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Mount Sinabung in 3D: real relief (Copernicus DEM) and satellite image (Sentinel-2)

Volcano·IndonesiaIndonesia

Mount Sinabung

2,460m

Barisan Mountains

Summit weather

3D view drawn from Copernicus WorldDEM-30 (© DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA) and Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH, CC BY 4.0

Elevation
2,460m
Prominence
1,133m
Isolation
28km
Relief
1,553mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope
47°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit
NoneSee month by month ↓
Summit
3.1714°N, 98.3906°E

Active volcano in North Sumatra, Indonesia

Mount Sinabung is a volcano in the Barisan Mountains (Indonesia). Its summit stands 2,460 m above sea level. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 1,133 m, and the nearest higher ground is 28 km away.

From the lowest point within 5 km (907 m), it rises 1,553 m. The steepest side is the west face: 34° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 47° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Berastagi, 13 km away at 1,402 m: 1,058 m below the summit.

Read more on Wikipedia

Scores

Mount Sinabung for skiers and climbers

Two scores out of 10, built only from open data — every part is shown. They describe what the mountain offers, not how safe it is.

Hiking & mountaineering

4.1/10

Difficulty to the top

Mountain walk

Most path sections around the top are T3 on the SAC hiking scale.

Indicative only — never a safety assessment. Conditions change: ask local guides and check the forecast.

  • 0.2/2.50 waymarked routes and 3 path sections nearby
  • 0.0/1.50 huts and shelters
  • 1.1/21,058 m of ascent from the valley
  • 1.3/1.51,133 m of prominence
  • 1.5/1.512 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
  • 0.0/1via ferratas, climbing and glaciers

Ski score

—

No ski runs within 12 km in OpenStreetMap.

How these scores are made

Ski (where OpenStreetMap has skiing within 12 km): up to 4 points for the length of downhill runs (300 km or more = 4), 1.5 for the number of lifts (40+), 1.5 for the vertical between lift stations (1,500 m) and 3 for the snow season — a month counts when the estimated mean temperature at the height of the ski area is −1 °C or lower and snow falls or lies there (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Hiking & mountaineering: up to 2.5 for waymarked routes and paths, 1.5 for huts, 2 for the ascent from the valley (2,000 m), 1.5 for prominence (3,000 m), 1.5 for the season (months with summit afternoons above −5 °C) and 1 for via ferratas, climbing and glaciers. OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: where few things are mapped, a score can be lower than reality.

Plan your visit

Stay, climb and get there

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

Snow

When there is snow on Mount Sinabung

In a normal year there is no snow on this mountain, not even at the summit.

Estimate for a normal year: average temperature and precipitation from NASA POWER, carried to each height, in a simple model of snow building up and melting. In a given year snow can come earlier or stay longer. It does not replace the local snow and avalanche bulletin.

Summit weather

Mount Sinabung, month by month

Not a forecast: long-term averages (1991–2020), carried up to the summit. The orange line is where an average afternoon reaches 0 °C; above the dashed blue line it freezes even at dawn.

On an average March afternoon the summit reaches about 17 °C; on January nights it falls to about 10 °C. Afternoons at the top are above freezing in every month of the average year. In March the 0 °C line climbs to about 5,900 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, February is the driest month (130 mm) and October the wettest (342 mm).

2,000 m3,000 m4,000 m5,000 m6,000 mSUMMIT · 2,460 mBERASTAGI · 1,402 mJanuary: 5,740 mFebruary: 5,860 mMarch: 5,900 mApril: 5,900 mMay: 5,840 mJune: 5,680 mJuly: 5,640 mAugust: 5,660 mSeptember: 5,680 mOctober: 5,700 mNovember: 5,680 mDecember: 5,680 mJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit
MonthSummit high °CSummit low °CBerastagi high °C0 °C line (m)Rain & snow (mm)Wet daysSun h/day
January1610225,740170225.1
February1710225,860130185.7
March1711225,900174235.9
April1711225,900175245.6
May1711225,840219245.7
June1611215,680157206.4
July1610215,640194225.8
August1610215,660223255.5
September1610215,680286254.8
October1610225,700342284.4
November1611215,680284284.4
December1610215,680272274.4

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 720 m), adjusted to the summit by −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Rain, wet days and sunshine are those of the region. Mountain weather changes fast — always check a local forecast. ★ = mildest months at the top.

Relief

The mountain in profile

Two cuts through the summit, 16 km long, from the 30 m Copernicus elevation model. Heights drawn 2× taller than lengths, so the shape can be seen.

West – east
2,460 m856 m0 km2 km4 km6 km8 km10 km12 km14 km16 kmWE
South – north
2,460 m904 m0 km2 km4 km6 km8 km10 km12 km14 km16 kmSN
Steepness by direction
30°N: 29°NNE: 28°NEE: 28°ESE: 30°SES: 28°SSW: 33°SWW: 34°WNW: 32°NW

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Mount Sinabung

Counted around the summit in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. The satellite plate shows 14 × 14 km.

Mount Sinabung seen from above (Sentinel-2) N 5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 14 × 14 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

  • —mountain huts and shelters
  • —cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
  • —ski areas
  • —waymarked hiking routes
  • —via ferratas
  • —climbing crags and routes
  • —named glaciers
  • 12viewpoints

    View on Mount Sinabung and 11 more

  • —campsites
  • —hotels, B&Bs and chalets
  • 2restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

3 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T3
  • T3 demanding mountain hiking

Towns at the foot

  • Berastagi13 km · 1,402 m
  • Kabanjahe13 km · 1,196 m

OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: a low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. Places © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photos

Seen by climbers and visitors

Sinabung
Unknown author · Public domain
Asap Erupsi Gunung Sinabung di Pagi Hari
Arteri Project · CC BY-SA 4.0
Gunung Sinabung 2019
Kennedy Thomas · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

How each month compared at the summit

Afternoon high at the summit (estimate). The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years show only the difference.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
1991–2020 average161717171716161616161616
2020+1.3+0.9+1.1+0.5+0.4+0.2+0.5+0.8+0.2+0.1+0.3±0.0
2021±0.0+0.9+0.2±0.0+0.6−0.2+0.2+0.1+0.5+0.5−0.2+0.3
2022+0.3−0.4−0.1+0.2±0.0−0.3+0.5±0.0±0.0−0.3−0.2−0.4
2023−0.1+0.1−0.1+0.7+0.7+0.6+0.8+0.7+0.5+0.7+0.4+0.7
2024+0.7+1.2+1.2+1.4+1.2+0.7+0.9+0.4+0.5+0.8+0.3±0.0
2025+0.1+0.5+0.3±0.0+0.1+0.5+0.8+0.5+0.4+0.5−0.2+0.8

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominenceWikidata (Q207678) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profilesCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

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