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]
Mahé Freydier, a french ski instructor, set a Guinness World Record in speed sand-skiing on 27 September 2025 on Nazca dunes, in Peru. He reached a speed of 122 km/h.
Competitions over the years have included:
- International Sand Ski Tournament in Florida held from 1949 to 1951[4]
- Sandblast held in Prince George, British Columbia annually from 1971 to 2003[5]
- World Sand Skiing Championships held at Redondo Beach, CA[6]
- Nevada Sand Mountain GS Championship[7]
- 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.[8]
History
Skiing on sand has been reported before 1920 in Germany,[9] [10] in 1927 Sahara,[11] on an Asian expedition[12] and throughout the 1930s in
- Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado[13][14]
- French Algeria[15]
- Cronulla sand dunes, Australia[16]
- Venice Beach, California[17]
- Shirahama Beach, Japan[18]
- Peru[19]
- Cape Cod, Massachusetts[20]
- Long Island, New York[21]
- Tadoussac, Canada[22]
- Death Valley, California[23]
- Camber Sands, England[24]
See also
References
- ^ Dunes (2016) short video
- ^ "Sand Skiing: The Latest Sand Sport Fad". Sand-boarding.com. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
- ^ InterSands
- ^ Brown, Canter Jr. (2005) None Can Have Richer Memories: Polk County, Florida, 1940-2000 University of Tampa Press ISBN 9781879852365 pg 78
- ^ Petersen, Hanna (2022) "Whatever happened to Prince George’s Sandblast?" Prince George Citizen
- ^ "California never calls it quits" Ski 1980 v44 #7:19
- ^ Dorworth, Dick (1983) "The Dune Goons" Ski v47 #7:22,24
- ^ Abdullah, Michelle (8 December 2018). "بمشاركة 720 طالبا.. مهرجان للتزحلق على الرمال للجامعات في الفيوم". El Watan News (in Arabic). Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ^ Hearst News No 51 (1919) newsreel
- ^ Ski Lesson photo
- ^ Blumenfeld, Jeff (2021) "Skiers Will Ski on Anything -- Especially Sand" Skiing History v33 #2:20-22
- ^ Med Sven Hedin i Österled (1928) at Swedish Film Institute
- ^ "Sand Dunes Skiing is Colorado Sport" Washington Times 7 Jan 1931 pg 4
- ^ Bradley, Edwin M. (2009) Ski Pilots (1931) The First Hollywood Sound Shorts, 1926-1931 McFarland ISBN 9780786443192 pg 295
- ^ "French May Use Skis in Sahara Sand Hills" White Bluffs Spokesman pg 2
- ^ Sand Skiing! Over and Under ‘Down Under’ (1934) newsreel
- ^ "Just Can't Wait for Winter" D.C. Evening Star pg A-3
- ^ Sundberg, Steve website, photo of Sand skiing, Shirahama Beach
- ^ Azallion, Nancy (1968) "Who Said It Couldn't Be Done ..." Skiing v20 #6:36
- ^ Conniff, Cal & Allen, E. John B. (2006) Skiing in Massachusetts Arcadia ISBN 9780738545790 pg 34
- ^ Quirky: Ski Jumping On Sand At Long Island (1938) newsreel segment
- ^ Woman Skiing Sand photo
- ^ Grantland Rice Sportlight: Death Valley Thrills (1939) short film
- ^ Cinetopicalities in Brief No. 65 (1939) newsreel segment
External links
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