While Perry had obtained permission from area officials to walk barefoot down the volcano, officials with Italy's Natural Disaster Risk Assessment Department have stomped down on the idea, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Thursday.

"Apart from risking his own neck, Perry could endanger the lives of any rescue teams that might be called in,'' department chief Bernardo De Bernardinis said.

The 48-year-old daredevil, who was born Antonio Peretti, has earned a worldwide reputation for walking barefoot on Mount Kilimanjaro, the Himalayan mountain of Makalu and on multiple volcanoes.

ANSA said on Perry's personal Web site, he details the thrill of removing one's shoes in such dangerous terrain.

''I am spiritually reborn. I become a conduit for positive and genuine values," he said in the online posting.