Get into Skimboarding

I’ve had a lot of people recently ask me about how to get started skimboarding so I thought I’d write an article about getting started skimboarding. The great thing about skimboarding is that just about anybody can do it without investing much money. The main two things that you will need are a place to skimboard and something to skimboard on. First a place to skim. You’ll be looking for a place with just a little bit of water (an inch or two is perfect, three or four inches is doable) with a nice sandy bottom. We have a perfect spot here in St. George, Utah. The Virgin River is a very shallow river that gets very low in the summer months. Perfect for skimboarding! The water temperature is great, and unless there is some flooding due to rain, the water is clean and clear. The river bed is beautiful Southern Utah red sand. If you don’t have a good spot to make your skimboarding debut, I’d definitely suggest a trip to Southern Utah for a skimboarding session on the Virgin River. Make a vacation of it. There are lots of other fun things to do in St. George too

Once you’ve found a spot to skim, you need a skimboard. This is where the money investment comes in. Here’s the deal. Don’t spend a lot of money. There are a number of great skimboard companies out like Victoria and DB Skimboards that make a great product but cost well over a hundred dollars, as well as your cheap garbage boards that you can get for 20 bucks or so. To get started don’t go with either. Make your own board. Run to Home Depot and pick up a 2 foot by 4 foot piece of half inch plywood. Then use an electric jig saw to cut out your skimboard. If you don’t have an electric jig saw, just ask around your neighborhood. I’m sure someone has one that you could borrow. They are a pretty common tool. Once you have it cut out throw on some glossy enamel paint and your ready to skim…and your board only cost you about 10 bucks. To get started that’s definitely the way to go. After you’ve worn out your first board, you can look at making a better board or investing in a professionally manufactured one. If your interested in making a better board you can download my how to make a skimboard video for $1 or check out boards from any of these manufacturers. But definitely wear out your first board first. Make sure you like the sport and are going to continue before you drop big bucks on a board. Last of all, if you need some instructions on how to skimboard check out the skimboarding tips page