Dominating the skyline above Pucón, and for miles around, is the Volcan Villarica, (2,840m) one of Chile's three most active volcanos. On clear days, smoke can be seen rising from the summit and postcards in the shops show the active crater with visible lava. It is an obvious and desireable acomplishment for the adventurous visitor to have reached the summit. When Hannah Van Arsdell and Bobbi Jo Tolman said they wanted to make the ascent, Susan and Richard decided to give it a try, too.
We arranged a guide and gear from
Sol y Nieve, our landlord's agency and set out from the second ski lift at about 8:30am. In summer and during the ski season, it is possible to ride the upper chairlift and save about an hour of the climb, but it wasn't running this day, so we trudged alongside it on the loose volcanic grit.
Far below us we could see Lago Villarica in the distance.
We noticed one of the chairs had fallen off the cable and was still lying on the slope below. The lift was purchased second-hand from an unnamed resort in North America. When we finally reached the upper station at about 1,850m, there is a sign warning not to proceed without ice axe and crampons. However, we soon discovered this was not always the highest part of the resort.
An hour later, just above the summer snow line we passed "The Chapel", an abandoned chairlift station from the resort's fabled past. In 1971, there was an eruption in December when the lava melted part of the ice cap and sent avalanches of boulders and hot mud that destroyed the upper half of the ski terrain and the village of Conaripe. The last eruption was in 1984, when the volcano spat out "bombs of lava" further damaging the slopes. No eruptions have occurred since then.
About two hours later, wearing our crampons to climb up the frozen surface, we reached a small plateau called
la pinguinera (2300m) where we ate a quick sandwich. We were moving too slowly, and Sergio, our guide kept urging us to climb faster because he did not want to be on the summit after 2:00pm.
After forty-five minutes more of difficult cramponing in breakable crud we reach a point even with a steel pipe called
El Tubo, at 2,410m. It is almost 1:00pm with an hour of climbing to the summit. Susan tells Sergio she will wait here while the rest of us push on to the summit.
Looking back at Susan waiting on the exposed slope. Later she reported being frozen by the chilling winds while the rest of us sweated from the exertion of the climb.
On the summit at 1:55pm. Shifting winds brought suffocating sulphur vapors preventing any approach near the edge to look down into the caldera.
The Summit (cough,cough)
Leaving on schedule to begin the descent.
Hannah was wearing her brace the entire climb, but going downhill her knees were being re-injured with each step. Sergio gave her his ski poles to use for extra support. Far below, the penninsula of Pucón projects from the town into the lake.
Sergio carried Hannah's rucksack as she fought back tears of pain. It was 5:30pm before we could see the van that would take us home. It had been a long and difficult day.
We stopped at a turn in the road for a final look back at the volcano in lengthening shadows and the glow of the setting sun.
Dominating the skyline above Pucón, and for miles around, is the Volcan Villarica, (2,840m) one of Chile's three most active volcanos. On clear days, smoke can be seen rising from the summit and postcards in the shops show the active crater with visible lava. It is an obvious and desireable acomplishment for the adventurous visitor to have reached the summit. When Hannah Van Arsdell and Bobbi Jo Tolman said they wanted to make the ascent, Susan and Richard decided to give it a try, too.
We arranged a guide and gear from Sol y Nieve, our landlord's agency and set out from the second ski lift at about 8:30am. In summer and during the ski season, it is possible to ride the upper chairlift and save about an hour of the climb, but it wasn't running this day, so we trudged alongside it on the loose volcanic grit.
Far below us we could see Lago Villarica in the distance.
We noticed one of the chairs had fallen off the cable and was still lying on the slope below. The lift was purchased second-hand from an unnamed resort in North America. When we finally reached the upper station at about 1,850m, there is a sign warning not to proceed without ice axe and crampons. However, we soon discovered this was not always the highest part of the resort.
An hour later, just above the summer snow line we passed "The Chapel", an abandoned chairlift station from the resort's fabled past. In 1971, there was an eruption in December when the lava melted part of the ice cap and sent avalanches of boulders and hot mud that destroyed the upper half of the ski terrain and the village of Conaripe. The last eruption was in 1984, when the volcano spat out "bombs of lava" further damaging the slopes. No eruptions have occurred since then.
About two hours later, wearing our crampons to climb up the frozen surface, we reached a small plateau called la pinguinera (2300m) where we ate a quick sandwich. We were moving too slowly, and Sergio, our guide kept urging us to climb faster because he did not want to be on the summit after 2:00pm.
After forty-five minutes more of difficult cramponing in breakable crud we reach a point even with a steel pipe called El Tubo, at 2,410m. It is almost 1:00pm with an hour of climbing to the summit. Susan tells Sergio she will wait here while the rest of us push on to the summit.
Looking back at Susan waiting on the exposed slope. Later she reported being frozen by the chilling winds while the rest of us sweated from the exertion of the climb.
On the summit at 1:55pm. Shifting winds brought suffocating sulphur vapors preventing any approach near the edge to look down into the caldera.
The Summit (cough,cough)
Leaving on schedule to begin the descent.
Hannah was wearing her brace the entire climb, but going downhill her knees were being re-injured with each step. Sergio gave her his ski poles to use for extra support. Far below, the penninsula of Pucón projects from the town into the lake.
Sergio carried Hannah's rucksack as she fought back tears of pain. It was 5:30pm before we could see the van that would take us home. It had been a long and difficult day.
We stopped at a turn in the road for a final look back at the volcano in lengthening shadows and the glow of the setting sun.
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