Skiing: Hawaii Style
by Jesse Crandall
December 23, 2001
I am sure that most of us can remember seeing an article
a couple of years ago about Bill Koch skiing on the sand beaches
of Hawaii. There were some pretty cool pictures of him looking
very fit and skating along with some surf in the background.
Well, I saw the article and the pictures and at the time I
thought that it would be really great to try it.
I have had a trip to visit friends in Maui planned since
about October and it fit neatly with Christmas and a lull
in the early season ski races. I was going to be able to do
the NorAm races at Telemark, spend a week in Hawaii and then
make it back to ski a bit before doing the Double Pole Derby
in Hayward. Well, the Double Pole Derby is still a possibility,
but the same warm and dry weather bug that has been everywhere
this year had bitten Telemark and forced the cancellation
of the NorAms. As my departure for Maui drew nearer, I became
more and more disgusted with the mild weather in the Midwest
and especially in the Drummond area where I live. I had resorted
to striding on the 2-km stretch that was still snow covered
at the Drummond Ski Trail and skating on a 300-meter loop
in one of the hay fields at my house in rural Drummond. After
that disappeared, I skied on a fun little shaded 400-meter
loop that was kept operational by hauling snow from snow banks
created by a plow.
I was sitting at work about a week before I was scheduled
get on the first leg of my trip when I remembered the article
about Bill Koch. It turns out that there is a website, www.sandskiing.com,
that contains information about beaches that are skiable and
other tips about sand skiing. Early December was the last
time that I had done and skiing on decent snow and I was ready
to try anything. I decided to write an e-mail to the address
on sandskiing.com to ask for some suggestions about where
to ski on Maui and if there was any chance of renting or borrowing
equipment. To my excitement, I got a message back in a couple
of days from Bill Koch himself. I grew up in the Cable Area
Bill Koch Ski league and have skied at Telemark and on the
Bill Koch trail since before I can remember. It was pretty
exciting to get real correspondence from the most famous American
cross-country skier of all time. He told me the name of a
beach to try out and also that renting skis on Maui was not
likely. Probably similar to trying to rent a surf board at
Telemark. It turns out that you can rent anything from a Dodge
Viper to beach chairs on Maui, but finding winter sports equipment
is a bit of a challenge. So I did what any rational skier
would do and wrapped up my skis and poles and packed my boots
to get checked on the plane to Maui.
When I got to Maui, I was the only person in the open air
baggage claim area to have skis come down the chute, but people
were so intent on finding their bags that I didn't get too
many looks. I arrived at about 6 in the evening and it was
starting to get dark so I would have to wait until the next
day to go to the beach and strap on my boards. In the e-mail,
Bill Koch suggested that I try to get on the beach as early
as possible because the surf would be favorable and there
wouldn't be too many people. Even though seeing a skier on
the beach would be a novelty, people still want be able to
run in and out of the water without being hit by a ski pole
and I didn't want to have to be dodging swimmers on my first
attempt at skiing in the sand.
I got up just as the sky was starting to get light the next
morning and drove to Makena State Park. Big Beach at Makena
is the largest undeveloped white sand beach on Maui. It is
about 1 km long and is made up of very fine, light colored,
sand. 
I walked down to the beach carrying my skis, boots and poles
and proceeded to change from sandals into my Pilot skating
boots. I stepped into the binding of one of my skis and just
slid the ski on the dry sand to see what it felt like. It
was surprisingly slippery so I was pretty excited to see what
would happen once I got down onto the wet sand where the waves
were washing up. I got the other ski on and slipped into my
poles. It was a pretty strange feeling to be on a beach, looking
into the Pacific Ocean at a couple of other Hawaiian Islands
wearing skis and poles. It was about 70 degrees and the sun
was just starting to appear in the Eastern sky.
I pushed off toward the surf and the wet sand that would
serve as my ski trail that morning. The dry and damp sand
didn't allow for much glide so I walked down to the area that
was being wet by the surf. I started to skate along on the
sand. It was surprisingly fast to ski on. I stayed near surf
as it receded away from the beach, skiing along on the sand
that was covered by a thin layer of water. It felt like I
was really skiing. Occasionally a wave would recede slower
than expected and my boots would get covered with water. At
first this bothered me because I had some strange idea that
I wouldn't be getting wet. That was a foolish idea because
my boots quickly filled up with water and there was nothing
I could do but enjoy the fact that I was indeed skiing at
a site normally reserved for snorkeling and sunbathing. I
was also a little worried about what the sand would do to
my skis at first, so after a few minutes I checked the bases
to see if there was any damage. If anything they looked better
than before I started. There were no new scratches or anything
to worry about. The only thing that I did notice was that
Solomon Profil bindings do not like having sand in them. I
also hope that the salt water doesn't hurt my Pilot boots.
As I continued to skate down the beach I experimented with
different techniques. I was able to V1 pretty effectively,
but found that V2 was the best technique because I needed
the power to keep myself moving along. The glide was similar
to what you would find in very wet snow. It wasn't sticky
at all and every now and then I would catch some sand at just
the right point and really get some good glide. Fast stretches
allowed me to break into an open field skate and I even glided
down the side of a couple of mini dunes that were created
by the motion of the surf.
Sand skiing is an amazing workout. Since the glide isn't great,
you really have to focus on technique and balance. Like skiing
on snow, I could feel myself going to fastest when I was able
to commit all of my weight to the gliding ski. In addition
to needing good technique to move well on the sand, it took
a lot of power to keep my momentum up. Since I was skiing
right at the waters edge, the terrain was pretty flat so a
strong V2 kept me moving pretty well. There are areas in the
sand where the waves have created little hills and on the
down slope of these I was able to use my open field skate
very effectively.
I ended up skiing on the first morning for about 45 minutes.
In this time, I had probably only covered about 4 km, but
I was exhausted. I was sweating a lot and ready for a big
breakfast. It was difficult to ski continuously for a couple
of reasons. First of all, it is pretty hard work. Even though
the beach is flat, it feels like you are skiing up hill all
the time. This makes it a good work out but you lose the relaxation
time that you get from just tucking down a gentle decent on
a snowy ski trail. The other difficulty is that you have to
time your advances well in order to avoid dry sand or getting
pushed over by an advancing or receding wave. Once I got the
timing down and had a feel for what the sand should look like
for the fastest skiing, I was able to move along pretty quickly
and really enjoy the experience.
The first morning of skiing on the beach was a great success.
After my ski, I got out of my boots and headed for the water.
I had heated up pretty good from the skiing so a little time
in the waves was definitely needed before heading back into
town for breakfast. After about 10 minutes in the salt water,
I felt refreshed so I headed to the car hungry for breakfast
and ready to try some more sand skiing the next morning. There
were very few people at the beach in the morning and most
of them gave a friendly wave. I did have a welcome break a
couple of times to explain what exactly I was doing when more
curious people wandered along the beach.
The next day I brought my host along with his digital camera
and we got some pictures of me gliding on the sand. I have
included the ones that turned out the best. I think that I
would like to come back to Hawaii again and bring along some
skis that have some heavy rills in them to see if they slide
better through the thin layer of water that provides the best
glide on the sand. It is definitely a good idea to ski early
in the morning or late in the afternoon because the midday
sun is very hot, even at Christmas time. My Christmas present
to myself, in addition to a trip to Hawaii, will be sand skiing
at Big Beach on Christmas morning.
I would recommend sand skiing to anyone who is planning
a trip to Hawaii. The website, www.sandskiing.com offers recommendations
of a couple of other beaches on other islands that are good
for skiing. It is a wonderful way to enjoy the ocean while
getting a workout that is as tough as anything I have ever
done. When the snow melts from the Northland, just pack up
your skis and head for the beach.
Merry Chistmas and a Happy New Year!!
| About the author, Jesse Crandall:
I graduated from Macalester College in May 2001
with a Chemistry Degree. I have been skiing since I
was about 2 years old. Growing up in Drummond, Wisconsin
and skiing at Telemark and on the Birkie Trail has taught
me to ski with no fear. After being a part of two Wisconsin
State Champion teams at Drummond High School, I went
on to ski at Macalester College and earned All MIAC
honors my junior and senior years. I am currently seeking
employment in the Twin Cities and serving as an assistant
coach for the Macalester Cross Country Ski Team. My
fellow Macalester alumni, Margie Goodwin and Drew Schrader,
moved to Kihei, Maui after graduation and I decided
I should come to Hawaii now since I had a free place
to stay. In addition to skiing here, I have gone hiking,
snorkeling and even tried a little surfing. Feel free
to contact me by e-mail at [email protected]
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Photos from the Maui
Related links
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