Avachinsky Volcano

Avachinsky Volcano (Avachinskaya Sopka) is an active stratovolcano in the south of the Kamchatka Peninsula, in the Yelizovsky District of Kamchatka Krai. It stands in the southern part of the Eastern Range, 27-30 km northeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Yelizovo, close to the Pacific coast. The current summit reaches 2,741-2,751 metres, and its crater is about 400 metres across. Together with Koryaksky, Kozelsky, Aag and Arik, Avachinsky belongs to the so-called "home volcanoes" - the ones visible straight from the city.

The name

The volcano's historical name, Avacha or Avachkh, comes from the Itelmen language and means "fiery". Its unofficial name, "Goryelaya Sopka" (the burnt peak), was given by the Itelmens. The name itself likely comes from the Avacha River, whose own name is probably of Koryak and Itelmen origin. Because the volcano looms directly over the city, it also carries a grim nickname - "the death of Petropavlovsk".

Geological history

In the late Pleistocene, a much taller Paleo-Avacha, about 4,000 metres high, stood on this site. Roughly 11,000 years ago a catastrophic eruption reshaped it entirely: the blast was so powerful that rock blocks weighing dozens of tonnes were thrown up to 25 km away. The old edifice was largely destroyed, leaving a caldera behind. About 4,000 years ago a Young Cone began growing inside that caldera - the one visible today, with a relative height of about 700 metres.

Before the 1827 eruption, a cinder structure up to 2,800 metres high stood inside the Young Cone; the blast cut the mountain's height by roughly a kilometre. The crater took its present shape after the 2001 eruption. Until 1991 the crater measured 350 m across and 220 m deep, but that year's eruption filled it almost completely with lava.

Eruptions and ascents

Scientific observation of the volcano began in 1737, when geographer Stepan Krasheninnikov gave its first description. Several dozen eruptions have been recorded since the 18th century, including six in the 20th century: in 1901, 1910, 1925, 1926, 1938 and 1945, plus 1991. The last eruption, on 13 January 1991, lasted about two weeks; afterwards a lava plug sealed the crater, and it is still visible today.

The first attempt to reach the summit was made by Jean-François de La Pérouse's French round-the-world expedition in 1787, but the party did not reach the crater. That was achieved only in 1824, by physicist Emil Lenz and geologist Ernst Hofmann, members of Otto von Kotzebue's Russian round-the-world expedition. Mass ascents of Avachinsky became a tradition in the 1990s, and today the summer climb is manageable even for a child.

Climbing and getting there

The summer route is graded category I and needs no special equipment. The walk from the dry riverbed to the base camp at 1,000 metres and on to the summit takes about 6-8 hours; a mountain hut on the slope offers overnight shelter. A winter ascent requires registering the group with the Emergency Situations Ministry (EMERCOM) and mountaineering skills. Heli-ski descents from the volcano run up to 7 km with an elevation drop of around 2,000 metres.

From the summit, the Zhupanovsky group of volcanoes and the Nalychevo valley open up to the north, the massive cone of Koryaksky Volcano to the west, and to the south the city on Avacha Bay together with the Vilyuchinsky, Gorely and Mutnovsky volcanoes.

The volcano's base is reachable only by all-terrain vehicles or off-road cars, since part of the way runs along a dry riverbed of volcanic sand and canyons. From Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, take a bus to the "25th kilometre" stop, then continue by hitching a ride toward the Avachinsky turn.

The volcano today

Avachinsky remains active: powerful fumaroles inside the crater reach gas temperatures of up to 400°C, and the "smoking" summit is visible from far away. The lower slopes are covered with stone birch forest and thickets of dwarf Siberian pine, while higher up lie snowfields and glaciers. Large colonies of Kamchatka ground squirrels live on the Avachinsky pass.