Laguna Huega

Spent two nights in the Huacachina oasis. It is essentially a tiny lagoon with a few palm trees and reeds surrounded by enormous sand dunes. For a small place it's quite busy, mostly with tourists from around the world and other parts of Peru and the town consists only of hostels, restaurants, and dune buggy/sandboarding tour operators.
When I left Missoula I was leaving behind some of the season's best powder, but luckily I found that I could shred slopes in Peru, too! I visited Huacachina with one purpose in mind: sand skiing. Most people ride down the massive dunes on sandboards (plywood with straps for your feet) but I managed to find a company renting real snowboard and ski equipment. Not only that, but I found a company with Faction skis!!! (If you don't know what a big deal that is please look up the Candide Thovex Audi ski video. The skis I rode were given to the sand ski company by Candide after they helped him film the sand dune shot.) I spent an epic afternoon riding a dune buggy up mountains of sand and ripping back down on top notch skis. We ended the trip at the top of one of the highest dunes with 360° views and a gorgeous sunset. Nothing beats Rocky Mountain powder, but skiing sand dunes in shorts on an 80° day was one hell of a good time!Read more