach, Japan[20]
* Peru[21]
* Cape Cod, Massachusetts[22]
* Long Island, New York[23]
* Tadoussac, Canada[24]
* Death Valley, California[25]
* Camber Sands, England[26]

## See also

[edit]

* Dry ski slope
* Roller skiing
* Grass skiing
* Lençóis Maranhenses National Park

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Dunes (2016) short video
2. ^ "Sand Skiing: The Latest Sand Sport Fad". Sand-boarding.com. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
3. ^ InterSands
4. ^ "Fastest sand skiing". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
5. ^ "The Namibian". www.namibian.com.na. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
6. ^ Brown, Canter Jr. (2005) None Can Have Richer Memories: Polk County, Florida, 1940-2000 University of Tampa Press ISBN 9781879852365 pg 78
7. ^ Petersen, Hanna (2022) "Whatever happened to Prince George’s Sandblast?" Prince George Citizen
8. ^ "California never calls it quits" Ski 1980 v44 #7:19
9. ^ Dorworth, Dick (1983) "The Dune Goons" Ski v47 #7:22,24
10. ^ Abdullah, Michelle (8 December 2018). "بمشاركة 720 طالبا.. مهرجان للتزحلق على الرمال للجامعات في الفيوم". El Watan News (in Arabic). Retrieved 11 December 2018.
11. ^ Hearst News No 51 (1919) newsreel
12. ^ Ski Lesson photo
13. ^ Blumenfeld, Jeff (2021) "Skiers Will Ski on Anything -- Especially Sand" Skiing History v33 #2:20-22
14. ^ Med Sven Hedin i Österled (1928) at Swedish Film Institute
15. ^ "Sand Dunes Skiing is Colorado Sport" Washington Times 7 Jan 1931 pg 4
16. ^ Bradley, Edwin M. (2009) Ski Pilots (1931) The First Hollywood Sound Shorts, 1926-1931 McFarland ISBN 9780786443192 pg 295
17. ^ "French May Use Skis in Sahara Sand Hills" White Bluffs Spokesman pg 2
18. ^ Sand Skiing! Over and Under ‘Down Under’ (1934) newsreel
19. ^ "Just Can't Wait for Winter" D.C. Evening Star pg A-3
20. ^ Sundberg, Steve website, photo of Sand skiing, Shirahama Beach
21. ^ Azallion, Nancy (1968) "Who Said It Couldn't Be Done ..." Skiing v20 #6:36
22. ^ Conniff, Cal & Allen, E. John B. (2006) Skiing in Massachusetts Arcadia ISBN 9780738545790 pg 34
23. ^ Quirky: Ski Jumping On Sand At Long Island (1938) newsreel segment
24. ^ Woman Skiing Sand photo
25. ^ Grantland Rice Sportlight: Death Valley Thrills (1939) short film
26. ^ Cinetopicalities in Brief No. 65 (1939) newsreel segment

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to Sand skiing at Wikimedia Commons

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