|
VOLCANO CHASER
Most of people like to spend holidays at the beach but volcano chaser Paul Hloben prefers to watch molten lava lakes. Hikers and mountaineers climb big limestone walls, others granite peaks. He prefers to climb volcanoes, preferably in eruption.
Since 1998, in his brief volcanic odyssey, Paul has visited 48 volcanoes and climbed 28 of them. He has seen 19 eruptions on 12 volcanoes, ranging from peaceful lava flows to highly explosive eruptions with pyroclastic flows (hot avalanche of rocks raging downhill at speeds of hurricanes).
This what he says about his addiction:
The volcano bug bit me in June 1998. I was watching a travel documentary on Reunion. The volcano on the Indian Ocean island is called La Fournaise, which means The Furnace. At the time I was publisher of a magazine called Furnace & Refractory Engineer. I thought that it would be a good idea to visit the Furnace as being the publisher of the furnace magazine and write something about it as a feature. A narrator in the documentary mentioned that the volcano had erupted a week after they left the island. I needed no more encouragement. The next day was Monday and I was talking to the travel agent and Friday I was on the volcano.
I climbed many mountains, but this was a completely different experience. Lava lost its initial anger and was peacefully bubbling out from the volcano flank. It was, however, a dangerous and treacherous place. A hostile terrain, slippery footholds on jagged rocks, make navigating perilous. Ground can collapse any time without warning trapping victims with few means of escape. The hiking ground was hot, smelling of sulphur. Broken lava caves, called tubes, were everywhere some of them hissing hot volcanic gases, making the hike very difficult. The volcanic rubble was as sharp as broken glass so the using hands to help navigate the jagged terrain was out of question.
At the active lava flows, the adrenaline rush was very high, elevated by strong heat radiation and the smell of sulphuric gasses. Excitement, however, overwhelmed senses. Where the lava reached the surface it pulsed ferociously with occasional spattering. The hissing sound was so loud I could not hear anything and the smell of the sulphur was very offensive.
Despite all the hardships the spectacle was mesmerizing. The lava flows have turned the three kilometres of the mountain slope into an enormous delta-like flow. The panorama was very dramatic with the occasional comic scenes when the flowing lava pushed overlying crust upwards resembling humans walking in the middle of the flow. Like a liquid mountain, the entire hillside was alive, moving in different directions.
Despite its eerie look during eruptions, La Fournaise is not a killer volcano. Its eruptive fountains, like Hawaiian volcanoes, are confined within fissures or craters and the lava moves slowly down its flanks, letting people ample time to escape. It is these types of volcanoes that people love to watch.
Leaving the island, I knew I was hooked. Since then I have been visiting these fascinating mountains on average three to four times a year.
Q: Favourite volcano?
A: Stromboli in southern Italy
Q: Most memorable volcano?
A: Ol Doinyo Lengai in Tanzania
Q: Most dangerous volcano?
A: Sangay in Ecuador
Q: Any Injury?
A: I broke my spine descending Villarrica in Chile.
The most dangerous situation occurred on Sangay when an explosion triggered a small rock avalanche from a nearby lava dome. We were caught in the middle of it. Rocks up to size of microwave ovens were speeding around us at such speeds that it was impossible to dodge them. Miraculously, nobody was hurt.
Plus plenty small mishaps such as burnt shoes on Etna (twice!), I was hit and burnt on my neck by a small spatter (Hawaii and Lengai), burnt hands on Vulcano fumarole (400C), etc.
Q: Most freezing experience
A: Kilimanjaro, Cotopaxi and Sangay
Q: Hottest experience
A: Jumping over lava flows on Etna and Fournaise and walking over redcracked lava bench on Big Island, Hawaii.
Q: Most humbling experience
A: Seeing a small part of the dome of Soufriere Hills on Montserrat collapse. The huge mountain became a red inferno of rolling avalanches.
Q: Most beautiful volcanic landscape
A: Tengger Caldera in Indonesia and, of course, Ol Doinyo Lengai
Q: Most chilling experience
A: Devastation at Mount St Helens and Montserrat
|
 |
