Boarding down an Active Volcano
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
57
141
Trip End
Ongoing
Cerro Negro,
Nicaragua
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Cerra Negro is a 675 meter volcano that is completely devoid of vegetation. It rises out of the surrounding countryside like a giant black anthill that gets more imposing the closer you get. On the far side, that you cannot see upon approach, is a 120 meter deep steaming crater that has a very strong sulfur smell. Darren, the Aussie owner of Bigfoot hostel, has been riding anything he can think of down the side of the volcano for the last two years and now it is our turn to give it a shot. No joking he has ridden tables, chairs, skis and even a fridge. I think alcohol may have been involved on some of the early runs when they were by themselves but I´m just speculating here.
We ride out with 8 other people in the back of Darren's pickup for 40 minutes on a bumpy dirt road to get to the volcano. Once there he hands us our boards and our bright orange prison jumpsuits and says its time for some exercise. See in order to board down the volcano you have to climb up the volcano. Darren jokingly says he has a ski lift in the works for next year but for now we have to walk and walk and walk
A View from the Volcano
. The trail up, if you can call it a trail, is a sort of path marked by a few large boulders. There are places where the trail is not marked becuse there have been about 34 small earthquakes in the past 10 days and all the loose gravel keeps sliding down the volcano. Not too reassuring. The hike is a bit strenuous and we take a few breaks along the way. At these breaks Darren tells us all about the surrounding countryside. Darren is a font of knowledge and will talk forever if you let him. He is very passionate about guiding people up the crater. Once at the drop off point for boarding we throw down our gear and hike a little higher to the craters edge. Even though it is hazy out you can see other volcanos in the distance and much of the surrounding countryside. You can even see volcano San Cristobal which just erupted in February and is still smoking. Lucky for us Cerra Negro has not erupted since 1999 but is still listed as active. Yup ACTIVE! So it makes complete sense to run down into the active crater. Why not life is short...very short if this thing wakes up while we are down there!We look down the 120 meter crater and see white and yellow sulfur everywhere and steaming sulfur rising up. Darren says not to worry, as long as we follow him down the path he has run down for years we will be ok. What if we go off the path? Not 100% sure mate. The sulfur powder is quite soft and you could sink down a foot or a couple of meters and it is really hot. So for your sake stay on the path
Climbing up the Volcano
. At this point I am paying really close attention to every move he makes. We start to head down the first section and it very slippery, not as slippery as a coconut but slippery enough, and you move pretty quickly. I almost bite it going down but catch myself and regain my balance. The first thing I hear from Darren is you alright, any blood? Nope. Cool. Now comes the steep part where you have to run into the bottom of the crater through the really loose volcanic gravel. Not everyone chooses to go down because the only way back out is to climb up the 70 degree slope 80 meter high opposite side of the crater. It sounds like going down will actually be the easy part.
Darren goes first at full speed taking giant leaps through the soft gravel and is at the bottom in no time making it look really easy. The 7 that decide to go follow him down and make it without incident. When I start to go down it feels like you are almost weightless. You are taking giant leaps and bounds trying to keep yourself from sinking too deep. It is a pretty cool feeling. Once at the bottom we look up at the others on the top and they look really really small. It is really bizarre to think I am standing at the bottom of an active volcanic crater. Not more than a few hundred meters below us is an active lava field that could erupt at any time it feels like it. When I say anytime I am not kidding. Darren tells us that the volcano has been historically erupting on a 6 year cycle and we are now in year 8
Frank and the Truck
. This sucker is overdue and building in strength as we speak!Ok, which way is out? Darren points straight up the side of the rim. He tells me I can go whenever I am ready. I immediately start up the side and try to scramble along the loose rock. However, the gravel is so loose I keep sliding back down the hill. It is similar to running up an escalator the wrong way. Two steps forward and one back. It is also so steep that you have to use your hands the entire way. About half way up Darren passes me on the left and says if you move over here it is a little more firm and a little more easy. Now you tell me! I followed him the rest of the way up and then spent the next 5 minutes trying to catch my breath. Once everyone was at the top it was a short hike, uphill, back to the boards and what we came here to do.
Now I am sure everyone is picturing us snowboarding down the side of this volcano and that is not how it really works. It should really be called volcano sledding. You sit your butt down on a piece of plywood with some laminate on the bottom and a handle on a rope and go over the edge. The handle is there more to give you balance and not for steering that is what your free hand is for. There also no brakes other than your feet. Repeat no breaks. This point sort of feels like the scene from Better Off Dead when Cusak is trying to ski the K2 and the advice he gets from his friens is ¨Go that way really fast, if someting gets in your way turn¨.
Frank and the view
The volcano is very steep and you can reach speeds, according to Darren and a borrowed radar gun, of up to 60km (37mph)an hour. After a quick trial run and some final tips we are ready to go. A guy from Holland and myself are the first daredevils to walk to the edge. They give us a little countdown and we are off. It is a total of 400 meters to the bottom and you do pick up speed. After the first 25 meters you stop being scared of the speed and more concerned with the stop. You actually want to go faster and faster as you go down but you know it will be over really quick if you do. I felt a bit out of control at one point but then relaxed my body and all was well. It was over way too fast, at most in minute, and as soon as I hit the bottom I wanted to go again.
Watching the others come down was just as much fun as going down myself. When Kay finally came down she was leaving behind a huge dust trail and had a giant grin when she hit the bottom. She was covered from head to toe in dust but loved every second of it. Kay said she was so excited when she first was going down that she forgot to pull down her goggles and could not figure out why she was getting so much dust in her eyes. She finally figured it out, pulled her goggles over her eyes, and enjoyed the rest of her run. We give each other a big high five and congratulate the others on the run.
Darren on the other hand did board down the volcano. He had a homemade snowboard looking thing that he strapped his feet down and rode down the volcano standing up, and only crashed at the very bottom
Frank zooming down
. He said it was the first time he was able to turn on the board after making many adjustments. Darren has been tweaking the entire process all along and has made it as safe as possible. We all wore jumpsuits, goggles and a glove to protect us if we fell off the board at speed but no one did. Once at the bottom we had to carry our boards back to the truck and take the 40 minute ride back to the hostel where a lovely liter of Victoria beer waited for us (beer not included in fee). If you are in Leon it is well worth the $22 to board down the volcano. We also would recommend the Bigfoot Hostel ($5 per person per nigh) which is also owned by Darren. Darren also told us that this volcano is the where a crazy guy set the land-speed record for mountain biking a couple of years ago. If you go to www.youtube.com and search for volcano and mountain biking you can see video footage of the guy who rode down the volcano face and hit a speed of 170km an hour! He also hit the bottom really hard with his face. I am sure it is pretty cool.
Cheers, Frank
