Robin Andrews, Contributor
Apr 15, 2017
I’m pretty sure this will be the closest thing to a public service announcement that I’ve ever written. That’s no bad thing, however, as I’m here today to inform you that, in certain parts of the world, you can actually surf on a volcano.
Let’s clarify something right off the bat: no, I don’t mean on a lava flow, or even a pyroclastic flow. Surfing of the former will result in your dying an extremely slow and painful death; attempting to coast on the latter would be madness – you would be a piece of ice being thrown into a roaring fire. Do not do this.
What I’m referring to, dear readers, is the crumbly, soft, and rather hot slopes of the volcanoes themselves.
A tourist sandboards down the Cerro Negro volcano, in Leon, some 100km northwest from Managua (INTI OCON/AFP/Getty Images)
Take a typical stratovolcano with its wonderfully steep flanks. Think Mount Fuji, or any one of the Cascade volcanoes trending through the northwestern US. Clearly, if you tried to board down or surf on these sheer drops, you’d certainly pick up some speed, but the generally quite solid nature of the craggy ancient lava there would soon send you stumbling forth and collecting a few cuts and bruises, or worse.
Some stratovolcanoes are a little unusual, though. Far from just explosively erupting every few decades or centuries, they occasionally have a little change of heart and effuse fresh lava over their surface.
Tourists climb the Cerro Negro volcano to enjoy sandboarding, in Leon, some 100km northwest from Managua on September 24, 2016. (INTI OCON/AFP/Getty Images)
Stromboli, a rather bizarre little stratovolcano in Sicily, fires fountains of lava up into the skies of the Mediterranean every 45 – 120 minutes, give or take, spraying its flanks with molten blebs and lava bombs. This ensures its slopes are always full of freshly frozen ash, which is still quite hot, squishy, and almost bouncy. Walking on them – especially at night, with the lava fountain feeling like a dragon pursuing you – is one of the most surreal experiences you’re ever likely to have.
The problem here, though, is that the slopes are too high and too steep – and the chances are that any ash surfers here would meet a rather undignified end.
Volcano surfing in Nicaragua going a little bit wrong.
Instead, come with me to Cerro Negro, one of the most active volcanoes in Central America, and the best place in the world to go volcano boarding.
Technically a scoria cone – a type of volcanic hill that forms quite rapidly over time thanks to gas-filled guttural belches of pyroclastic debris – Cerro Negro (“Black Hill”) erupts hot ash from its central vent, but oozes lava from its base. It’s certainly very quirky, but importantly, the high concentration of warm, soft ash at the top – something which is replenished on a weekly basis to some degree – means that it has smooth slopes that are at the perfect angle for boarding or surfing down.
Indeed, every year, daredevils from all over the world come to visit this 167-year-old baby Nicaraguan volcano and test their mettle on its flanks. All you need is a helmet, some elbow and kneepads, and a metal or wooden board – that, and a penchant for risk-taking. Gravity will do the rest, and if you’re lucky, you can reach speeds of around 90 kph (56 mph).
A tourist falls whilst sandboarding down the Cerro Negro volcano, in Leon, some 100km northwest from Managua on September 24, 2016. (INTI OCON/AFP/Getty Images)
It’s such a popular activity that the extreme sport has its own Wikipedia page, where someone has helpfully explained that the “potential dangers include falling off and getting cut by the rough volcanic ash, breathing poisonous gases, or being hit by flying molten lava.”
Good to know. Fortunately, being a volcanologist, I’m invulnerable to lava bombs, fountains, flows and all that jazz, so I’m already sorted.
So what are you waiting for? Get yourself to Nicaragua and surf down an active volcano.
A local guide sandboards down the Cerro Negro volcano, in Leon, some 100km northwest from Managua on September 24, 2016. (INTI OCON/AFP/Getty Images)
I’m pretty sure this will be the closest thing to a public service announcement that I’ve ever written. That’s no bad thing, however, as I’m here today to inform you that, in certain parts of the world, you can actually surf on a volcano.
Let’s clarify something right off the bat: no, I don’t mean on a lava flow, or even a pyroclastic flow. Surfing of the former will result in your dying an extremely slow and painful death; attempting to coast on the latter would be madness – you would be a piece of ice being thrown into a roaring fire. Do not do this.
What I’m referring to, dear readers, is the crumbly, soft, and rather hot slopes of the volcanoes themselves.
A tourist sandboards down the Cerro Negro volcano, in Leon, some 100km northwest from Managua (INTI OCON/AFP/Getty Images)
Take a typical stratovolcano with its wonderfully steep flanks. Think Mount Fuji, or any one of the Cascade volcanoes trending through the northwestern US. Clearly, if you tried to board down or surf on these sheer drops, you’d certainly pick up some speed, but the generally quite solid nature of the craggy ancient lava there would soon send you stumbling forth and collecting a few cuts and bruises, or worse.
Some stratovolcanoes are a little unusual, though. Far from just explosively erupting every few decades or centuries, they occasionally have a little change of heart and effuse fresh lava over their surface.
Tourists climb the Cerro Negro volcano to enjoy sandboarding, in Leon, some 100km northwest from Managua on September 24, 2016. (INTI OCON/AFP/Getty Images)
Stromboli, a rather bizarre little stratovolcano in Sicily, fires fountains of lava up into the skies of the Mediterranean every 45 – 120 minutes, give or take, spraying its flanks with molten blebs and lava bombs. This ensures its slopes are always full of freshly frozen ash, which is still quite hot, squishy, and almost bouncy. Walking on them – especially at night, with the lava fountain feeling like a dragon pursuing you – is one of the most surreal experiences you’re ever likely to have.
The problem here, though, is that the slopes are too high and too steep – and the chances are that any ash surfers here would meet a rather undignified end.
Volcano surfing in Nicaragua going a little bit wrong.
Instead, come with me to Cerro Negro, one of the most active volcanoes in Central America, and the best place in the world to go volcano boarding.
Technically a scoria cone – a type of volcanic hill that forms quite rapidly over time thanks to gas-filled guttural belches of pyroclastic debris – Cerro Negro (“Black Hill”) erupts hot ash from its central vent, but oozes lava from its base. It’s certainly very quirky, but importantly, the high concentration of warm, soft ash at the top – something which is replenished on a weekly basis to some degree – means that it has smooth slopes that are at the perfect angle for boarding or surfing down.
Indeed, every year, daredevils from all over the world come to visit this 167-year-old baby Nicaraguan volcano and test their mettle on its flanks. All you need is a helmet, some elbow and kneepads, and a metal or wooden board – that, and a penchant for risk-taking. Gravity will do the rest, and if you’re lucky, you can reach speeds of around 90 kph (56 mph).
A tourist falls whilst sandboarding down the Cerro Negro volcano, in Leon, some 100km northwest from Managua on September 24, 2016. (INTI OCON/AFP/Getty Images)
It’s such a popular activity that the extreme sport has its own Wikipedia page, where someone has helpfully explained that the “potential dangers include falling off and getting cut by the rough volcanic ash, breathing poisonous gases, or being hit by flying molten lava.”
Good to know. Fortunately, being a volcanologist, I’m invulnerable to lava bombs, fountains, flows and all that jazz, so I’m already sorted.
So what are you waiting for? Get yourself to Nicaragua and surf down an active volcano.
A local guide sandboards down the Cerro Negro volcano, in Leon, some 100km northwest from Managua on September 24, 2016. (INTI OCON/AFP/Getty Images)
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