Not a good day to be on Mayon volcano:

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/articl ... 493298.php

TFPU!

I climbed this in 1980 after getting stuck on it for several days in a Typhoon. We were showered with hot rocks at the top. Couldn't see anything with the smoke. Loose your footing and you will slide thousands of feet.

I guess that was on a good day.

A real tragedy ... five climbers killed in an explosive eruption not unlike that of Mt. St. Helens ..

"He said rocks "as big as a living room" came raining down, killing and injuring members of his group, some of whom were in critical condition. Jesalva said he rushed back to the base camp at 914 meters (3,000 feet) to call for help."

i wouldn't climb an active volcano personally. this is why.

As a general comment, 'active' in terms of volcanoes is a somewhat relative term and more consideration should be given to risk instead. Kilauea is active but I'd imagine most people would be happy wandering around on it where the ground's solid and there isn't likely to be a lava flow trapping you any time soon. Stromboli is active, but again most people would be happy going up and see some rocks flying around because the probability of an unusually large eruption and getting killed (which does happen) is relatively small. There are active volcanoes with relatively slow dome growth with little explosive activity where you could generally be quite happy too, more up-slope than down-slope though. Mayon on the other hand is known to erupt regularly and will be prone to do so dangerously due to the particular lava chemistry and abundance of rain water available, plus predicting the behaviour is harder, thus the risk of climbing is higher. As unfortunate as these guys were all things considered, the risk of getting hurt is almost always highest driving to and from the base of a volcano, not from eruptive activity given that sensible precautions are taken.

if i'm going to give my opinion, i would rather suggest that Mount Mayon should be prohibited from climbers. as we know that the tremors and eruptions may happened anytime. so to avoid complications, it would be totally off limits to climbers.

sports pictures

Then again ... the "majority" of SP-enthusiasts would rather challenge themselves and make their lives more "meaningful" by DANCING on a VOLCANO!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50CKhBaCHTQ[/youtube]

well, there is actually an alert system based on the condition at this active volcano. What comes at a surprise was that the alert level was 0 at the time of explosion.

I wasn't trying to "downplay" a tragedy of epic proportions and lives loss. But, there is something about a volcano that makes it attractive to the
average outdoor enthusiast.

Unpredictability is definitely characteristic of true Nature.

lcarreau wrote:I wasn't trying to "downplay" a tragedy of epic proportions and lives loss. But, there is something about a volcano that makes it attractive to the
average outdoor enthusiast.

Unpredictability is definitely characteristic of true Nature.

Well obviously mountaineering isnt the safest sports. in fact when you are in trouble, there is no easy way out. I am not saying things like avalanche or volcanic eruption, a simple fall on a 40 degree granite path may result in bleeding, bruises and sometimes, twisted ankle or a dislocation. There is a chance that you cant get a signal, the nearest point you can get rescue may be 3km down the 40 degree slope, and you probably need to limp with a twisted ankle, bleeding knee and a broken tooth for another 6 hours, considering that this is just a technically low route with low risk.

Seriously i think someone is afraid of getting hurt, this is not the sport for you. Seriously attempting an active volcano, a 6000er, a high level ice climb, death is something we need to be prepared off.