Picture the scene. Perched on the crater’s edge of a super-active volcano, 728 metres (2,388 ft) above sea level. On all sides of the smoking black cinder cone and lava field, a verdant landscape stretches towards the horizon. Then, it’s off, skidding and sliding over loose volcanic rock and ash, the wind and dust in your face as you accelerate down the mountainside, steadying yourself for speeds of over 50 miles (80 kilometres) per hour.

Dreamed up four years ago by the guys at Bigfoot Hostel and Green Pathways Tours in Nicaragua, volcano surfing – sometimes called ash boarding or volcano boarding – seems to have slid off the volcano slope and taken off as the adventure travel community turns its gaze on the latest hot extreme sport.