My Experience at #2 on CNN’s 50 Things to Do Before You Die

 

On September 30th, ISEP students along with a few other CUSE students set out to Leon to try our hands at #2 on CNN’s “Thrill seekers bucket list: 50 things to do before you die”. We were set to leave UAM on route to Leon at 7:30am, but our trip slipped our bus driver’s mind and we weren’t able to depart until 9:30. The bus ride was close to two hours, but seemed much shorter due to the great company. Upon arriving at the Bigfoot hostel near the city center of Leon, we boarded the Bigfoot monster truck and were on our way to Cerro Negro!

The ride to the volcano was about an hour, but felt much longer due to the constant barrage of tree branches we had to avoid. If you ever take this ride to Cerro Negro, pay attention to the trees along the roads! Once we reached our destination at the base of Cerro Negro, we received our gear and began our ascent up the volcano. After 25 minutes of carrying out suits and board on our backs, some of the fellow adventurers began to slow their pace so the rest of us found a nice spot about half way up the volcano to rest and wait for the rest of the group to catch up.

After reuniting with the rest of our group, we set off on the second, less intensive, half of our hike. Although the hike wasn’t as steep or treacherous, fatigue caught up with some of the group once again and we had some time to snap some pictures from the peak of the volcano looking into the active crater. We even had enough time to attempt to take a mid-air picture at least 10 times. We finally got it though!

Everyone eventually made it to the top of the volcano and that’s when we were instructed to gear up and get ready for the real adventure. I must admit, I was a little intimidated by the tattered orange jumpsuits that almost looked as though the holes had been burned into them, but we were already at the top and it was too late to have second thoughts. We posed for a group picture in our gear, and started forming lines to slide down.

Looking down from the peak was a little intimidating, but the actual descent was manageable. By that I mean if you wanted to go fast, pick your feet up and lean back. If you felt you were losing control or wanted to slow down, you could take your feet off the board and drag them along the loose rocks to reduce your speed. It’s an exhilarating experience, but there is also an element of safety. There is a Bigfoot employee at the bottom of the hill with a radar gun clocking everyone’s speed. I managed to reach 54 km/h, nowhere near the Bigfoot all-time record of 90 km/h, but I was still more than satisfied with the experience. We reached the bottom, covered in ash and waited for the rest of our group to finish. 3 of us felt that we could have reached higher speeds and that we were being a little too cautious, so we attempted to climb up the slope of the volcano and try again. We didn’t make it too far before tiring out from sinking through the rocks with every step and decided that was far enough. We definitely weren’t high enough to surpass our previous speeds, but it was still a nice bonus attempt.

By the time we made it to the bottom, the rest of our group had as well. We then boarded the Bigfoot monster truck to head back to the hostel for complimentary mojitos and cookies. It is there that we received certificates with our names and speeds to help document the trip. After everyone washed the ash off their faces in the sinks, we boarded the bus and went for quesillos before returning back to UAM around 7pm.

I would definitely recommend that anyone looking for an adrenaline rush try volcano boarding at least once in their life. It was a great experience and I feel that it brought our group even closer together.

- Victor Bejarano