This century's most powerful volcanic eruption created a land of fire and ice, turning the Katmai region of Alaska into a dichotomy on that extraordinary day in 1912. National Geographic compares the two seemingly inconsistent portraits of a place that experienced unbelievable devastation captured on archival footage from expeditions into the area soon after the cataclysmic explosion with recent films displaying the gradual renewal of life in the surrounding area. In VALLEY OF TEN THOUSAND SMOKES, viewers witness the transformation of pristine Alaskan wilderness into a barren wasteland of ash and lava as well as its gradual rebirth.

This century's most powerful volcanic eruption created a land of fire and ice, ...