Sandboarding World Championship | Event Review

The Sandboarding World Championships are held annually in Hirschau, Germany at Monte Kaolino, the site of Europe’s largest sand hill.  For those of you who are not as familiar with the sport, Sandboarding is a board sport similar to snowboarding. Instead of streaming down snow covered mountains in cold weather, the sport is replaced with sand dunes in hot weather.  The Sandboarding World Championship event is a first class facility that has made a significant name for itself due to its 300 foot tall sand dune.  There’s also an actual sand lift, the first of its kind built in the world for sandboarders.

The most frequently visited sandboarding destinations in the world tend to be located in or around deserts and beaches.  You may be wondering where such places exist and we are listing a few awesome places for you to look into if you are into the sport or simply wish to visit an awe inspiring location for traveling in general.

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Nambia

The Namib desert in Namibia – Africa, the oldest desert in the world, has some of the largest sand dunes on the face of the planet. One of the best ways to experience the sport and the country.  Some of the terrain such as Swakopmund is for more experienced riders but overall a definite sandboarding spot even for the novice to ride on.

The Middle East

The Middle East is has some amazing locations you can visit and an interesting factor is that it may even be where sandboarding was first born.  There has been evidence dating back thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt that suggests Egyptians actually rode down the dunes on planks of wood.  This information is yet to be confirmed but it’s still pretty neat to imagine it being true.  Either way, Egypt is still an amazing place to visit for sandboarding.

South America

Cerro Blanco, in southern Peru, is a dangerously steep and top riders can be seen heading down the hills at 50mph.  Many sandboarders are too afraid to try it because riders can reach speeds close to 50 mph on the descent. Further south, near Copiapo, Chile, is Cerro Iman, where an annual sandboarding competition is held.

The Outback

Places like “The Bowl,” in Bunbary, Western Australia and Mount Monster in Adelaide, South Australia reach heights over 700 meters high. These places not only have some of the best sandboarding in the world.

If you are an avid snowboarder and want to take a break for something similar but yet still very different or if you are someone looking to travel and have a new experience in gorgeous locations, than you should check out sandboarding and some of the locations mentioned here today.