Washington Post Video

Skimboard Central

Aug. 14, 2012 - Skimboarding has had a home in Dewey for more than three decades, back when the world amateur skimboarding competition was first held in the small Delaware beach town. Now in its 31st year, the Zap Amateur Skimboarding Championship brings in competitors from California, Alabama, Portugal and Brazil, not to mention a heaping helping of Delaware locals.(AJ Chavar/The Washington Post)

No snow, no problem

Aug. 17, 2012 - The Liberty snowflex center is one of the few places in the world that you can ski or snowboard year-round. Snow isn’t necessary thanks to an astroturf-like material called “snowflex” that replicates the feel of snow.(AJ Chavar/The Washington Post)

We’ve been gearing up for our coverage of the National Conventions for the past few months, but that doesn’t mean that our daily assignments go away! Over the past two weeks I found myself well outside the District, in Dewey Beach, De. and Lynchburg, Va.

See, Dewey is home to a beach with one of the best geographical makeups in the world for skimboarding, and man, the guys in the competition turned my childhood idea of the sport upside down. Not what you expect from a small Delaware town. But even more unexpected was the fully-fledged ski and snowboard terrain park that operates year-round in Lynchburg. Some of the kids that ride there get so good so fast that they are doing inverted spins within a year of first stepping on a board.

Two states, two different boards, two things I didn’t expect to see.

-AJ