Etna, the kingdom of black powder II

Written by Francesco

Monday, 13 April 2009

It's always better not to spend to much time there on the summit. The caproni showed us the way to escape. The black snow was as impressive to see as nice to ski... the very humid environment (sea is a few km away) made the crystals very cohesive and pleasant to track. I hade some of the best turns of the season just in front of the north main crater. And Dario and the caproni showed us were the black snow was at its best. We were near by the last lava eruption, still active from a big crack generated some 10 months ago on the north side. We could see the lava flowing as a river at a distance of about 100 or so meters. Than, as Giampaolo said, it was way better to go. Our final destination of the day was the 40-hours couloir, a natural half pipe of black snow that was a pure joy to track. We left our white tracks on black snow among the lava. Day two begun with the best breakfast one can dream of. Nothing better than Sicily for the food. At the lift station, Dario showed us pics about what Etna has done in the past 10 or so years. It has not been sleeping a lot, lately... Etna made us a precious gift: some centimetres of new powder, so we could follow the tracks of a fox towards the monte frumento. The big craters were still smoking. We were on the summit quickly, and from there we had some 1000 meters of sugar to track in front of us. But time runs short on Etna, a storm from the sea can hit quickly and you do not want to get lost in the middle of lava stones lookin as sharks' teeth. Dario knew Marco and I are from Diablerets and Verbier, so he was particularly happy to let us track what is known there as the swiss' couloir, and to drive us to the best pastry shop in the area. I can't wait to be back in Etna. Topo says there are at least 30 different skinning destinations, some of which so steep and demanding that a safe forecast is mandatory. Drop me a call if you want to go there, saudade is already hittin me...