THREE VOLCANOES AND A WEDDING

I have just returned from the Essex & Herts Air Ambulance’s “Italy Challenge”, which was successfully completed by all 26 participants, most of us managing to scale the three volcanoes, as well as bravely tackling sun, pasta and beer.

The trip started with a visit to Pompeii, under the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. The site is much more extensive, and better preserved than I had imagined. Its location demonstrated the inevitable folly of building a city on the slopes of an active volcano, - a lesson not fully learnt when the modern conurbation of Naples was established.

The following day we set off to climb Vesuvius ‘from behind’ (not up the normal tourist road). This took us through a nature reserve into a landscape of black lava sand slowly being colonised by shrubs and trees, but still almost barren towards the top of the mountain. It was a blazing hot day, and some of the group decided to make the ascent more difficult by walking in fancy dress as a wedding party. The ‘bride’ wore a full wedding dress, while the ‘groom’ (in suit and hat), the ‘bishop’ (in robes and mitre) and a bevy of ‘bridesmaids’ all marched cheerfully in the heat, accessorised with boots, back-packs and hiking poles. This caused confusion when we met the tourist hordes at the crater rim, as many thought that a real wedding was in progress. The crater itself is a vast, rocky hole, hundreds of metres across, betraying the volcano’s slumbering activity only by occasional wisps of hot steam coming from fissures in the rock.

Our next volcano, Stromboli, could not have been more different. A small island, it rises abruptly from the sea to a barren cone, almost 1000 metres high. As we arrived by overnight ferry from Naples, puffs of smoke could be seen every 15 minutes or so coming from a vent near the summit. The climb was strenuous, and a few people turned back without reaching the crater. They missed a fantastic show – we arrived at dusk, and lined up some 200 metres from a series of blackened cones with thin columns of steam rising from them. Every so often, there was a deep rumble beneath our feet, and plumes of red-hot lava shot 150 metres into the air. As each explosion subsided in a rain of red rocks, we had a brief respite in the dark before the next one went off. I have never seen fireworks to rival it.

Our descent was also memorable. Walking in the dark in single file down steep slopes of loose scree, lit by head-torches, we kicked up so much dust that visibility was seriously reduced, and each person could only follow the one in front. Eventually we reached the village at the foot of the slope, and enjoyed a well-earned meal at 1.00 am.

Stromboli was a hard act to follow, but Mount Etna was equally impressive, in a different way. Rising to 3600 metres, it is high enough to have permanent snow on the summit slopes, and for altitude to become a factor in the climb. Our approach was eased by taking 4x4 vehicles up to 2900 metres, from where the walk was a straightforward plod up snow and bare lava slopes. For many in the group, it was their first time hiking on snow, and there was widespread elation when they reached the crater rim. Here we peered cautiously over a sheer drop into a 200 metre deep hole swirling with sulphurous fumes. All around, small fissures in the rocks also emitted fumes, and bright yellow sulphur deposits coated the nearby rocks. We were lucky to reach this point, because as often as not the wind direction prevents people going that high.

If the ascent was relatively easy, the descent was much longer and tougher. Sliding and stumbling down a succession of scree gullies and snow slopes, we eventually got down to civilisation (a bar) at 1700 metres. On the way, we passed countless past lava flows, the most recent from an eruption in 2002, still completely free of vegetation apart from the skeletons of dead trees that were overwhelmed by the hot lava. Despite the barren landscape, I was intrigued to see a variety of butterflies on the slopes, even up to almost 3000 metres. In places, the snow was overlaid by a thin layer of orange dust – sand blown from the sahara!

The final day was spent at leisure in Sicily before a late flight home. Even this brought a neat twist to the trip, as our group’s doctor and paramedics went to the aid of an elderly holidaymaker suffering from heat exhaustion, who turned out to be on holiday from . . . . . . Essex! She was impressed at the long reach of her local Air Ambulance Service.

Overall, the trip was very rewarding. As an habitual mountain walker, I hugely enjoyed the climbs and was very comfortable with the effort involved. Some others in the group had no experience of mountains, let alone fearsome lava screes and high altitude snow, so felt great trepidation as each climb started. Their reward was even greater, through mastering the physical and mental effort of getting to the top, and their joy was lovely to see. Everyone shared in the knowledge that between us, we had raised over £30,000 to help the Air Ambulance keep operating. Huge thanks to everyone who contributed!