Surf’s up in the mini desert
dunes of Atlantis
Sandboarding – it’s easier than snowboarding
Jo-Anne Smetherham
It’s only a baby hill, but we’re about to sandboard
down it for the first time, and we’re a little nervous.
Instructors Nick and Tom have told us what to do if we fall
off: curl our bodies, clench our fists so that we don’t
land on an outstretched hand and break our wrists, and try
to roll when we hit the ground, instead of slamming into the
hard sand.
So one by one we wax our boards, wipe off the extra wax on
the sand, strap in our feet – and off we sail.
The little girls try first and their grace is a pleasure to
watch. Ten-year-old Kayla van der Byl from Kenilworth is a
skateboarder and she sails down as if she’s done this
a hundred times.
Maya Bortz has tried skiing, and is equally stylish, her body
slightly arched, her hands outstretched for balance, not a
single jerk or hesitation. We are inspired. We tip off the
edge.
Immediately, we are plunged into another world. The only important
thing is to relinquish control – and remain utterly
calm. All thought is redundant; balance is the only important
thing: to stay low, legs bent, allowing the board to slip
down the slope faster and faster.
It’s got a mind of its own and cannot be tamed –
or not yet. It wants to jerk to one side: we must let it,
or it will throw us off like a horse. We stay balanced and
the board finds its feet again, coursing faster and faster
downwards.
Then, metres before the bottom is what makes this worthwhile:
a few seconds of exhilaration. All thought forgotten and our
bodies become one with the sandboard as it gathers speed,
intent on its single, straight path.
It curves, slows, and the ride is finished. We un-strap our
feet, walk to the top, and try again. And again. And again.
It gets better every time and just when we’re feeling
quite professional, as if we understand the board and might
even give it an instruction or two, we have to leave. We’re
ready for the bigger slope, Nick says.
Downhill Adventures, based in central Cape Town, has taken
seven of us on a 45-minute drive tot the dunes in Atlantis.
These dunes are the white peaks we see on the N7 on the way
to Langebaan, and on our approach from the opposite side,
we see them in their glory.
The dunes are a mini desert, edged with vegetation but their
beauty uninterrupted for a few square kilometers. Curves,
pyramids, one behind the other; their bleached shapes are
quite beautiful.
The dunes are part of a reserve, Nick tells us, and permits
are necessary to sandboard here. We’d never think it,
but the arid area is a water catchment area. All the liquid
is beneath the surface.
We are lucky. It’s a cloudy day so we don’t get
too hot trudging back up the slope time after time. And the
wind has not yet picked up: in the afternoon, it will whip
sand into our faces, making sandboarding unpleasant.
A German brother and sister are in our party. They’ve
done this before and they don’t even bother with our
baby slope. As soon as we arrive they’re off to the
far heights, to dash down what looks like a 45-degree dunes,
tipping and curving and zigzagging their boards as if they’re
surfing a wave. We’re impressed. With just a little
practice we might be there too, we hope.
Our second slope, perhaps 70 metres downwards in all, is scarier
than the first and our nervousness comes back. We’re
on a ridge of sand. On one side is the slope we’ll use,
on the other a plunge downwards to another sandy valley. Nick
and Tom course down this slope as if the board is an extra
limb, but we’re not that confident.
Again, the little girls take the lead. And the ride here is
even better, faster, longer. Our hearts pump a little faster;
we’re delighted with ourselves.
But Tom believes we’re got more to learn. He shows us
how to turn left by lifting our toes and putting more pressure
on our heels, or right by leaning forward slightly. I try,
but I’m too cautious, too enchanted with the power of
my board to force it into maneuvers. I just go straight as
usual. Next time, I tell myself – because it’s
almost time to go.
We all line up on the top of the dune for a toboggan race.
On our bottoms, we push off, and it’s a disaster. Someone
comes off and we hit the sand one after another to avoid a
pile-up. We tumble a bit, sand filling our mouths and clothing,
and laugh and laugh.
The founder of Downhill Adventures, Axel Zander, brought sandboarding
to South Africa, Nick tells us. Eight years ago, Axel won
the world sandboarding championships and he’s still
the champion because there has been no repeat of the competition.
I tried snowboarding once and after about half an hour landed
hard on my back. I was so winded I could only wait in the
car, lying back and trying to ignore m excruciating pain,
as my nimble brother, also a first-timer, hurtled down the
slope from far up the mountain, so very much higher than I
could dream of.
Sandboarding is easier than snowboarding and a good introduction
to it, says Nick. The sand is less slippery than snow and
the boards don’t go as fast.
But there’s no need to go snowboarding at all with such
dunes so close to Cape Town.
Downhill Adventures offers half-day sandboarding trips at
R450 per person, and whole-day trips to learn sandboarding
and surfing for R795 per person. Sandboarding and quad-biking
costs R895 per person, and a day sandboarding and tandem skydiving
costs R1950. Table mountain abseiling and biking is also available.
See www.downhilladventures.com or phone 021 422 0388 to find
out what to bring for each activity and for more information.
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