Black beak of the Southeast Crater, the "Levantino" yawns toward a blue winter sky on 18 March 2004, nearly three year after its rapid growth. This steep-sided vent sits on the northeast flank of the Southeast Crater and was built up during a series of paroxysmal eruptive episodes in June-July 2001, just before the flank eruption of that year. The March 2004 visit was made during a topographic survey of the Southeast Crater, aimed at establishing the height of its cone and creation of a new digital map

The sleeping volcano, spring 2004

During the spring of 2004, Etna showed very little signs of eruptive activity, although gas was steadily emitted in varying amounts from the summit craters, and fresh magmatic ash was emitted at least once, in February 2004. It was during this quiet period that I climbed the cone of the Southeast Crater for the first time since 1999, in order to obtain GPS measurements and map the morphology of the cone and its conspicuous satellite vent, the "Levantino". These measurements revealed that the summit of the Southeast Crater cone stood at about 3300 m and thus was only about 20 m lower than the highest point on Etna. The climb itself was tremendous: the cone was extremely steep and its flanks were unstable and generated frequent rockfalls; the crater rim was strongly fractured and in places overhanging. Mapping of the Southeast Crater had become necessary after its rapid growth during 1998-2001and the new digital map represents a unique document since it is likely that it will erupt and experience further growth in the future. In fact, the 2004 eruption very likely originated from the conduit of this crater, although the activity started at the base of the Southeast Crater cone.

Etna in a state of quiescence and covered by the remains of the winter snow cover: this view is from Monte Salto del Cane on the south flank, March 2004. The prominent dark peak immediately below the summit is the Montagnola, behind which, to the right, the cone of the Southeast Crater is visible. Although much of that cone is covered with snow, its south flank is snow-free due to continued heat emission

Resurrection of Piano Provenzana, 2004

To all who know Etna well, the devastation of the tourist station of Piano Provenzana in late October 2002 was a deep shock, not only because virtually all of the place was erased swiftly and relentlessly, but also because this had been one of the most beautiful spots on the mountain. Furthermore, that event represented a tremendous blow to tourism business on Etna's northern side, which had always remained much less known and visited than the other tourist station on Etna's south flank, near the Rifugio Sapienza. For more than one year, very little reconstruction was done in that place because no emergency funds had arrived, but in the spring of 2004 Piano Provenzana began to rise from its ruins. A very comfortable, broad road was built across the 2002 lava flow, not far from the former access road buried under that lava, and by the summer of this year, a small cluster of huts and containers invited visitors to have a drink at a bar, buy souvenirs, or acquire tickets for a jeep ride to near the summit. Piano Provenzana is alive again, but close to the humble new structures, the bleaching skeletons of pine trees and the remainders of ski lifts and what once had been hotels and restaurants still bear vivid testimony to the dramatic hours that marked the end of old Piano Provenzana. Although changed beyond recognition, this place is still one of startling beauty

The same site seen at three different times: Piano Provenzana in the summer of 1999, before destruction (left), in June 2003, after destruction (center), and in September 2004 (right). The tourist facilities lay to the right of the view field in the left photograph; right photograph shows the newly constructed access road

Two years after the eruption that devastated Piano Provenzana and buried large portions of the access road, the new road to the tourist station is probably the finest road that exists on Etna at this time. It has been built across the lava flow of October-November 2002, thus offering dramatic views of the devastation of the Ragabo pine forest and the surrounding landscape

The history of the Etna cable-car tells a tale of the perpetual battle of man against an active volcano. The first cable-car was constructed on the upper south flank of Etna in the late-1950s and was operating as of 1960; it arrived at the southern base of the central summit cone, near the Etna Observatory - much higher than today. Destruction came with the 1971 eruption, which also obliterated the Observatory. A new cable-car was built to about 2600 m elevation in the late-1970s and was running by 1981 but destroyed in 1983; a second eruption in 1985 caused further damage to the structure. Reconstruction began thereafter, and the third Etna cable-car started running in 1990. The July-August 2001 eruption brought the destruction of the arrival station and several poles of this cable-car - fortunately the cabins could be saved before the onset of that eruption. Reconstruction started one year after the eruption but was soon interrupted by the next eruption, in 2002-2003, which buried the site of the building under many meters of new lava. Several months after the end of this latest eruption, reconstruction was once more resumed, and by August 2004, the Etna cable-car was once more running, now in its fourth generation. Reconstruction was facilitated by the fact that few of the poles of the cable-car were buried by lava and rendered completely useless.
One might wonder why this expensive structure is rebuilt always in the same site, known to be frequently affected by eruptions. The answer is simple: there's big business at stake. The cable-car IS the motor of tourism on Etna. During good days, several thousand visitors profit from the occasion of reaching Etna's upper region without any effort (except for an economic one: the price for a full two-way ticket including a jeep ride up to Torre del Filosofo and the assistance of mountain guides is now 42 Euro).

Two photographs showing the different stages of destruction of the old arrival station of the cable-car . Left photo was taken after the building was surrounded and set ablaze by a lava flow during the summer 2001 eruption. The ruin was demolished in September 2002 and reconstruction initiated, but the 2002-2003 eruption set a brusque end to this work. Right photo shows the site of the building in early November 2002, covered by a thick sheet of ash of that eruption; subsequently several lava flows buried all that remained of what once had been the cable-car station

Page set up on 25 January 2004, last modified on 17 September 2004