Without a doubt, the main attraction of the Kamchatka Peninsula is Klyuchevskaya Sopka, which is a large active volcano with a cone-shaped regular shape. If we talk about the origin of the name, the very term “hill” is interpreted by local residents as a hill or a hill. The name of the mountain is associated with the nearby river Klyuchevka and the settlement of Klyuchi. Presumably, the choice of the name of the volcano was also influenced by the presence of a large number of keys nearby, which are hot. Klyuchevskaya hill is covered with an ice cap. Some of its languages descend almost to the foot of the mountain.
The eruption of this volcano was first documented in 1697, and the first detailed description dates back to 1737. Then the participant of the second Kamchatka expedition, led by Bering, Stepan Krashennikov noted that a fierce, terrible fire lasted about a week. Because of it, the whole mountain turned into a hot stone, and the flame rushed down with a very strong noise in the form of a hot river. Klyuchevskaya Sopka significantly increased its activities in the summer of 1966. Then, during a series of eruptions, lava descended into the valley of the Kirgurich river, along the channel of which flowed for a long time in the direction of the settlement of Klyuchi. For two months, the lava flow covered a distance of ten kilometers, which greatly frightened the locals.
Over the past two hundred years of observations, the eruptions of the Klyuchevskaya volcano have occurred about fifty times. In the twentieth century, the volcano was most active in January 1980. On the slope of the mountain then a crack of about one kilometer long appeared, from which a huge amount of ash and lava was thrown out.
As for the height of the volcano, there is no concrete answer yet. According to most atlases, this parameter is 4688 m. However, in many books and encyclopedic reference books, the figure is 4750 m. Based on the data from the popular Wikipedia Internet source, Klyuchevskaya Sopka is 4649 m high. The explanation for all this is quite simple. The fact is that the volcano is now active. Like any other living creature, he has a tendency to constantly change his size. If you study the historical statistical information, you can see that as of 1978, the height of the mountain was 4750 m. After another twenty years, Klyuchevskaya Sopka increased by a hundred meters in height. As a result of the eruption in 1994, due to the growth of slag cones, the mountain grew to 4822 m. Despite this, the active activity of the volcano led to the gradual destruction of the cones and a reduction in height to the level of 4750 m. Today, the volcano crater again material accumulation is observed, which leads to its growth. In this regard, the height of the mountain now is approximately 4800 m.
The first officially recorded ascent to the Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano dates back to 1788. This happened between August 4 and 8. Then the Russian expedition, led by Billings, approached the base of the mountain, and driven by curiosity, mountain conductor Daniil Gaus, together with several of his companions, ascended to the top of the volcano.
