Ride down a volcano

“I sit on my board and wait for someone to give me a push. The initial experience is slow and takes a minute to get going. For a few seconds I’m moving at a glacial pace and wondering what the big fuss is over volcano boarding. This is the second most dangerous tourist activity in the world? Yeah, okay. Soon enough I gain speed. Then more speed. Then more. And pretty soon I’m filled with a mix of terror and excitement. Two conflicting thoughts are running through my head: 1. This is fucking awesome. 2. Oh God, I hope I don’t die. I start freaking out a bit. Scared of the speed I’ve gained, I push my heels into the volcano’s surface, attempting to brake. Immediately, I get the aching suspicion I’m going to crash. Sure enough, I do. I fly off my board and completely forget Tom’s advice about how to prepare for this. I just hope my board doesn’t hit me as we’re both somersaulting down the volcano. Luckily, it doesn’t. I land flat on my back. It takes me a minute to take everything in. I think about how warm the volcano feels underneath me. I lay there for a moment collecting my thoughts before realizing my group is yelling at me, asking me to wave my hand if I’m okay.”

“As my heart raced in my chest and I felt the effects of the adrenaline coursing through my body, I tried to take deep breaths and mentally run through the different steps of the process as everyone lines up along the lanes spread a bit apart so boarders don’t collide. I wasn’t first in line, so I watched carefully the take off maneuver to pick up speed at the beginning and was mentally comparing how each person approached it. [...] At first, hurtling down the side of the volcano, my mind was racing. Noticing how it all felt, feeling the air rush by, making slight adjustments in my position to stay balanced. Then my focus shifted to trying to go faster. I had lost some of the initial momentum getting caught up in the decently sized chunks of black volcanic gravel and shifted my body position to leaning far back and lifting my feet to minimize friction and pick up speed.”