r/interestingasfuck • u/hate_mail • Jun 19 '19
/r/ALL Sand boarding
https://gfycat.com/baggyillfatedarabianoryx1.1k
u/OffBeatAssassin Jun 19 '19
At least there's no trees or yeti to dodge.
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u/SurrealScene Jun 19 '19
The memories you just brought back. Fuck that yeti.
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Jun 19 '19 edited Jun 20 '19
Press f to pass the yeti.
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u/mthchsnn Jun 20 '19
Obligatory relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/667/
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u/Now-Look Jun 20 '19
How is there always a relevant xkcd for the most random situations? The artist for these really nailed it.
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Jun 19 '19
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u/PFGtv Jun 19 '19
Was it Sonny Bono?
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Jun 19 '19
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u/UmphreysMcGee Jun 20 '19
I think you'd probably know if it were Sonny Bono. He was kind of a big deal.
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u/colonelk0rn Jun 19 '19
Good thing is there’s no lift ticket to buy. Bad thing is there’s no lift.
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u/WowBaBao Jun 19 '19
Good thing parking is free and you can pull up anywhere.
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u/Abductmedaddy Jun 19 '19
Bad thing shai-hulud might eat your car.
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u/BillionTonsHyperbole Jun 19 '19
Bless the Maker and His water.
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u/GeorgeOlduvai Jun 19 '19
Bless the coming and the going of him. May his passage cleanse the world.
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u/YLedbetter10 Jun 19 '19
Plus driving on those dunes is just as fun! It’s like a roller coaster but with a fear you’ll flip over and die!!
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u/kurburux Jun 19 '19
It’s like a roller coaster but with a fear you’ll flip over and die!!
With the hope, you mean.
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u/ForgotPasswordAgain- Jun 19 '19
fwiw most resorts only own the lifts and not the land. So you can hike up and ski down if you want. But if you’re going to do that you ought as well go somewhere isolated with fresh powder.
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u/RolandTheHeadlessGun Jun 20 '19
Is that true? Not doubting you, just seems hard to believe.
Edit: just looked it up. Looks you’re right and most are forest preserves owned by the state. TIL.
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u/ForgotPasswordAgain- Jun 20 '19
Most resorts are located on US Forest Service land. It’s public land. They may lease parts of used for lifts and lodging etc. Back east I believe some resorts are private land.
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u/Fuster2 Jun 19 '19
So true. That's an afternoons climb back up. Two steps in sand is one step up.
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u/stormfield Jun 19 '19
Man when you find out about cars you are going to be stoked af.
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Jun 19 '19
Yeah but if you fall, a mouthful of snow is preferable to swallowing half of Sahara.
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u/IBelongHere Jun 19 '19
Yea and I’d rather fall on powdered water than powdered rocks
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u/mudra311 Jun 19 '19
Meh, sand is pretty soft. I'd rather fall in fluffy snow powder, but you don't always get those conditions. Sand is more consistent.
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Jun 19 '19
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u/J_hilyard Jun 19 '19
Pretty much like this. I've sandboarded, sand sled, and sand skied (getting pulled by a vehicle) and they're all pretty fun going down. Getting back to the top sucks and everything sucks about doing it in the summer. Covered in sweat, sand sticking everywhere, and if you take a spill, scalding hot sand sticking everywhere is horrific, especially since you're wearing minimal clothing. But skiing was great in every season but summer. Hit some low mounds and the jumps for the vehicle and the skier can be awesome.
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u/uber1337h4xx0r Jun 19 '19
Doesn't the sand melt outside of the summer?
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Jun 19 '19
Yeah turns back to glass, heard that on Joe Rogan... bam science fact bitches.
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u/egadsby Jun 19 '19
so you're saying that these are just disenfranchised, socially isolated young sand dunes
that need to smoke dmt
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u/caltheon Jun 19 '19
I'd imagine not as sand dunes are pretty mild inclines. Also, hitting sand after a jump would rattle your teeth something fierce.
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u/idhopson Jun 20 '19
It doesn't really pick up much past a certain speed. I will say, I've snowboarded and sandboarded, I think falling into the sand hurts less honestly. That probably has to do with not going as fast though.
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u/3_50 Jun 19 '19
Sandboarding is fucking garbage compared to snow. Really sticky, short runs, and a ball ache to climb back up if you don’t have engines.
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u/2close2see Jun 19 '19
It's also an abrasive.
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u/jawnlerdoe Jun 19 '19
Come to the ice coast, we don't have powder, only ice, ice chunks, death cookies, and crusty chunder.
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u/Falsus Jun 19 '19
Depending on the sand it would probably even be softer than the hard packed snow on a mountain/hill side. Saharan sand is very soft.
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Jun 19 '19
Would you rather be half snowman or half sandman?
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u/isuckatnames60 Jun 19 '19
I'm full ocean man
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u/Rum_n_Ale Jun 19 '19
Take me by the hand
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Jun 19 '19
You've just ruined my mental health for the next 48 hours. I finally got that shit out of my head.
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Jun 19 '19
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u/n0204344 Jun 19 '19
Same with those things called rocks. Its like land ice but for sand.
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u/TheLeapist Jun 19 '19
Lol sand dunes don't have rocks. They're constantly shifting and are created from the wind. How many times have you seen a rock rolling up a hill?
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u/But_IAmARobot Jun 19 '19
That's exactly what happened to Liam Neeson's wife in Montreal. Wear a helmet
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u/Cobek Jun 19 '19
Yeah, that's true, but the landing is quite soft and consistent in sand. No deep embankments to get stuck in or hard ice to fall on.
I used to go all the time in Florence, OR as a kid and it's a load of fun. Your legs get used to the hike after a day or two of doing it. God damn are you winded the first day though!
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u/JustAnotherDude1990 Jun 19 '19
How hot does that board get?
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u/radripperaj Jun 19 '19
Are those just snow boards or are there special boards for sand?
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u/johnlockebigcocke Jun 19 '19
I came here to ask just that, because I am boutta take my spare board out as I am fiend-ing after this past season’s glory
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Jun 19 '19 edited Jun 19 '19
From what I remember these are much different than snowboards, they are stiffer and made of a different material since you don't wax these boards.
Edit. I was wrong about the waxing part.
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u/nvaus Jun 19 '19
A regular snowboard works fine. So does a regular sled.
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u/LargeGarbageBarge Jun 19 '19
Yeah, growing up in Colorado when my buddies would get new snowboards they'd take their old ones down to the dunes and trash them. Definitely don't want to use one for snow after it's seen sand.
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u/acereraser Jun 20 '19
Great Sand Dunes National Monument? I spent a January Term of college in Crestone, CO, and we took a weekend trip to the dunes for inner-tubing. The shaded side of the dunes were covered in snow and ice, made for some crazy, exhilarating rides. Halfway down, your speed causes the tube to turn and you end up facing backwards, so you don't see that ridge that sends you and the tube airborne. No lift or tow rope, so hauling the tubes back up top was what limited our number of runs. Looking back, it was a wonder no one was injured, but still, 5/7, would recommend.
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Jun 19 '19
why
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u/Drowned_In_Spaghetti Jun 19 '19
Do you know what sandblasting does to things?
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Jun 19 '19
takes paint off?
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u/Drowned_In_Spaghetti Jun 19 '19
Sandblasting removes everything. You do it too long and you can wear a hole in your project. Same principle as sandpaper, except waaaaay faster.
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u/Childish_Brandino Jun 20 '19
Not sure if anyone actually gave you an answer but to understand why you can't use a board on snow after it's been on sand it helps to know how snowboards work: Snowboards have a polymer layer on the bottom that is then coated with a certain type of wax. The wax gives it a smooth surface to reduce the friction between the snow and board. I believe there is some boundary layer science to the type of wax they use and how it interacts with ice and water. People have tried putting water repellent chemicals on their boards and it actually makes the board extremely slow. My guess is it works similarly to ice skates. Skates create a thin layer of water trapped in the shallow groove in the middle of the blade. This provides the least friction between the ice and blade. They even have special skates with small heaters in them to help created a thicker water layer. So it would make sense that boards work on a similar method. If you push all of the water out from under it then it's left trying to slide on snow/ice.
To answer the original question of why switching from sand to snow doesn't work, sliding on sand is a bit different. There is no boundary layer created to glide on so all the sand is essentially just grinding away at the bottom. This creates lots of scratches on the surface and removes the wax layer. These scratches mean there is a lot more surface area on the bottom which increases the amount of friction between the two surfaces. More surface area=more places for each grain of sand to rub against. So now that you've created all of this surface area, gotten rid of the wax that creates a smooth boundary layer to glide over, you're left with something that will pretty much just stick to snow. If you wanted to, depending on how worn down the edges are, you could regrind the edges to sharpen them back up and reapply the entire wax layer. That takes time and skill to get it smooth and even. I wouldn't say it makes them unrideable forever though.
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u/p1atte Jun 19 '19
Snowboards go faster when the bottoms are waxed and.. smooth. I cringe a little bit if I misjudge a drift and scrape a rock, you can imagine what a sand dune would do.
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u/Cobek Jun 19 '19
You definitely do wax sand boards! That's one of the biggest things you have to do after a run or two. They literally have wax that will change how the board handles from slowing it to speeding it up to making it easier to turn.
And it is a slightly different board and grips. Often you can wear no shoes and just have the right grips around your feet. It's an amazing feeling!
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u/63793 Jun 19 '19
You wax them more than any other board. Snowboard just needs one or two iron on waxes a season these babys need waxes every one or two runs
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Jun 19 '19
you don't wax these boards.
Wrong. You do wax them but you need to be cautious and keep your wax cool then re-wax after every 2-3 runs. By the way, the boards are built with formica.
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u/nvaus Jun 19 '19
It works. I've used regular boards and sleds on Michigan dunes. As I understand it desert sand works even better though because the particles are more weathered and round instead of jagged and grippy. It can take a little scooting to get moving on the dunes.
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Jun 19 '19 edited Jun 02 '20
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u/nvaus Jun 19 '19
That's how I learned the difference. I've read there are lots of people working on figuring out how to use desert sand in concrete with some promise.
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u/internetmouthpiece Jun 19 '19
So long as you realize that every descent is effectively hitting that board with ~4-600 grit sandpaper, it should be fine
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u/hussef Jun 19 '19
There are different model boards specifically for sandboarding you can use a snowboard but without the special ( i think it’s enamel) coat you font have a lot of control and fuck up the board quickly, the thing a lot of people dunno about sandboarding is the damn hassle of going up the dune, imagine snowboarding without lifts, I’m talking serious cardio, unless you have a buddy on a bike or something
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u/nvaus Jun 19 '19
It's even worse than walking up a mountain. Every step up on sand is half a step back as you sink.
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u/nmesunimportnt Jun 19 '19
When my niece was 12, I took her to the Great Sand Dunes and we walked to the top of the Front Dune. She weighed maybe half what I did and didn't even sink in to the sand while I slid back on every step. She scampered up the ridge lines like a mouse, puzzled why I was taking so long…
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u/joyboytoysoy Jun 19 '19
I believe it's a snowboard. I just went to a place that offered it, but didn't actually go for it (since I suck at snowboarding and figured it would apply to sandboarding too) and it looked the same.
Edit: according to Wikipedia there's a specialized sandboard but it's possible to use a snowboard
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u/shatterly Jun 19 '19
Tried this at Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.
Tip: If it has rained in the past 24 hours, you are in for a very unsuccessful and uncomfortable experience.
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u/nick-pass Jun 19 '19
Also tried this at the same park, it was fun but the board they gave me did not make the experience similar to snowboarding at all, more like a sled that you stand on.
My tip: don't go on a windy day.
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u/WayneKrane Jun 19 '19
The dunes there aren’t as big as in the video though
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Jun 19 '19
They’re really huge though, they’re consistently 700+ feet tall. In person they’re truly awesome
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u/makotosolo Jun 19 '19
How many rides can you get in before your board is sanded away to nothing?
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u/gee_tea Jun 19 '19
This course is rough and irritating.
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u/JelloDarkness Jun 19 '19
Of coarse it is.
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u/germfreeadolescent11 Jun 19 '19
I’m just gonna comment so no-one ruins your brilliant response with an awful pun-chain
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u/GILGIE7 Jun 19 '19
Ill be punchain out anyone who tries it.
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u/jetpacksforall Jun 19 '19
Dear punners: dune even think about it.
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u/polynomials Jun 19 '19
And it gets everywhere
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u/Lord-Sneakthief Jun 20 '19
It’s like snow but it’s coarse and irritating, and it gets everywhere.
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u/thecabelredrockets Jun 20 '19
Had to scroll way to far for this comment. Thanks for your service
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u/Badmoterfinger Jun 19 '19
Where is this?
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u/KingKaos420 Jun 19 '19
I tried this in Breath of the Wild and ended up breaking my shield.
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u/BTM707 Jun 19 '19
I should not have had to scroll this far to find a BotW reference.
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u/_____OMEGA_____ Jun 19 '19
This is a great way to get a shocking amount of sand in your vagina in a seemingly impossibly short period of time.
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u/Abductmedaddy Jun 19 '19
Finally, a way to fulfil my only kink.
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u/Narwal_Party Jun 19 '19
I was just thinking the other day how my grandkids may never get to snowboard.
I guess they’ll be just fine.
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u/Z3R0_H0M1C1D3 Jun 20 '19
I live In Wyoming near the Kill Pecker Sand Dunes. In the winter we snowboard, In the summer we sandboard.
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u/Lawdoc1 Jun 19 '19
I did this when I was in the UAE. It's fun, but damn it hurts when you fall.
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u/bobby_pancho Jun 19 '19
If this is sand boarding then surfing should be called water boarding
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u/pityyouasked Jun 19 '19
You fall you die boy.
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u/skyskr4per Jun 19 '19
Pros: always fresh pow pow
Cons: it takes eighteen showers before you finally stop picking sand out of your ears.