Standing at the Edge

After waking up in my tent at 2am and minus 20° Celsius on a glacier at 3300 meters elevation and climbing for more than 5 hours through the darkness of the night and the sunrise I reached the summit of the highest active volcano of the northern hemisphere together with a friend and my brother. Standing at the edge of the crater at 4800 meters above sea level completely alone, smelling sulfur in the air and feeling the warmth of the volcano was a moment I will never forget. Warm steam was flowing into the sky while snow flakes were falling down on us. Most of the time we were not able to look inside the crater due to all the vapor but when a small gust of wind opened up the view I was able to capture this picture. This 6000 year old strato volcano is erupting usually at least once per year and is located on Kamtschatka in the East of Russia close to Alaska.