Volcano Boarding in Nicaragua

Cerro Negro – we’re going down that face!

I scooted my butt until I was right at the precipice and as I felt gravity taking over, I thought – ‘Well, here it goes’.

I should mention at this point that my friend Jamie got hurt hurtling down the same volcano. So I was a little nervous about doing this whole lets-go-down-a-volcano-on-piece-of-wood thing.

Then again, how often do you get a chance to go sledding down an active volcano?

Getting ready to board down

Looking down the volcano

Imagine my surprise when instead of going down at supersonic speed like I expected, I was barely moving faster than if I had been running down the mountain.

Apparently there’s too much friction. I kept pushing behind me with my hands, “Faster! Faster!” – but somehow that only added to the friction. I slowed down even further.

Eventually I went to a complete stop.

This was not part of the plan.

“Maybe you’re too heavy” – says my guide when I was shouting for instruction on how to go faster.

Too heavy?

Do I look heavy to you? Maybe a little bit, but it’s the suit!

It’s the suit, I swear!

Then again, everybody else is zooming down past me on my left and right so I guess it is not only possible to go down fast, it’s actually the norm. I’m the exception.

See the wisps of dust? Waaay up there?

Oh well…

Even though it wasn’t quite the death-defying stunt I was half excited and half nervous about, it was still good fun. Everybody wished that the the mountain that looked so tall and daunting on the hike up, were just a little longer on the slide down. I almost wished it was a little bit steeper too.

Does volcano boarding look fun to you?