Mission of Madness

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Destination: Volcano Cerro Negro, an active volcano 25km from Leon, Nicaragua.

Mission: To sledge down the side of the black sand volcano on a wooden board as fast as we possibly could.

Purpose: None whatsoever. Total utter madness.

Equipment: One pair of goggles. One orange jump suit Guantanamo-style. One piece of plywood slighty larger than a skateboard, patched at the bottom with a metal sheet, topped with three cross timbers and a bit of rope with a handle. No expense spared.

Going up: It was a well marched pathway, made tougher by the fact we were each carrying our own boards. The higher we climbed, the more determined the wind seemed to snatch the boards away. For a short distance the path disappeared. A tremor a few weeks previous had covered the path in rocks. That fact weighed heavy on my mind as we stumbled on and battled with the wind to the top. The Pacific Ocean glinted through misty clouds on the horizon.

At the top: So far on this journey, every volcano we have climbed has been very different. From the ash of Santiaguito rising in a mushroom cloud as it erupts like clockwork to the glowing lava flow of Pacaya, each looks different and has its own personality. Cerro Negro means 'black mountain' and that is exactly what it looks like. It is a young moody teenager with increasingly regular tantrums, sometimes covering the nearby villages below in a steady stream of black soot for days on end. Relatively small (728m), it has two craters. Even with the strong winds sweeping the top of the volcano the smell was nauseating. A few million rotten eggs baking in the sun! Sulphur is continuously released from the crater and lingers like a menacing fart. Counter to smart thinking, we descend a short distance into the crater. The earth just under the surface is very hot to the touch and is made up of yellow, white, black and red minerals. The white mineral was powdery and soft like snow. The yellow next to it made it look like snow that had been peed on!

Going down: With our oversized orange jumpsuits and goggles, we looked liked giant Umpa Lumpas. Instructions were fired out and promptly forgotten. We stared down the slope which looked very steep from where we were standing. It only dawned on me at that moment that this could be as dangerous as slapping Mike Tyson across the face. I look around. Everyone has the same uneasy look on their face.

Our turn came around too quickly. Jess and I took our positions on parallel slopes. My last thought was that this is probably illegal back home...then...one, two, three...push off...down we went!!

The speed was exhilarating. Coming down I had to keep my mouth closed in case a stone broke a tooth or choked me. The chat about controling the board went out the window as I held on for dear life, jolted and bumped about like a rag doll. Thinking was out of the question, just a massive head rush. Three quarters of the way down I lost control and came off the board, tumbling a few times. I grazed my head and ripped the bottom of my small bag. Managing to hold onto the board, I remounted and began the madness again.

Turns out we both crashed and burned on the way downn, in fact everyone in the group came off the board at least once, impossible not to. We all shook ourselves down at the bottom. Black stones fell out of our hair and shoes, even from our ears and underwear. For a few hours afterwards, Jess and I were still finding small stones in places no stone should be!

The man with the speed gun at the bottom clocked both Jess and I going down at 45kmph. Pretty impressive we thought...until we saw the last guy in our group coming down at a cracking 56kmph. He came off just at the end and paid the price in blood!

To see a video of (other people) volcano boarding, have a look at
(we didn´t have the gloves though)

Or here is a clip cyclist Eric Barone breaking the world speed record by going at 130.43 kilometers per hour down the Cerro Negro.

Madness!!

From James

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Photos

Volcano country
Volcano San Cristobal is the big one. It is older and more laid back than Cerro Negro. San Cristobal only gets angry now and then, but when it does god help you if you´re close by.