Meteb Al-Awwad

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

 

HAIL — Sandboarding, launched in the Nufoud area as part of an international desert festival that began on Monday has attracted many enthusiasts.



More than 25,000 people visited the festival north of Hail so far.

Sandboarding is practiced on boards similar to those used for snowboarding, but the sport is performed on sand dunes instead of snow.



Many people around the world, especially those living in desert and coastal areas, are fans of sand boarding.



However, it is less popular than snowboarding because of difficulties in building steps on sand dunes.



Organizer of the sport Ghazi Al-Shammari said sandboarding was tested last year and was very successful as it attracted many enthusiasts.



He pointed out that the boards were imported from the US especially for this festival.



Head of Hail's branch of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) Mubarak Al-Salamah said Hail was the first area to introduce sandboarding as part of the tourism promotion program.