Tolbachik volcano: the furnace awakens

Instead of a nightmare for Kamchatka's tour operators, the eruption of Mount Tolbachik was a blessing. Winter helicopter tours to Tolbachik have become the season's hit for Russian and foreign tourists.

“No one expected it. According to predictions, it should have started much later. About a month before it began, we recorded some earthquakes, but they were sparse, and no one paid much attention to them. Then, on the night of 26-27 November, a powerful earthquake cycle was triggered. The very next day, it was clear to all that Tolbachik was the site of the eruption," recalls volcanologist Yuri Demyanchuk.

Demyanchuk was one of the first to get a shot of the awakening volcano. On November 29, Yuri was part of a team of scientists that made the first aerial survey of Tolbachik. The aerovisual inspection identified that a new fissure had formed as a result of the eruption, which will most likely be named Novy Treschiny [New Fissure]. A celebration for volcanologists.

The eruption effortlessly plowed through the whole of the Tolbachinsk vale. The mountainside of Plosky [Flat] Tolbachik, one of the volcanoes, was rent asunder by two huge cracks, 1700 and 1900 meters long. One of the fissures ran all the way up to Red Cone, the main attraction of the vale. 200-meter crests of lava spewed forth from the gaping faults. Moving at a speed of 300 meters per hour, the lava flows set fire to the surrounding forest and almost completely destroyed the Vodopadnaya and Leningradskaya volcanology field bases.

The tales of villagers from the settlement of Maiskoe, located 60 km from the center of the eruption, embellish the picture of this local apocalypse. In the first few days, as lava tore the ground, seeking egress, the village was filled with an unearthly roar and the windows of nearby houses shook furiously. Fishermen say that water jetted out of cavities in the riverbed from the force of the shock wave. To top it all, ash rained down from the sky upon the village.

In the wake of the scientists came many onlookers with no scientific background, just inquisitive adventurers. Dozens of adrenaline junkies in souped-up off-roaders and snowmobiles rushed to Tolbachik in search of thrills and unusual photo opportunities.

Among the first to spy the lay of the land was Yevgeny Kostyukov. Incidentally, he went there not only out of curiosity: as a professional organizer of extreme expeditions, for him it was a working visit.

Helicopter tours to Tolbachik were the Kamchatka travel industry's instantaneous response to the rabid media and blog-fueled interest in the eruption. Just two weeks after the start of the eruption, the Internet was full of offers. Some tours to the eruption site are by snowmobile and skis, but such option, although safe, requires very thorough preparation on the part of the tourist.

A hundred meters from the crater, the unbearable heat and suffocating stench of sulfur is overpowering. The landscape is something between the cinematic Mordor and the views of Earth from a BBC documentary about the origins of the planet. The crater of the volcano resembles a hell's kitchen frying pan, with huge swirling bubbles of lava, slag and debris splashing all around, spitting out lethal stony projectiles…

The state of play is the same as it has been for millions of years. Even in today's highly advanced world, we are powerless to predict eruptions accurately or do anything to stop them. Only nature itself can minimize the disastrous consequences: were it not for winter, all the vegetation in the area would have long been engulfed by an almighty conflagration. The only casualty was the nearby forest, since the snow prevented the blaze from spreading any further.

Volcanologists will spend about 2-3 months studying the eruption. The interest of tourists will die down even faster. "I'm tired of organizing these helicopter tours. It's too much hassle for little reward," frowns Yevgeny Kostyukov. "I could earn four times as much from snowmobile tours in the same time. It's time to call it a day."

This winter, helicopter tours to Tolbachik were Kamchatka's number one attraction. Fully loaded helicopters fly from Anavgai and Kozyrevsk 2-3 times daily. The cost of a three-day helicopter tour ranges from 300 to 500 euros per person. Several tour operators on the peninsula provide such services.