Climb The Volcano! - Ride Down on an "Ash Board"!

Always ready for another adventure, we decided to try Volcano Boarding ... !

Here we are in Nicaragua, and this place is full of volcanoes.  It seems like the entire country is comprised of volcanic activity.  

So we decided to seek some excitement and climb one, and then use "snowboards" to get back down - quickly. 

It was only me and my son TK on this thrill ride, Fiona and Jenny (TK's wife) said they wanted to sit this one out.  Fiona you may recall is fresh from a death defying Zip line ride in Africa. 

It's not quite as easy as it sounds (does is sound easy?) and we arranged an early pick up from the hotel to make our way to the base of the volcano.  We figured if we started early it wouldn't be hot already, did I mention that it's always hot in this country? and humid.

The ride out was rough in the Landcruiser, but eventually we found ourselves ready to start climbing.  But first we had to load up with our stuff, including the board.  It looked a little silly - and it was a long way up - but everybody has to carry their own stuff.  

Oh, and they told us we had to wear a bandana, because of all the smoke, dust, and gravel that we would encounter.  I put mine on early - I didn't need it till some time later, Ha!  There wasn't really any snow there, it's too hot.  In fact, there is no snow in the entire country. 

So this is an active volcano, I can't remember the name, it was a Spanish / Mayan combination word.  Anyway, it last erupted in December ... yikes!  Is it gonna blow again soon?  It was a reasonably mild temperature in the morning, but as we got near the top, it got hot from the steam and other hot stuff emitting from the crater and the ground around it.  

It took some time to get to the top, but we enjoyed the fantastic view of the surrounding area and eventually the crater itself.  

And then it was time to make our way down.  Okay!  Ready or not!

So the volcano is made of black sand and gravel, with some big rocks thrown in.  You basically sit on the boards, or stand if you're really good, which we weren't.

The board are kinda home made, you can't buy them at a local sporting goods store (if there was one).  The idea is to sit down and ride that sucker all the way to the bottom, they advise you not to stand up unless you really know what you're doing.  It can take anywhere from three minutes at top speed, to more like ten minutes (at my speed).  

After some brief instructions, we had to put on these funky jumpsuits because you can get hurt.  The volcanic gravel is pretty abrasive.  TK and Jenny had recently met a girl that had done this and gotten pretty cut up and scraped.  So you also wear goggles, gloves, and the bandana.  

Like a lot of things, it seemed like a fun idea at the time, but once you get there it looks scary steep.  It looks like it's straight down.  How on earth do you stop if you have to?  Our guide "Manny" gave us a few tips and off we went.  

TK took off like a rocket. He was flying down the volcano!  I was ... a little more conservative.  It was wild, with rocks flying and dust and a spectacular view of the landscape below.  

You can really gain some speed, I was concerned about losing control.  "Manny" was an experienced expert, he's done this for six years.  He stood up like a snow boarder and zig-zagged his way down like a pro.   They say you can go up to 40 or 50 miles an hour  

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Before you know it, we were down at the bottom.  TK arrived before I did, and he looked like ... somebody who had just boarded down a volcano, with sweaty dirt and dust in his face and eyes and mouth.  

We stayed around for a bit to watch some other people come down and this one young woman just killed it and was hurling down the mountain.  She hit a large bump near the bottom and became airborne!  It was hilarious!  She really biffed it, and had a mouth full of gravel, but a big smile on her face.  

The whole thing was a blast!