What do you do when you're stuck in the driest desert on Earth and you want to Snowboard?

Ever wondered what it is like to Sandboard?

You may have seen it. People strapped on a snowboard slipping down a large sand dune in some desert somewhere. As an avid snowboarder who is handled more double-blacks terrains than all the jar of beers, he has popped, I am very curious.

I had been making my way up towards Argentina and needed to have a layover in San Pedro de Atacama. I had a whole day to spare but I have already biked from the Valle de la Luna and already saw most of the town and its surrounding region.

What else to do?!?

Personally, I'd rather glide on untouched powder lines at a pristine backcountry someplace in the mountains. But I am in a desert and I miss snowboarding! I happened upon a flyer in town. I followed the instructions on the flyer and discovered the outfit offering the excursion.

I'd rather have this!

The excursion takes you Valle de la Muerte or Death Valley (not to be confused with Death Valley in California) with a seasoned guide. The valley has a huge sand dune nestled in a rocky cordillera where you are able to slide down with a snowboard.

You must hike up the dune with your snowboard. The Atacama Desert's altitude is at a whopping 8,000 feet! The atmosphere is thin. A previous tour of the Salar de Uyuni, which took me a few of the greatest plateaus in South America got me acclimatized. A number of my tour mates were not so acclimated. I can see them laboring at every step up and down the sand dune.

You're given some choices for snowboards sizes and a couple of smelly boots. Then you take your choice to meet your size. There is nothing frightening or dangerous about it. I've crashed a couple of times and wiped out frequently.

Fall on your ass, you are okay.

It is definitely a safer and less painful game than snowboarding where you can tear your vertebrae and break your wrists. You could wind up eating a fistful of sand but nothing to shout home to mommy about.

Quite different in reality. Edging is non-existent. It doesn't feel as if you're in full control of the board. But maybe that is just because of the fact that it is my first time. There is also a difference in friction. The physics just will not allow for sand to have less friction than snow. As a result of this, you can not go as fast as possible as with a snowboard in the snow. Additionally, a sand dune cannot match a vertical fall of a mountain.

Regardless of its shortcomings, I still had a blast sliding down the dune. I discovered several attributes (kickers) that enabled me to be catapulted into the air like a clown shot up the skies on a human canon. I had been having so much fun I did not even notice the gigantic sunburn on my neck!

Would you sandboard in the driest place on the planet?

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