Here is a interesting sport that is trying to catch on…...from news of the weird:

Two extreme sports enjoying modest success recently (according to stories in, respectively, Time magazine and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin): (1) Yak-skiing in Manali, India (A person on skis and holding a bucket of nuts is attached to a yak by a long rope fixed to a pulley on a hilltop, with the yak near the top and the skier far below. The skier rattles the bucket loudly to infuriate the yak, which then charges down, yanking the skier rapidly uphill.). (2) Ancient, luge-like Hawaiian lava sledding (A daredevil lies on his stomach, 4 inches off the ground on a handcrafted board about 6 feet long, and slides down a 700-foot-long rock formation at speeds from 30 to 70 mph.). [BBC News (citing Time magazine), 7-3-05] [Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7-24-05]

That would HURT if you got it wrong!

Those sound so fake.

I actually seen the lava sleding thing on TV….seems pretty fun….

I’m pretty sure you can’t sled on molten lava.  Are you sure they’re not sledding down rock?

You didn’t read it all….did you???? tiss tiss…........They sled down volcanic rock Maeg…..Is the hamster on a break or something??????

It’s just called lava sledding cause that rock use to be lava..

(2) Ancient, luge-like Hawaiian lava sledding (A daredevil lies on his stomach, 4 inches off the ground on a handcrafted board about 6 feet long, and slides down a 700-foot-long rock formation at speeds from 30 to 70 mph.). [BBC News (citing Time magazine), 7-3-05] [Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7-24-05]

I’m assuming that it’s not molten lava, because that just wouldn’t work. It’s basically just slippery rock, then.
Sounds about as dangerous as many other ‘extreme’ sports, and there’s no mention of what safety gear is involved…

I saw the “700 foot long rock formation” part…but then it was called LAVA sledding and I wondered if some part of it was incorrect.

A lot of the formations aren’t in a downhill fashion.  They’re just flat.  What do they do then?  Just sit in their little canoe and yell?

I believe it has to be actually flowing to be lava.
After that, it comes under the umbrella heading of ‘volcanic rock’, and what precise type would depend on the type of rock that the volcano had been spewing.
But don’t quote me on that.

Boo - 13 September 2005 05:30 PM

I believe it has to be actually flowing to be lava.
After that, it comes under the umbrella heading of ‘volcanic rock’, and what precise type would depend on the type of rock that the volcano had been spewing.
But don’t quote me on that.

Smartarse.