Etna

Bus at 8.15 am from the Railway Station in Catania, taking three passengers up to Rifugio Sapienza at 2000m on the southern slope of Mt. Etna. The snow hides many of the geological features at this time of the year, but the skiing area was reconstructed after the 2002/03 eruptions and in fact on top of the lava created then. Well visible from the slope are the Silvestro craters created in 2001.
On the way back down to Catania stopover in Nicolosi (700m), that hosts the Etna volcanolgy museum. Well worth visiting, but the opening hours do not really conform with the timetable of the only bus per day that comes down from Rifugio (gets to Nicolosi after 5 pm, museum closes at 5.30 pm).

Virgin rock below your skis. Craters date from 2001.

For ski slope profile: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=129853