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Two Explorers Descend Into An Active Volcano, and Live to Tell About It

Posted by timothy on from the you-literally-cannot-try-this-at-home dept.

Discover reports on the unlikely adventure of explorers and daredevils Sam Cossman and George Kourounis, who (with caution employed at least in their choice of gear) "rappelled down the crater inside Mount Marum, which is situated on one of 80 islands that make up the Pacific Republic of Vanautu. And they’ve just uploaded video of this up-close encounter with one of the world’s most volcanically active locations." Warning: the linked video may inspire envy and wanderlust, even if it doesn't expose any deep new science.

13 of 66 comments (clear)

  1. Grandparents... by solidraven · · Score: 3, Funny

    And I can totally imagine them coming home and their grandparents asking them "Where did you go this year?" in the most obnoxious wasy possible, like all grandparents do. Good luck explaining this one!

    1. Re:Grandparents... by solidraven · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, its still less stupid than throwing a bucket of ice water over your head and then posting it on Facebook.

      But building a drone that could work in a volcano would be pretty challenging, lets give it a go!

    2. Re:Grandparents... by rastos1 · · Score: 2

      bunch of things you could also have done with a drone

      Yeah. And clicking on Street View or Wikipedia is sooo much better then visiting Louvre, Egyptian pyramids or Kennedy Space Center in person ... And you don't even have to leave your mom's basement.

    3. Re:Grandparents... by grcumb · · Score: 2

      Do you realize where this volcano is? Hint: look at the natives in the grass skirts. They're out chasing forest critters for dinner, not gearing up to rescue stupid rich tourists. I really doubt that anybody would come out and rescue them.

      Howdy, commentator! I just read your comment about the people of Vanuatu, where I live. Guess what? This whole country is full of 'natives'! Isn't that cool?!

      One thing though: Promise me you will never, ever, EVER come here. Because witless, condescending fucks like you tend to get killed and cooked for dinner.

      (We're not really cannibals, but we'd do it just to spite you.)

      --
      Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
  2. They descended by phantomfive · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They descended.......and shot a movie with a telephoto lens that made it look like they were closer than they actually were. It's not like they were lava diving or anything.......that would be a story. Build a submarine that can enter lava.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    1. Re:They descended by Anubis+IV · · Score: 4, Informative

      I watched the video at the link. There definitely were some tricky camera angles at play that made them look closer than they actually were, but there was one shot from immediately behind one of the daredevils, and that one seemed to me to make it pretty clear that they actually were rather close. I also thought it was rather telling that there was only one shot from that angle, whereas there were loads from higher up the cliff with a telephoto lens. Seemed almost to me like the camera guy decided to get the hell out.

  3. The last sentence of the summary is spot on by oobayly · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I am so full of envy right now, with a generous side order of awe. Watch that actually brought a tear to my eye.

    1. Re:The last sentence of the summary is spot on by grcumb · · Score: 2

      I am so full of envy right now, with a generous side order of awe. Watch that actually brought a tear to my eye.

      Well, if you can pay the airfare to Vanuatu (3 1/2 hours away from Sydney for about $US 750), only a couple hundred dollars more will get you a walking tour to the edge of the caldera. It's not really a mountain so much as a high plateau with two (yes, two) active calderas. It's a fucking amazing place, a lunar landscape emerging over the last rise after a morning spent walking through jungle. Pretty primeval.

      But if you're not in an exercising mood, you can simply pay a pilot to overfly the volcano. I did this once. We were actually on our way to Pentecost island in a small twin-prop charter, when the pilot said, 'Hey, the visibility's really good - you folks want to see a volcano?'

      We thought about it for, like, 0.273 seconds and said, "FUCK YES!"

      So he took us over it. Right. Over. The Volcano.

      Was it cool? Yes, it was cool.

      --
      Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
  4. We're worried about CO2 and global warming? by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 2

    FTA: "In the belly of the beast, gases like carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and hydrochloric acid" HYDROCHLORIC ACID GAS? Screw the CO2, the last thing I want anywhere is air that literally eats you alive from the inside out!

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    1. Re:We're worried about CO2 and global warming? by stoploss · · Score: 5, Informative

      FTA: "In the belly of the beast, gases like carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and hydrochloric acid" HYDROCHLORIC ACID GAS? Screw the CO2, the last thing I want anywhere is air that literally eats you alive from the inside out!

      As you tacitly requested, here's your daily dose of depression:

      BBC: Sulphur mining in an active volcano

      tl;dr: the workers can't afford masks, so the gases cack their lungs and dissolve their teeth while they're working in the volcano.

      You're welcome.

    2. Re:We're worried about CO2 and global warming? by DamnOregonian · · Score: 4, Interesting

      $10 - $15 a day for $400- $900 of sulfur.

      God I love capitalism.

  5. prior art by ihtoit · · Score: 4, Interesting

    National Geographic, "Man Vs. Volcano", part of the Explorer series which aired in 2010. A team of explorers descended three steppes into the mouth of Nyiragongo and took a virgin sample from the world's largest lava lake. When you've seen that show... this is kinda tame.

    --
    Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
  6. I did this before your grandparents were born... by AthanasiusKircher · · Score: 5, Informative

    And I can totally imagine them coming home and their grandparents asking them "Where did you go this year?" in the most obnoxious wasy possible, like all grandparents do. Good luck explaining this one!

    Yeah, yeah. Been there, done that. About 375 years ago.

    Back when Vesuvius was actively erupting in the 1630s, I decided to take a closer look. While the volcano was still smoldering and active, I hired a local guide to take me to the top, then was lowered into the crater to take some scientific observations and temperature measurements. You wanna read more about it? Here's some info on my book. (Of course, science has progressed a lot since then.)

    We didn't have fancy videocameras back then, so I had to make make my own drawings of what I saw.