Hello fellow Slow Travel folks:

I'm planning my next trip to Sicily, and I've been thinking about some kind of ascent of Mt. Etna. A couple of questions:

• Any pointers/references on how best to climb Etna? Simplest path/route? How aggressive is the climb?
  
• Any guide services? I don't want to do this solo.
  

Thanks for any info you can provide.

Ciao.

Michael,
There appear to be many different types of tours on Mt Etna. We went to the summit in 2006 from a base camp first on cable cars, then 4 wheel drive vehicles to the Alpine Guides camp and trekked around the craters and nooks with the guide. You may be looking for something more adventuresome and physical. Our trip was planned by Nat Geo, but I found several options on Google. We did see a couple of people mountain biking up the mountain, I believe they were all Alpine guides.

It was an unworldly place and a great experience.

Getting a guide is the best way to get off the heavily trafficked paths. Here is who we use -- I highly recommend him:
Giambattista Petrillo, tittatelemark@hotmail.com. He's definitely worth hiring to hike to the summit and then down along the Valle del Bove, which will give you a good overview of the formation and current geological situation of Etna.

Here is a reasonably well written description of someone attempting this trek.

My apologies if you have experience at altitude, but just in case:

For altitude concerns, drink lots of water and talk to your doctor about a prescription for Diamox prior to the ascent (need a few days lead time to have medication to be effective).

The rule on water is "copious and clear" for urine flow the entire day.

For clothing, the old adage of "cotton kills" is a good thing to remember. You will burn a lot of calories (and heat) as you go, but will get cold very fast when you stop to rest.

Some rules of thumb: altitude sickness can appear as low as 8,000'; for a walking trip, you can ascend about 1000' per hour at lower altitudes; about 500' feet per hour higher up; the temperature will drop 3 degrees Fahrenheit for every thousand feet of elevation increase.

I would consider looking around for fellow travelers who are similar in age/conditioning/level of interest with whom to do the climb rather than using guides, but that's just a personal preference.

If you do use guides, set your parameters with them before you pay or sign any contracts.

Some guides are very good and have the goal of getting clients to the summit. There are some guides who will take your money and try to run you into the ground so that you abandon the climb/hike and turn around (they get paid; you don't get any summit photos).

Excellent ideas, thanks so much for the pointers. I'm going to do a little more digging via google and I'll post my findings here.

Cheers.
Michael

For what its worth, Etna was errupting this week.

Etna erupting? All the more interesting. ;-)

Seriously, thanks to all for the suggestions. I've been doing some research, starting with picking up some books that have proved to be good reading. I'll try and document my findings here along the way so other folks interested in hiking Etna can have some pointers. Here's where I'm at so far:

• Picked up a copy of Lonely Planet's "Hiking in Italy", which has a good section on Etna and 2 recommended hiking trails. I found it on amazon here.
  
• Another book I found (which is more aimed at the tourist trade as opposed to a hiker like me) that is quite interesting is "Volcano and Geothermal Tourism" that has some good detail on (not just) Etna terrain, paths, and how to make the most of a trip up. It's tough to find, as I think it's out of print. I had to find mine on the UK site of amazon.co.uk.
  
• The LP book recommends Hiking in April-June and Sept-Oct. Summer hiking in July/August isn't recommended, as their are stretches of black soil that radiate the summer heat and will roast you. I'm targeting May.
  
• There are lots of tour guides out there for trips up Etna, but so far the best I've found is one with certified geologists and volcanologists called "Volcano Trek" (at www.volcanotrek.com. I'm not sure I'll use them, but they seem to be one of the most reputable and I'm checking them out. They offer half-day and full-day treks up and back (my preference is to hike up most of the way, camp overnight, catch the sunrise, then hike back down). VT have some useful links including weather and hiking maps of the Etna Preserve.
  

More to follow.
Cheers
Michael