Italian 'barefoot climber' Tom Perry will this week conquer the active volcano of Stromboli in his latest feat of shoeless daring.
Although he will be coming down, rather than climbing up, the Aeolian island's 924-metre peak, Perry will walk where no man has set foot before, descending the 'Sciara del Fuoco' side of the volcano where lava flows during eruptions.
In places the slope offers 50 degree inclines.
The 48-year-old athlete from Vicenza will face the volcano alone, but will have a radio transmitter to keep in contact with a helicopter which will film the descent and, if necessary, airlift Perry out of danger.
The last major eruption of Stromboli was in December 2002.
Perry, who was born Antonio Peretti, has already left his shoes behind to conquer Kilimanjaro in Africa, Fuji in Japan, the Himalayan heights of Makalu and volcanoes in Ecuador, Mexico and Bolivia - as well as Etna on the Sicilian mainland while it was erupting.
On each of his climbs Perry has raised money for environmental causes and peace groups worldwide and is a frequent subject of television documentaries.
An amateur parachutist, hiker and biker, Perry says on his website that he ''discovered his true calling'' when he flung off his boots and started running headlong down a local mountain one summer's day in 2002.
On his website, www.tomperry.it, Peretti says he feels ''the Earth transfers its energy to me while I'm barefoot''.
''I am spiritually reborn, I become a conduit for positive and genuine values''.
