What it feels like to walk over an active volcano
What it feels like to walk over an active volcano
Alex describes how it feels to walk next to 900° Celsius hot, orange-glowing lava bombs and how shockwaves from the explosions throw him off the line.
04.04.2020, over the vulcano Yasur
I'm standing 20 meters from the end where my father is waiting for me. I can see that he's nervous. In that moment, I hear the explosion that always comes right before the next eruption – one second later a lava fountain shoots up in my peripheral vision and I feel the heat. Shortly afterwards the shockwave comes, but this time I am prepared for it.
Today is the last of three days on which I was on the 260m long line. The first time we had to contend with very strong winds, practically a storm. There was no thinking about going through in one go, it was pushing me even closer to the crater. Never before had I been so close to a force of nature! A look at the Casio watch tells me that my pulse is at 120bpm. The feeling of being completely at the mercy of mother nature reminds me of that time I walked a 650m long nylon line in the Auvergne, in an attempt to cross an extinct volcano during 100km/h strong winds. Just like it was then, I have no choice but to accept the fear and concentrate on breathing. The biggest difference however is that here, on an active volcano, there is the additional threat of catapulted glowing rocks. It feels like they could hit me at any moment, though no boulder lands closer than 50m away from the line. With every roar of the volcano my pulse stops for a short time, only to beat faster afterwards.
The second and third times on the line the pure feeling of fear I had towards this elemental force gave way to respect and admiration. The erupting red-hot lava fountains and the mighty ash clouds almost put me under a spell. Sometimes I can't help but stand still and watch the spectacle. It feels unreal to experience this, almost like a dream. At the same time, I feel more alive and present than ever before in my life in the face of this force of nature.
Rafael had already warned me: the shockwaves of the explosions can throw you off the line. They are so strong that you can see them racing through the air and shaking the smoke for a millisecond. Like an earthquake in the air. Apparently, these shockwaves also mess with the fluids of the equilibrium organ in the inner ear, which ends up causing us to fall several times. My technique to weather the shockwaves is similar to the one I use when faced with a strong gust of wind: I quickly tense everything and bend my knees slightly. During this walk it consistently saved me from falling. I cross the last meters through clouds of sulphur steam towards the rim of the crater.
Stepping from the line I fall into the arms of my father. With his hug, all the tension falls away. I am so grateful to be at this place together with him and to have shared these experiences that cannot be fully put into words.
Everything has been captured on film - five minutes after my crossing the clouds burst and a downpour washes everything out. At this point it doesn’t matter anymore if the material gets wet. The timing feels like fate. Our departure is set for tomorrow and five days later we would already be back home.