Hanging ten while staying dry: Sand surfing on the Oregon Coast

From KLCC Studios, this is Oregon on the Record.

I'm Michael Dunn. The last time I did anything on the Oregon Coast sand dunes, it didn't exactly go well. Some long-time listeners may remember I had a bit of an ATV mishap a couple of years ago that sent me to the hospital for nine days. Well, when I heard about the somewhat obscure and relatively new sport of sand surfing, I thought, what could go wrong? And while my wife didn't share the sentiment, she let me go anyway. Today on the show, I'll bring you the story of a sport seemingly tailor-made for our Oregon Dunes and bring you the voices of the guys who have made Florence a kind of sand surfing mecca. And no, I didn't get hurt at all. Then at the end of the show, we'll introduce you to our newest reporter who comes to us all the way from Liverpool, England. That's next on Oregon on the Record. While Crater Lake and the majestic Cascade Mountain Range may steal the show in terms of recognized natural splendor in Oregon, the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is a magical place all its own. And while many people love to attack these dunes on ATVs, dune buggies, and SUVs, There's a quieter and more serene sport that is starting to take hold on these same hills of sand. It's sand surfing, and it's exactly what you'd think. Hiking up to the top of a dune, mounting a wooden board, and then sliding down, kind of like a ski hill made of sand. I recently saw a story about this sport and thought it would be great to give it a try myself. And it stood to reason that I'd go visit the man and the team that basically brought sand surfing to Oregon. I'm standing in the storefront of Sandmaster Park. It's part rental facility, part equipment dealer, and part shrine to the sport of sand surfing. Founded in the year 2000, born from the vision of sandboard pioneer Lon Beale, aka Dr. Dune, Sandmaster Park has introduced sandboarding to the Oregon coast. I was able to talk with Lon and hear how it all started. We're talking to Lon Ville, Mr. Sandman, who invented this operation. Talk about the experience that people have coming here, renting boards, going for a first-time lesson. Describe what it's like and sort of what your vision was for this operation and this sport.

Well, real often people come and they're a little apprehensive because they don't know what to expect. Of course, there's a fear factor involved until they make their first run or two and they realize that sand's pretty soft. You can take a pretty good fall. It doesn't do much. You will get sand on you, but it's not a real jolt. We see people come here and many of them are snowboarders, many are surfers or skateboarders, so they're about halfway there. But sand is its own beast. It's just a little bit different. So once they take a lesson, they get it. They make the crossover. If they don't take a lesson, there's a little bit more of a struggle, but they still seem to get it. And regardless, Michael, they have a good time.

Yeah. When you started this, did you have any idea that you'd be able to develop so many different material boards and the fact that people here in Florence, Oregon are sliding down the dunes? You talked about coming from a