Kluchevskaya sopka from from the North

Approach

The route begins from the settlement Kluchy, to which you can get by bus from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy. The bus leaves from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy early in the morning, and it takes about 8 hours to get to Kluchy by a bad dusty road. The ticket can be bought on the bus station, the price is 800 roubles which is about 30 USD.
It is recommended to spent one night in Kluchy, and in the same time with the searching the night quarters (there is a problems with hotel, but if you can speak Russian, you can find lodging in the private house), you should think about getting to the base of Kluchevskaya sopka which is 40 km from the settlement. To do it by foot is possible, but is rather extreme: two days of walking by marshy selva with mosquitoes. On the cross-country vehicle it is possible to reach the base of climb in two-three hours. Do not think about any variants such as Russian jeep like "UAZ" or any Japan cars. It is only possible to get there by military kind of KAMAZ or URAL. The normal price for this service is from 100 USD for one way up to the volcanologists hut. If it is not full - you are lucky. There is a tight door in the hut which rescues you from the worst misfortune of this place - from mosquitoes.
Other problem here is with potable water - if you use some car to get there, bring the water with you as more as possible and leave the surplus in the hut. The same situation is with firewood - bring it from Kluchy!

Route Description

The volcanologists hut is located at the altitude of 900 meters, Kluchy is near the sea level.
From this hut on the next day start to walk up by a visible trek with no complexities - just walk in the direction of the mountain (if it is visible).
It is important to mark you way by points in GPS, as without visibility (fog, rain) you can have some serious problems with orientation on the route which is nor marked, nor overcrowded.
The camp can be put at the altitude 1800 - 1900 m, there are a lot of convenient places for tents and potable water. By the way, I should say a little about water. It is recommended to have a filter as on the route there is almost impossible to find water without a touch of volcanic ashes.
On the next day put up your camp on one kilometer higher, there are many places for camping at the altitude 2900-3100m. From here the Summit of Kluchevskaya sopka is reachable.
The ascention of the Summit and descent to the Camp normally takes 8-12 hours depending on the physical readyness of participants, the snow conditions and the weather. There are no technical difficulties on this route, but physically it is really hard because of the very long distance and some climatic features of the region.
Be very careful and put maximum of your attention upward - look for the falling stones. The most dangerous time - the moment of the sunrise - the stones begin to fall and not slowed by the snow frozen in the night. As the sun rises, stones becomes more numerous, but they fly much slower - the snow is getting softer and hampers them.
The early start is highly recommended for this route - not later than 4 o'clock in the morning, and the earlier - the better. The descent route is equal to the route of ascent.

Essential Gear

Typical equipment for climbing Kluchevskaya sopka is crampons, ski poles, ice axe and helmet. The last is necessary undoubtedly, as well as the route is quite dangerous because of stonefalls.

Miscellaneous Info

GPS waypoints, photos, and other Information about climbing Kluchevskaya sopka and other volcanos in that region is available on the ALEXCLIMB web-page. Also there you can hire a guide and find partners for climbing.