Klyuchevskaya Sopka in Wikipedia :
Klyuchevskaya Sopka (Russian: Ключевская сопка; also known as Klyuchevskoi, Russian: Ключевской) is a stratovolcano, the highest mountain on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia and the highest active volcano of Eurasia. It is the highest mountain in Siberia. Its steep, symmetrical cone towers about 100 kilometres (60 mi) from the Bering Sea. The volcano is part of the natural Volcanoes of Kamchatka UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Klyuchevskaya appeared 6,000 years ago.[1] Its first recorded eruption occurred in 1697,[2] and it has been almost continuously active ever since, as have many of its neighboring volcanoes. It was first climbed in 1788 by Daniel Gauss and two other members of the Billings Expedition.[3] No other ascents were recorded until 1931, when several climbers were killed by flying lava on the descent. As similar dangers still exist today, few ascents are made.
Klyuchevskaya Sopka is considered sacred by some indigenous peoples, being viewed by them as the location at which the world was created. Other volcanoes in the region are seen with similar spiritual significance, but Klyuchevskaya Sopka is the most sacred of these.
Klyuchevskaya Sopka in Britannica :
Klyuchevskaya Volcano, Russian Klyuchevskaya Sopka, also spelled Kl’učevskaja, or Kliuchevskaya, active volcano of the Kamchatka Peninsula, far eastern Russia. It is one of the highest active volcanoes in the world, rising to a height of 15,584 feet (4,750 m), the highest point on the peninsula. The volcano consists of a truncated cone with a central crater, with some 70 lateral craters and cones on the lower slopes. The volcano, which has erupted more than 50 times since 1700, is characterized by smoke continuously billowing above its summit. The Kamchatka Volcanological Station, established in 1935, is located at its base.
Klyuchevskaya Sopka in Summitpost :
Highest active volcano in Eastern Asia. Sometimes it is defined as the highest active volcano in the whole Euroasia (due to Damavand not significant eruption in last centuries). It is cone shaped volcano, that can be climbed from all sides. Mostly, climbs are from the pass between Klyuchevskaja nad Kamen from the south. Less popular is west route. The height of Klyuchevskaja is in the range from 4750 to 4850 m according to different sources. However, on the north side of the summit crater it is 4750 m.
SOME INFORMATION ABOUT KYUVEVSKAYA SOPKA
Klyuchevskaya Sopka (or Klyuchevskoy Volcano) is one of the most famous volcanoes in Kamchatka. Now, its peak reaches a height of 4,850 meters. Klyuchevskaya Sopka goes back 7,000 years. It is the right-shaped and the highest volcano on the Eurasian continent.
Klyuchevskoy volcano area is one of the largest in Kamchatka. Near this giant, there is a chain of peaks called the Klyuchevskaya group of volcanoes: Bezymianny volcano (2,882), Bolshaya Udina (2,923), Kamen (4,575), Zarechny (760), Krestovsky (4,057), Malaya Udina (1,945), Zimina, Tolbachik complex, Ushkovsky (3,943), Kharchinsky (1,400).
Klyuchevskoy volcano rises in the east of the peninsula at a distance of 360 km straight from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and 60 km from the village of Kozyrevsk. You can reach the volcano for 1/1.5 days walking from this village on foot or by all-terrain bus (cross-country vehicle), which will take you there much faster.
Powerful eruptions occur here once every five years. Thus, we can conclude that Klyuchevskoy erupted more than one hundred times throughout its history! This volcano is rightly considered one of the most active on the planet.
The first who mentioned the eruption of Klyuchevskaya Sopka in 1697-1698 was Russian discoverer Vladimir Atlasov. He gave the volcano its modern name. On average, the calm period lasts 5 years, after which the volcano erupts. However, the resting period can be either shorter (3 years) or longer (10-12 years).
The height of Klyuchevskaya Sopka changes every year and ranges from 4,750 to 4,850 m. Just since the last eruption in 2013, it has grown by 15 m and today reaches its maximum height of 4850 m.
Until 1978, the peak was located at around 4,750 m, the crater reached 700 m in diameter, and its depth went down by 500 m. Since this year, the top of Klyuchevskaya Sopka is steadily growing. The inner cone formed in the main funnel was gaining its strength and protruded beyond the edges so that the total height of the largest volcano in Kamchatka grew by 100 m by 1990. By that time, the crater was completely filled with lava and endless streams of red rivers poured into slopes of a hot hill. By 1993, the absolute height of the volcano was 4,822 m. Klyuchevskaya Sopka is the highest point not only throughout Kamchatka but also in the whole mountain system called the Eastern Range.
Apparently, Klyuchevskaya Sopka got its name because of its proximity to the village of Klyuchi. Here, not far from the settlement, there is the Klyuchevka River, which was called by immigrants from other lands. The described names indicate the nature of the area and the richness of the region with hot springs (klyuch in Russian).
There are several legends of the origin of Klyuchevskaya Sopka. One of them tells the story of the local hero Tomgirgin and his bride Itatel, who lived on Klyuchevskaya plain at that time. Itatel’s father was strict and told the hero that he would give his daughter in marriage to him only if he would build a large yurt that would be visible from the coast. Back then, high mountains rose between the coast and the valley. Despite this, the hero coped with his task, and Itatel’s father gave his daughter to Tomgirgin. They played a wedding and fired up the hearth when arrived home. A pillar of fire flew high into the sky and faded away only for a while. As the legend has it, the hearth is kindled again every time when guests come to Tomgirgin and Itatel.
According to another version of the locals, Klyuchevskoy Volcano is the abode of the dead. They say that the volcano erupts when the dead stoke their yurts with the whales’ bones, caught in the underground sea under the volcano. The locals are usually afraid of Klyuchevskaya Sopka and do not climb it.
The glacial complex of the volcano is a unique formation. There are such glacial formations as an ice belt, wandering glaciers, multilayer glaciers, and others. On the slopes of Klyuchevskoy and Ushkovsky volcanoes, the largest glaciers of the peninsula originate – Bogdanovich and Ehrman, each of which reaches 45 km². They are complex formations with separate active streams of ice, passive ice that activates during seismic activity, glaciers with lava fields and slag cones. Every year, the area of glaciation of the Klyuchevskaya group increases.
One of the interesting facts is the formation of the so-called lenticular clouds above Klyuchevskaya Sopka. A cloud that looks like a wide-shaped cone covers the top like a mushroom hat. This form of cloud is quite rare. They do not move despite strong gusts of wind.
Lenticular clouds usually hang on the leeward side of mountain ranges and can be located at an altitude of 2,000 to 15,000 km.
The appearance of such clouds over volcanoes suggests that there are horizontal air currents near it, as well as high moisture in the air.
Ascending Klyuchevskaya Sopka runs in several steps and usually from the direction of the side crater Apahonchich. The seismological station of volcanologists, located at a height of 740 m, 80 km from the village of Klyuchi, has the same name.
In 1788, Daniil Gauss, a naval officer, and his two companions became the first who had ever ascended Klyuchevskaya Sopka. To the historical information, the expedition members ascended without mountaineering skills, as well as without special equipment. Information about the following attempts to climb became known only after more than 140 years, when in 1931, a group of climbers, trying to conquer the hill, died during an avalanche.
We offer two variants of programs of climbing highest active volcano in Euro-Asia Klyuchevskaya Sopka, which must be in the list of each alpinist: With and Without (by foot) helicopter
You can find them here:
Climbing Klyuchevskaya Sopka programs
