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Skiing Sand Dunes.. Anyone tried it

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midwestpowhunter
Posts: 2198 - Karma: 189
I want to do it this summer. Im from MI and it looks do-able. There are a couple gnarly dunes that drop straight into Lake MI. Prolly 4-500 verticle feet and pretty steep. Lookin for advice. Saw it on Traveling Circus but it looked a lil sketchy
Mar 23 2011 9:16PM
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Blurst
Posts: 13577 - Karma: 10,169
Sounds safe bro
Mar 23 2011 9:20PM
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midwestpowhunter
Posts: 2198 - Karma: 189
pretty much my thoughts
Mar 23 2011 9:21PM
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That_One_Dude
Posts: 1050 - Karma: 760
Traveling circus tried/did it....i think they used formica on their bases
Mar 23 2011 9:21PM
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That_One_Dude
Posts: 1050 - Karma: 760
Work....
Mar 23 2011 9:22PM
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midwestpowhunter
Posts: 2198 - Karma: 189
i think you are correct which would be a fairly important piece of info to remember
Mar 23 2011 9:23PM
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utt
Posts: 179 - Karma: 67
you need it to be reallly steep cuz otherwise you go nowhere. same with sledding. cardboard boxes seemed to work best.
Mar 23 2011 11:34PM
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midwestpowhunter
Posts: 2198 - Karma: 189
Click for larger image
Mar 23 2011 11:44PM
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alexg1687
Posts: 1505 - Karma: 1,581
Yeah I've done it here in Australia. Its really really slow unless you lean back or its really steep. Also the sand gets into every little bit of your bindings so make sure you clean them out afterwards. Clean the toe-slider thing really well because if that doesn't work you won't release properly.
Mar 24 2011 8:54AM
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DGski
Posts: 3491 - Karma: 2,328
That would be awesome to see on a gopro/pov cam
Mar 24 2011 9:21AM
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brizz
Posts: 1051 - Karma: 74

You've been to my hometown. Yeah skied those things before in all seasons

\Click for larger imageClick for larger image

Mar 24 2011 9:31AM
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brizz
Posts: 1051 - Karma: 74
got a couple more pics in my profile. Bring rock skis, old boots, beer and hot chicks in bikinis. Its a little slow (hence beer) but once you are up to speed its pretty fun. Watch out for big clay spots, they are very hard and don't ride so nice. If you head toward town from the log slides there are some better more private spots (hence drunk hot chicks) than near the parking lot
Mar 24 2011 9:42AM
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midwestpowhunter
Posts: 2198 - Karma: 189
ill work on it this summer
Mar 24 2011 3:01PM
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pinguman
Posts: 185 - Karma: 302
This is one of those things that just makes much more sense on a board, like surfing. Sure it can be done on skis, but a board is more efficient. Sandboarding is a blast, if anyones ever tried it im sure they would agree. The bindings are like kiteboarding bindings, and all the boards (longboard deck size) have rocker to keep it afloat. One spot in oregon even has rails set up!
Mar 24 2011 3:15PM
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erejto64
Posts: 817 - Karma: 228
this actually looks wicked fun
Mar 24 2011 3:21PM
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midwestpowhunter
Posts: 2198 - Karma: 189
so then the obvious tool would be my arg's or should i opt for the urban k2 extremes
Mar 24 2011 3:26PM
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Elmo.
Posts: 4317 - Karma: 663
ur k2 extremes lol u dont know if ull hit a rock or something
Mar 24 2011 3:30PM
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midwestpowhunter
Posts: 2198 - Karma: 189
hahaha ok cool bro good look
Mar 24 2011 4:02PM
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ace_
Posts: 3189 - Karma: 39
yay for michigan
Mar 24 2011 4:06PM
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undercover_skier
Posts: 1079 - Karma: 160
this is great, I have done it not far from Quebec city, a place called Tadousac, great dunes there and you ski into the St Lawerence River at the bottom, we used carbon grafite powder on our bases so it slides real good , some guys use liquid Teflon too. But now we can't go anymore , the green folks says it's bad for the environment of the area and damages the dune !!! anyway great fun , but do wear long pants and long sleeved T-Shirts, if you fall it can scrape you pretty good, I found out the hard way, ouch !!!
Mar 24 2011 4:21PM
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tall_t
Posts: 1036 - Karma: 15
this, and you might want some pow skis for that. tc used park skis, so thats probaly why they fell alot
Mar 24 2011 4:36PM
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chubby3
Posts: 172 - Karma: 1,241
We used to do it. We would also carry a 6m rail down made out of pvc pipe and slide that. Works pretty good you just got to put it in the exact right spot at the bottom of the hill where it flattens out.
Mar 24 2011 5:04PM
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crab_pretzel
Posts: 3919 - Karma: 622
wow your dunes looks pretty sick. good luck and make sure you post some pics
Mar 24 2011 5:15PM
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brizz
Posts: 1051 - Karma: 74

wouldn't use any skis, boots and especially bindings you care about. I just used thrashed park & tele skis but even old cheap straight skinnies would work just fine. Snowboards were fun too. You can prep the bases and get more speed but it usually wore off after a run or two. There are some decent dunes on Lake Michigan to do this on too but not as big as grand sable banks (assuming that's where your pic is not too many places look like that)

Mar 24 2011 5:45PM
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midwestpowhunter
Posts: 2198 - Karma: 189
pyramid point south west of traverse city near the sleeping bear dunes. miles and miles of it
Mar 24 2011 5:49PM
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fatbastard
Posts: 337 - Karma: 586
I've done it at Great Sand Dunes Monument in Colorado after it rained. The rain made it firm and fairly fast and smooth and we were able to link semi-real turns. I think a good rain is the key.
Mar 24 2011 5:49PM
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midwestpowhunter
Posts: 2198 - Karma: 189
good look
Mar 24 2011 5:59PM
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Holte
Posts: 10740 - Karma: 7,816
I used to sand ski when I lived in Taos. Use equipment that you REALLY don't care about. Formica on the bases works really well, and even old straight skis work fine because you never do a lot of turning on sand.
Mar 24 2011 6:46PM
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garrettwiz
Posts: 2662 - Karma: 34
Watch Maltes Flamingo and get learned on dune skiing!
Mar 25 2011 9:55AM
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array.
Posts: 2439 - Karma: 202
bring a cam if you decide to hit it.
Mar 25 2011 10:35AM
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mooseman077
Posts: 300 - Karma: 359
You should ride the empire bluffs...those are pretty gnarly with lots of sand bumps to jump off of. Sleeping Bear dunes are the shit to ski down
Mar 26 2011 11:24AM
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Flying~Squirrel
Posts: 6494 - Karma: 192
i feel like it would suck to fall. there would be sand everywhere.
Mar 26 2011 11:50AM
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DockEllis
Posts: 1131 - Karma: 1,745
Sick dude, my fam used to have a house up there of a really long time. I've been to pyramid point a few times and thought about shredding it but never actually did, good luck bro, post some pics
Mar 26 2011 12:17PM
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midwestpowhunter
Posts: 2198 - Karma: 189
agreed ive always thought that place would be rad too.
Mar 26 2011 12:28PM
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