As
the sun beats down on the sea of white powder sand, a faint
whistling sound pierces the dead-still air.
Suddenly a boarder bursts over the top of the ridge, grabbing
a rail as he soars through the air, seemingly motionless.
What seems like hours, but.is in reality only seconds, later
he slams the board back down onto the dune and accelerates
down the slope. Shoop, Shoop go the rails as he carves through
the powder like a kid in a sandpit. Perfectly in control,
board and rider are the epitome of grace, moving in harmony
in the battle against the sand ... well, that's what I'd hoped
for at least.
Pioneered in South Africa by Axel Zander, the founder of Downhill
Adventures, sandboarding is essentially much the same as its
colder cousin — strap yourself onto a board and stay
standing while carving your way gracefully (well, in theory)
down the biggest sand dune you can find,
How difficult could it be?
So with delusions of sandboarding grandeur filling my head
I happily tagged along with the Downhill Adventures team as
they attempted to teach a motley crew of tourists and locals
how to cut up the dunes with style. "How difficult could
it be?" I thought, rose-tinted memories of pre-teen skateboarding
days convincing me I was going to leave my classmates trailing
in my dust. Or sand for that matter.
The basic principles are much the same as snowboarding, especially
when it comes to the equipment involved. Downhill Adventures
use imported snowboards, but with the bottoms replaced with
a "super slick" composite that becomes more slippery
as you ride it. Snowboard boots and bindings (straps connecting
your boots to the board) are also used, which are vitally
important to protect your ankles if you fall.
With the basics of the gear explained, and our boards boasting
a fresh coat of wax polish to give them extra speed, we took
our places at the top of the ridge. With the dune now looking
far steeper than it did at the bottom, the bindings began
to seem strangely like shackles.
But being the top skateboarder in your standard three class
comes with a certain reputation to uphold, and once our instructor,
Malcolm, had given us a brief tutorial about how to make our
way down the slippery slope I thought it time to prove my
inherent board-riding superiority to all and sundry.
Double-check the bindings, do a bit of a hip wiggle to get
your board facing down the slope and off you go. Piece of
cake.
Straight is for beginners
It was all going swimmingly at first, skimming down the dune
at a respectable pace, until I decided that going straight
was for beginners and that I was ready for a bit of carving.
I'd seen it in the movies after all, lean to the side and
the board carves away to the left or right, depending on which
way you lean. As I discovered though, if you lean too hard
the side of the board digs in, gets buried in sand and sends
you flying to earth in an ungraceful jumble of limbs. Generally
followed by a scolding from the instructor for trying to run
before you can walk. Next time I think I'll pay more attention.
The basics of riding a sandboard are much the same as for
snowboarding. One major difference is that turns are far less
pronounced than on snow. Also, because sand exerts more friction
than snow, the more you dig the edge of the board into the
sand the slower you'll go. Dig too much though and the extra
friction will cause you to wipe out like yours truly.
According to Malcolm, once you can sandboard, you'll be able
to snowboard with little trouble at all. No surprise then
that it's a popular way for people to learn to board before
jetting off to the slopes in Europe or the States.
Once my good self and my lofty sandboarding ambitions had
come crashing to earth, it didn't take Malcolm long to get
all eight of us newbie boarders carving our way, albeit slowly,
down the slopes. Once you get the hang of it and learn to
make your turns and adjustments gently, it was actually surprisingly
easy to get yourself coasting down the slopes, the hot sand
skimming away beneath you. And best of all, I was actually
in control... well, most of the time.
With the notorious south-easterly wind cranking up for a good
blow, we squeezed in as many runs as we could before the biting
sand made it seem as if there was as much sand in the air
as on the dune.
Piling back into the van for the 45-minute trip back into
town, the kombi was abuzz with excited talk of daring exploits
on the slopes, sure to be even further exaggerated to family
back home. Ten new converts to snowboarding's warmer relative.
Sandboarding with Downhill Adventures
A full day Sandboarding trip with Downhill Adventures costs
R595 per person and includes all equipment
(board, bindings, boots), lessons, lunch and transport to
the dunes at Atlantis/ Betty's Bay. Trips depart at 10am and
return at around 5pm.
Downhill Adventures also offer surfing lessons,
kite-surfing lessons and mountain biking trips.
For more information, visit the Downhill Adventures website
or call them on (021) 422 0388
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