Training
Life's a Beach: Skiing on the sand in Hawaii.
May 17, 2002 -  By Greg Worsnop

I had the opportunity to vacation/business in Hawaii a couple of weeks ago. I took the opportunity to try sand skiing, ala Bill Koch, on Makena Beach on the island of Maui. Some would call it hard core, others would call it lunacy.

It started at the airport in Kalamazoo...what ya got in the bag son? skis. Yer going to Maui with skis? Followed by Bill Koch, silver medal, sand skiing, etc. etc., Next at the airport in Maui the skis did not come down the bag carousel, so it was off to the baggage counter to explain the missing bag. Skis, Bill Koch bla, bla, bla, after a few minutes two guys came out a side door with the skis with quizzical looks on their faces and handed me the bag. Of course the next stop at the hotel the scene and conversation started all over again with similar results.

Of course prior to the trip I researched on sandskiing.com the beaches on Maui that were recommended based on size, sand type, times, equipment, etc. Big Beach at Makena State Park was the one on Maui recommended and luckily it was just 2 miles down the road from the Hotel. So 6:00 am the next day I was in the hotel lobby with equipment in hand and again the scene repeated itself with the valet parking attendant with similar results Bill Koch, bla, bla, bla.

Bill says that it is about 25% slower than snow, so I eagerly got to the beach with the sun just coming up over the side of the volcano and strapped on the skis. The trick is to hit the edge of the water as the waves recede so you are skiing on a thin film of water on top of the sand. After a few tentative strides I was off and skiing. Overall it was probably 30% to 40% slower than snow, but if you hit it right I'll give Bill his 25% slower that slow snow. Very much a power workout, due to the speed, but you can ski both classic and skate. Actually the classic is a bit more consistent the skating. The beach is about a K so after back and forth down the beach chasing the perfect sand/water combination for a little more than an hour and 10k I was bushed and cover with sweat. So it was back to the hotel and a big breakfast and lots of questions from my fellow travelers.

During the stay there I skied 5 times each for about 10k with curious looks and questions from the early risers on the beach. I ran in to only one person who had heard of Bill and sand skiing, so needless to say the trails were not crowded. So for all the hardcore lunatics out there......life's a beach.

- Greg Worsnop

Original, uncropped pictures here.