Climbing Villarrica Volcano! Fantastico!

(Volcan Villaricca, Pucon Chile)

Some guys I had met somewhere said that the best thing to do in the Lake District is to climb the Villarica Volcano. It is still active and mostly covered with snow, even in summer! Fantastico!

You have to go with a recognised guide. The company we went with was very professional, with two-way radios to keep in touch, and two guides, one in front and one at the back of our group. They gave us lots of gear including crampons, ice pick and water proof clothes. They did tell us that that much of this gear is "just in case", and only to put on the crash helmet and water proof clothes when they tell us. To my chagrin, we didn't need the crampons as it was snow rather than ice on the mountain - I had missed the ice trekking in El Chaten as I had an swollen ankle.

Some people however have all the gear and no idea...this group started out at the same time but arrived at the top as we were leaving to go down! There were a lot of Israeli groups, and they were very noisy, disturbing the tranquil snowy mountain side.

The chair lift was not working, so this added an extra hour´s climb over ash and solidified magma from the volcano. Some very small but pretty flowers....

We then traversed our way up the mountain through the snow. It is not easy. You have to kick into the snow with the front of your boot to make a foot-hold, and steady yourself with your ice pick. At time we were walking along narrow ledges with a steep slope down. We also crossed two deep crevasses. Here's me and Nikki part way up...

...and the guide on his moby...

...here's Justin and me half way up, and getting hot, now that that we were out of the wind...the sun and glare from the snow is strong, so I slapped sun block in my face, so much that I looked like Casper!

It was exhausting. As you got higher, your heart raced at your lungs gasped for oxygen. Plenty of chocolate and my filling sandwich for fuel. My toes were numb with the cold and the melted snow that had seeped throup my boots, even though the boots are Goretex and supposed to be waterproof! Justin put on some uplifting dance music to take him the final 15 mins to the top!

At the top we dropped our backpacks and headed to the edge of the volcano crater. Absolutely awsome! Every 5 or 10 minutes red-orange molten magma spurted out with a roar of the gasses in the vent. You could feel the heat, and the suphur dioxide gasses were choking.

Here's a group shot taken once everyone had made it to the top. We had climbed from 1,400m to 2,800m. The view behind was amazing. You could see other snow-capped volcanoes and the green mountains and valleys, and blue lakes below. It had taken us about 4 hours to get to the top. The next day we learned just how lucky we had been with the weather, as it became much colder and the top of the volcano shrouded in cloud.

More fun was still to come! Getting down on our bums! We put on special water proof trousers and gators and were shown how to slide down on your bum. You use your ice pick to slow down, and lift you legs up to go faster. We followed trenches like small tobogan runs, riding the bumps and leaning left or right to get round the curves. It was such amazing fun. I was shouting in ecstasy and holding my ice pick above my head! I did have to stop abruptly once as a guy in front was going at a very cautious speed. Ali then crashed into the back of me! In all there were 5 "runs", some faster than others. My bum was wet and numb with the cold (trousers must have leaked), but it was absolutely amazing. I managed to get a picture of Justin coming down...

What a fantastic day! I had climbed a snow covered mountain and saw molten magma spew from a volcano crater. Dinner that night was in a restaurant. We went for one drink afterwards...Nikki and I left after the one. The others gradually got back to the campsite between one and seven in the morning. I didn't hear them. I slept well that night.

Chris