Surf the dunes: get a whole new perspective on sand in Florence, Oregon

Sunset, May, 2005 by Bonnie Henderson

How does sandboarding compare with snowboarding? Being a skier, not a boarder, I couldn't say. But my companion could.

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"It's sandier," he said. Indeed.

"Lean back and close your mouth when you fall," was the parting advice from the pro at Sand Master Park in Florence, Oregon, as we headed out for the first time with a board. That, in a nutshell, turned out to be the key to a successful day on the dunes.

You've got to wonder what took so long for sandboarding and a sandboarding park--the world's first--to take off at the central Oregon coast's 40 acres of dunes. A small cadre of boarders all over the world have been sliding down dunes for decades (and humans have been sliding down dunes on their feet for millennia). This site's appeal? It's accessible, with big dunes right off U.S. 101, and a full-service shop that rents, sells, and manufactures sandboards. First-timers can try it on their own; most do. But the park also offers lessons to help you learn to lean.

It's a lot like wakeboarding or snowboarding in heavy powder, the instructor explained. Falling on the sand was comparable to a fall on hard-packed snow. Waxing before each slide seemed tedious at first but became routine. And after trudging up several dunes, we found ourselves looking around for the (nonexistent) chairlift. Then it all paid off with one perfect, long ride down a sweet angle of sand, tapering off into a slow slide that allowed me to end not with a crash but a whoop and a (gritty) grin. INFO: Sand Master Park (www.sandmasterpark.com or 541/997-6006), in Florence, OR, offers sandboarding lessons and the Sand Master Jam 2005 on May 28-29. Dumont Dunes (www.ca.blm.gov/barstow/dumont.html or 760/252-6000), southeast of California's Death Valley, and southern Colorado's Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (www.nps.gov/grsa or 719/378-6399) are good places to board on your own. Visit www.sandboard.com for more locations, but call before going; some environmentally sensitive sites are off-limits.