VOLCANO SKIING
December 21, 2007
If you decide to take a trip to Italy and you are a skier, you might try Mount Etna.
You won't have to fear avalanches, but you might want to look out for rolling tides of flaming lava as you surf down the snow-covered slopes of active volcano Mount Etna.
There are two sides to Etna, in more than one sense: quiet and raging, hot and cold, but more importantly in this case, north and south, which are the two slopes you can use to ski down. Each slope is in a different district: the northern one ends in Linguaglossa and the southern one leads down to Nicolosi.
There are ski lifts on both slopes, with the northern one ascending from 1800-2300 metres and the southern one from 1900-2600 metres. There are also hotels and ample facilities on both sides, including instruction and rentals.
Etna has been rather active recently and it might be a good idea to check with the tourist office before heading there.
