Volcano Boarding

Sliding down the side of a volcano has become a new sport of its own. On this episode we unveil volcano boarding.

Done in the same manner as sledding on snow, volcano boarding has one ride down a steep volcano slope on a wooden sled. The most popular slope this is done on is Nicaragua’s Cerro Negro slope in western part of the country near Leon.

Riders of the mountain have to hike to the top before sliding down. While looking like fun this sport can be considered extreme due to a handful of dangers involved. Sharp cliff drops, poisonous gas, lava and volcanic ash are all prevalent.

To protect riders from the ash, they wear protective overalls and goggles. Volcano boarding started off as sandboarding in the 1970s. It became popularized by Jack Smith and Gary Fluitt in California in the 1980s.

In 2002 National Geographic Channel adventurer and journalist Zoltan Istvan created volcano boarding on Mt. Yasur. Zoltan captured this new experience on camera which aired on the National Geographic Channel in a 5 minute news segment.

Zoltan pointed out there are 2 different forms of volcano boarding: 1. Boarding an inactive volcano which has a similar ride experience to sandboarding and 2. Boarding an active volcano which has dangers unique to volcanos like the lethal gases emitted and flying molten lava also called lava bombs. These dangers don’t even account for what can happen on the slide down as riders can reach speeds of 60 mph or 100 kmh.

Cerro Negro in Nicaragua is the popular choice for this sport probably due to the fact that it hasn’t erupted since 1999. Volcano boarding is also practiced on Mt. Yasur in Tanna Vanuatu which is where Zoltan Istvan shot his National Geographic Channel segment. This active volcano offers a whole different level of danger as it erupts daily.

Zoltan pointed out in an interview that it would be possible to dodge the lava bombs, if you saw them coming, he estimated that if you hung out on the volcano boarding it for a week you’d likely get hit with one.

Does this extreme sport look like something you want to try?

Footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG5hUVBoXnw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la9mEtpzWiQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM8jSbdTgV8
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesonicboy/6317097779

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcano_surfing

#volcano #boarding #extreme

Check out some of our other videos:

Top 10 Fruits You’ve Never Heard Of Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRdgPyZF45g&feature=youtu.be
Top 10 Fruits You’ve Never Heard Of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKTej1u-7-0&feature=youtu.be

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Intro music thanks to Machinmasound:
Rallying the Defense:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruPk4RD19Nw

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