This is the very question I searched for after reading two recent stories about people getting killed around active volcanoes. The first one involved just one person and I'm not sure if that particular volcano was active or not, but the guy died by simply falling off the damn thing! The 2nd story was more action-packed, as it did involve an active volcano that erupted and began to spew room-sized rocks and debris toward nearly 30 unsuspecting climbers. The mini-blast killed 5 climbers and injured several others. The remaining survivors had to be retrieved with rope and rescue helicopters. What gets me, is that they knew it was active, but just assumed it would be A-OK to climb.

As my professional (Ha-ha!) illustration shows, climbing an active volcano is not the smartest of ideas. However, for the climbers that are avid thrill-seekers, there are many reasons why they think this is a good idea. After my brief online search, I came across one person that listed 3 reasons for why they think climbing active volcanoes is a good idea. In a thumbnail, she said it was for the intense exercise, the awesome view, and to experience a once-in-a-lifetime achievement. Well, there are many safer ways to get extreme exercise and I'm totally fine with the view I get from photographs of active volcanoes, and there are a lot of "once in a lifetime" experiences you can have, but that doesn't mean they are always a good thing, etc.  I mean, some of these insane stories you hear about makes jumping out of a plane for the fun of it or bungee jumping at the Grand Canyon sound more logical. Would any of y'all do this crazy stuff?

Image Credit: My own shoddy image using the cheap MS Paint program.

---End of Post "Why would anybody climb an active volcano?"