Volcano Surfing in Nicaragua
Mar 15th, 2008 by Kevin
During 2007 a relatively new sport in Nicaragua hit the media. In a number of different articles on the topic I saw it referred to as ‘ashboarding’, volcano boarding and volcano surfing. This new sport is becoming one of the prime attractions for adventure seekers in Nicaragua known as the land of lakes and volcanoes. This is for good reason - there are more than 20 volcanoes in the country! The location for this adventure is on Nicaragua Cerro Negro (Black Mountain) volcano, which is about 18 miles from Leon. At 160 years old, Cerro Negro is a young volcano, at the end of its fourth seven-year eruption cycle. The last time it blew, it covered Leon in snow-like sand, much like the fine sand on its west face, on which riders descend.
The sport itself, is a variation of sand skiing, but in this case instead of sand dunes, participants hike to the top of a volcano crater and then soar down a 40 degree slope on a sandboard at 60km/hour. The board itself is a plank of wood with a sheet metal base, or wood laminate base. On top there are additional pieces of wood to keep your place on the board with a rope to hold on to. Although I have heard about some who try to actually surf it like a snowboard, taking a tumble on this rocky surface can leave some very undesirable cuts and scrapes, so the majority of folks seem to sit down toboggan style.
In December 2007, Today ran a special on the worlds most scariest sports and had volcano surfing in this group. Pretty interesting, although I would consider this sport quite a bit more scary and dangerous:) Big Foot Adventures is one of the companies that take folks up for a ride. They give their riders orange jumpsuit’s and goggles to wear to protect against falls and the dust generated during the rides. Below is a promotional Video that gives you an idea of the sport.
Personally, I love adventure sports so I cannot wait to try this on a future trip to the country, and although a company could likely never do this sport in the U.S. due to our overzealous legal system, countries such as Nicaragua still give creative thinkers/players a way to work and have fun. And the great thing about this, is that companies such as this takes advantage of law 306! Are you looking to get out of that cubicle and do something that you love? Maybe its not volcano surfing, but take a look at Nicaragua. The tourism business is still in its infancy and there is lots of room for creative minds to create great business’s down there all tax free!
8/26/08 - I was just in the process of doing some planning for a nica trip and noticed that Big Foot adventures no longer exits. I did some research and it turns out that the place was sold, and all trips cancelled. People are waiting to see if they start the tours up again… Might be a good opportunity for an entrepreneur to come in and scoop up some tourist dollars. If anyone knows if they or someone else is up and running again, let me know.