D14 -- Climbing Volcán Villarrica!

On January 16th we climbed Volcán Villarrica. Yup, that’s right – an active volcano! This is pretty much one of the most adventurous things I’ve ever done, so this’ll be a looonng entry! Our day started at 6:40, when we woke, dressed quickly, and headed to our tour operator’s office. We were part of a group of about 16 people from England, South Africa, Holland, the US (CT), Italy, and Spain. We were outfitted with large backpacks, crampons (spiky shoe attachments), gaiters, snowboarding-type pants, a water-proof “pamper” to cover our butts, rain jackets, hats, helmets, gloves, and a 3-foot-long ice pick.

We had four guides, which worked out well, since it enabled us all to go at our own paces once we got up on the volcano. After a 30-minute bus ride we made it to the park. It was the closest we’d been to Villarrica, and it looked BIG. After another 15 minutes, we arrived at the base of the ski lift that would take us the first 450 meters, up to 1850 meters above sea level. Four (very fit) people declined the lift, but everyone else rode up. I was feeling pretty nervous, partly because I wasn’t sure if I had the stamina to make it up, and partly for fear of falling down the steep slope.

The lift brought us up to the snowline, where one of our guides helped us put our crampons on. We all set off in a single file line at 9:25 a.m. Both of us were amazed at the stunning views that we began to see as we climbed higher and higher. We were also incredibly amazed at how steep the volcano was. When we would look back at where we’d just been we couldn’t believe we’d been able to get up to where we were because it was just SO steep. At one point we saw two or three big chunks of ice that had broken off from above hurling down the side of the volcano. All we could do was yell to those below to get out of the way - poor things - you could tell they were trying to figure out which was to duck. Luckily, no one got hurt, but it made us realize how hard it would be to stop if one of us fell.

The ascent was difficult and tedious- we zigzagged slowly up the steep face digging into the snow and slushy ice with our crampons and our ice picks. It was very slippery at times because the snow was so thick and would give way under our feet. At some points we could bury our whole ice pick in the snow it was so deep. I felt like we were in one of those circuses where each elephant uses their trunk to hold the preceding elephant’s tail. For me it was great, because I could stare at the person’s feet in front of me and just worry about one step at a time. I tried to avoid looking up at the huge distance we had to travel (997 meters), but sometimes stole a glimpse down to see how high we’d already climbed. Luckily, we got into a slower group, so the pace was okay for me, though probably a little boring for Thomas.

Our stops were few - maybe four – and lasted only 15 minutes or so every 45 minutes. It was good timing for me, because after about 40 minutes I was REALLY out of breath. During these stops we tried to take a few pictures, apply more sun block, and grab some food and water. Then it was back on the trail again. The Dutch woman in our group had to be taken down the mountain by one of the guides because she was struggling so much and said she couldn’t breathe. Another woman had to give her pack to one of the guides and he carried hers and his. Luckily, Thomas had taken the big pack with all the water and the gear, while I carried only a small pack with our food and my snow pants. Our guide called Thomas my sherpa.


We finally arrived at the summit (2847m) at 2:00 p.m. The fumes from the crater were pretty bad – they would burn your nose and throat if you breathed them in. You could see the gasses coming out of the rock. Luckily, our guides brought us up on the opposite side of where they were blowing, so it wasn’t horrible. From the top we could see five other snow-capped volcanoes, two blue lakes, and green trees all around them. It was incredible! We took some pictures of our triumphant moment, pocketed a few rocks as souvenirs, and enjoyed a celebratory chocolate bar.

The way down was just as much an adventure as the way up. We took off our crampons and put on our ski pants and “diapers” (i.e. butt covers) before we started down. When we walked it was very slippery, especially since we didn’t have crampons anymore, so we fell A LOT. I borrowed some ski poles from one of the guides to keep from falling so much. Then we would come to points where there were little concave “tracks” going down the face that were just big enough for a person’s behind and we would sit down and then slide! That was the most fun of all. We used our ice picks to slow down but at times we would careen out of the track and go a bit out of control. At one point, I lost my ice pick and Thomas had to grab it on his way down. I had two big balls of ice in the pockets of my backpack after all three slides. It was crazy! And what a view going down!

When we got down off the snow we stripped down to our clothes and hiked the rest of the way through very sandy volcanic dirt. A quick bus ride later we were back at the tour company’s office drinking beer and cokes. We got certificates of achievement- made out to Elba Mendoza and Tomas Simse. In the end it was more of a super-steep hike than a climb, and certainly not that high compared to other mountains, but for me it was an enormous achievement, and we were both really proud to have done it.

-Elva