Delaware Cracks Down on Urban Snowboarding to Safeguard Local Ecosystem

Delaware officials are looking to keep ecosystems safe by limiting urban snowboarding in the area.

Sand has been added to the dune at Delaware Seashore State Park, on the north side of the Indian River Inlet, seen here March 29, 2024. The ocean breached the dune Tuesday, March 26, causing Route 1 to flood and officials to close the road. / Shannon Marvel McNaught / USA TODAY NETWORK

There have been some regions along the East Coast that are experiencing unseasonably warm winters thus far, which has resulted in difficulties in partaking in winter activities such as snowboarding and skiing.

In parts of Maine, mountains and trails have been closed for days at a time because the combination of rain and mild temperatures has made maintaining snow for people to ride on difficult.

That has led some adventurers to seek unconventional arenas to partake in those activities, leading to urban snowboarding becoming very popular.

Part of the excitement of urban snowboarding is finding an area that no one else has hit and making it your own. Sometimes these areas are off-limits for a reason, which leads to some unhappy security guards, shop owners and sometimes policemen.

Over the weekend, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control joined the list of disgruntled groups looking to curtail some of the activity in the state.

With massive snowfall hitting the East Coast this past weekend, people who have been unable to scratch their adrenaline itch were able to hit the slopes for some action. However, officials are urging people not to use sand dunes as slopes, however tempting it could be now that they are covered.

“The dunes themselves are a very fragile ecosystem," the DNREC’s Scott Borino told Delaware Public Media, via Josh Sullivan of Snowboarder. "They’re homes to important wildlife, important vegetation. And especially with the vegetation, what's really important is, if they die, that can weaken the dunes. They’re what actually hold the dunes in place.”

Damaging the dunes could have a deadly impact on the areas they are protecting. Those, along with the shoreline, are the last defense against ocean waves that will cause erosion during storms.

This isn’t a slight to urban snowboarders and skiers either. During the other seasons when people are visiting the beaches, everyone is asked not to walk over the dunes and disturb the ecosystems that are not always visible to the naked eye.

There are also some hazards with snowboarding and skiing on the dunes that officials warn people of. Injuries could occur with the fencing that is sometimes covered by sand and snow or being fined for being in the areas.

“We definitely encourage people to come out to Delaware state parks, enjoy nature," Borino said to DPM. "It's beautiful, seeing it while it's snowing, but just to help protect the integrity of the dunes, personal safety, we just strongly encourage people to stay off the dunes during these nice winter times.”

With no ski areas in Delaware, it is easy to understand why some would think to use the dunes for the activity. But, a short ride could be taken to several areas that Sullivan shared in his piece.

Spring Mountain Adventures, Bear Creek Mountain Resort, Montage Mountain, Roundtop Mountain, or Whitetail Resort in Pennsylvania were all suggested as alternatives to using the local dunes.