Ascent of Villarrica Volcano
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¨What´s that? It´s the ice axe I hold in my hand to climb, not my banana...¨
(Sorry Peter, I couldn´t resist this caption)
Scott and Cheryl admire the view on the way up.
Our group having lunch on the crater rim.
Bloody Aussies, you can´t take them anywhere. Peter and Cheryl getting into the red wine.
Starting our descent past all the stragglers with other companies still on their way up.
With time running out and Buenos Aires still to see we were faced with a decision, do we go to see Iguasu Falls or do we stay longer in Pucon waiting for the good weather so we can do an alpine ascent of an active volcano? We no longer had time for both. Well, as Geoff Dengate says, it was a ¨no-brainer¨. At 2874m the Villarrica Volcano is high enough to have a permanent snow cover while low enough to not have to worry about altitude sickness. Its slopes are at a low enough angle to make it a technically easy climb with crampons and an ice axe, which meant that for the first time Cheryl and I could do an alpine ascent together.
Our guide, Miguel takes tourists up the mountain three or four times a week and is a ski instructor in the winter. Because of Miguel´s contacts we were the first party on the chairlift that took us up to the snow line and so we got a head start on the hoards that were climbing with other guiding companies. Our party was small with only five paying clients and Marcelo, a mate of Miguel, making a total of seven. Peter from Melbourne plus ourselves made a total of three Aussies while Ashley and Scott were from North America and are here cycling their way around the Andes.
Miguel helped us attach the Petzel twelve point crampons to our hiking boots and gave us a quick demonstration of how to self-arrest if a fall should send us sliding down the slope. There was no time to practise the technique, we just headed up with Miguel leading. He was an excellent guide and maintained a smooth, easy, steady pace while zig-zagging so we were never ascending at much more than 30 degrees.
Our route took us to the right of a small hanging glacier and when we crested a snow ridge we copped a blast from a stiff Westerly wind (but nothing like Torres del Paine). As we moved higher we would occasionally catch a lung full of the fumes that issued from the crater above. The sulphurous fumes form sulphuric acid when they contact water, so they are not the best thing to breath into your lungs. It made us cough when we caught some fumes.
Cheryl was going great with the crampons, even when crossing the steeper slopes, and I was really proud of her. Our little group was making good time and we led the way for all the others strung out far below us.
After three hours we reached the end of the snow just below the crater’s rim. Here the ground was all dirt and rock covered with a yellow sulphur dust. Miguel expertly read the winds and took us where the fumes were minimal. Soon we were in a position to look down the throat of the volcano but there was no lava to be seen, only the noxious fumes.
The view from the summit was incredible with the white cones of half a dozen other snow capped volcanoes visible. After an offering of some red wine to the mountain spirit we made our way around the rim. We did cop some bad fumes in one short section. This time it even made our eyes water.
The descent was quite easy as we were all feeling like experts with our crampons by then and the snow had been softened by the sun so it gave a little with each step and did not jar our knees. We all got back safely and the day finished over a few beers with Miguel back at the hostel.
¨What´s that? It´s the ice axe I hold in my hand to climb, not my banana...¨
(Sorry Peter, I couldn´t resist this caption)
Scott and Cheryl admire the view on the way up.
Our group having lunch on the crater rim.
Bloody Aussies, you can´t take them anywhere. Peter and Cheryl getting into the red wine.
Starting our descent past all the stragglers with other companies still on their way up.
With time running out and Buenos Aires still to see we were faced with a decision, do we go to see Iguasu Falls or do we stay longer in Pucon waiting for the good weather so we can do an alpine ascent of an active volcano? We no longer had time for both. Well, as Geoff Dengate says, it was a ¨no-brainer¨. At 2874m the Villarrica Volcano is high enough to have a permanent snow cover while low enough to not have to worry about altitude sickness. Its slopes are at a low enough angle to make it a technically easy climb with crampons and an ice axe, which meant that for the first time Cheryl and I could do an alpine ascent together.
Our guide, Miguel takes tourists up the mountain three or four times a week and is a ski instructor in the winter. Because of Miguel´s contacts we were the first party on the chairlift that took us up to the snow line and so we got a head start on the hoards that were climbing with other guiding companies. Our party was small with only five paying clients and Marcelo, a mate of Miguel, making a total of seven. Peter from Melbourne plus ourselves made a total of three Aussies while Ashley and Scott were from North America and are here cycling their way around the Andes.
Miguel helped us attach the Petzel twelve point crampons to our hiking boots and gave us a quick demonstration of how to self-arrest if a fall should send us sliding down the slope. There was no time to practise the technique, we just headed up with Miguel leading. He was an excellent guide and maintained a smooth, easy, steady pace while zig-zagging so we were never ascending at much more than 30 degrees.
Our route took us to the right of a small hanging glacier and when we crested a snow ridge we copped a blast from a stiff Westerly wind (but nothing like Torres del Paine). As we moved higher we would occasionally catch a lung full of the fumes that issued from the crater above. The sulphurous fumes form sulphuric acid when they contact water, so they are not the best thing to breath into your lungs. It made us cough when we caught some fumes.
Cheryl was going great with the crampons, even when crossing the steeper slopes, and I was really proud of her. Our little group was making good time and we led the way for all the others strung out far below us.
After three hours we reached the end of the snow just below the crater’s rim. Here the ground was all dirt and rock covered with a yellow sulphur dust. Miguel expertly read the winds and took us where the fumes were minimal. Soon we were in a position to look down the throat of the volcano but there was no lava to be seen, only the noxious fumes.
The view from the summit was incredible with the white cones of half a dozen other snow capped volcanoes visible. After an offering of some red wine to the mountain spirit we made our way around the rim. We did cop some bad fumes in one short section. This time it even made our eyes water.
The descent was quite easy as we were all feeling like experts with our crampons by then and the snow had been softened by the sun so it gave a little with each step and did not jar our knees. We all got back safely and the day finished over a few beers with Miguel back at the hostel.
posted by Laurie Barram at 7:28 am
1 Comments:
It's amazing~~!!!!
when do you come back!!
I had holiday in Korea and just back to work.
I miss you so much..please take care of yourself!
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