Monte Kaolino is a
sand dune in
Hirschau
Hirschau () is a municipality in the Amberg-Sulzbach district, Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany.
Geography
Hirschau lies directly on the Bundesstraße 14 (Nuremberg - Rozvadov), 13 km northeast of Amberg and about 65 km east of Nur ...
,
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. It consists of of
sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class o ...
, a by-product of
kaolinite production over the years. The sand dune is now used as a
ski resort
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...
for
sand skiing
Sand skiing (occasionally sand-skiing) is a sport and form of skiing in which the skier rides down a sand dune or strides across a beach on skis. It is practised in many sandy areas, including Sossusvlei, Namibia and Peru, along with other boardspo ...
and
sandboarding
Sandboarding is a boardsport and extreme sport similar to snowboarding that involves riding across or down a sand dune while standing on a board, either with both feet strapped in or while standing loose, without bindings. Sandboarding can als ...
, in addition to other activities.
Sand-skiing and sandboarding
By the 1950s the pile of sand had grown large enough that people experimented with skiing on it, and in 1956 a ski club was formed. Uniquely to this hill, skiing is done directly on the sand and as a result, its operating season is inverse with ski areas elsewhere - it only opens in summer, even though the area does snow in winter.
The hill is home to the Sandboarding World Championships.
Recent history
The area was extensively renovated in 2007. In addition to the ski hill, there are also camping facilities, a pool, a
geopark
A geopark is a protected area with internationally significant geology within which sustainable development is sought and which includes tourism, conservation, education and research concerning not just geology but other relevant sciences.
In 2 ...
, and trails.
In 2009 a
funicular
A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite e ...
elevator to the top of the hill was installed.
See also
*
List of funicular railways
This is a list of funicular railways, organised by place within country and continent. The funiculars range from short urban lines to significant multi-section mountain railways.
A funicular railway is distinguished from the similar incline eleva ...
References
External links
Official siteArticle about the place
Amberg-Sulzbach
Ski areas and resorts in Germany
Sandboarding locations
Artificial hills
{{Bavaria-geo-stub