Glacier Ice Climbing on Villarica Volcano

Today was an amazing and unique experience unlike any other. But before we get to that, I still need to cover yesterday (the first of March – our first full day in Pucon).

It was a chiller day as all the tours we booked were only available on the rest of our days here. We slept in and finally felt recovered. Also, the beds at this hostel are so comfortable and they even have down comforters. Slept like a rock. We found a brunch place with delicious food and posted up for a few hours of computer work and planning time. It turns out, we booked all of our activities in the most ideal order and within the best weather window. Yesterday was cloudier, so glad we did not do any volcano trekking. Today and the following two days are sunny and warm with the warmest being our rafting day on Saturday. After that, it will be 5 days of clouds when we leave.

After brunch, we walked the town and ventured over to Playa Grande, a beach along the coast of lake Villarica. On the way to the beach, we saw several volcano emergency evac routes. Guess this is the telltale sign of the most active volcano in South America.

The beach was gorgeous and the water extremely clear. The lake was surrounded by mountains and the sand took on a blackish color as it probably originated from all the volcanic debris. The lake also came with a nice surprise. For only 15 USD, we could pay to play around on an inflatable water playground they had set up on the lake. The booth only accepted cash, so we had to find an atm, pay the extremely high transaction fee, and then go back to the lake. It was a blast and totally worth it.

We made a quick store run for more sandwich stuff (ugh) and set off to find dinner. The Thai place we wanted to try was closed, the next taco place was closed, and even the Subway was closed (all said open on google maps). Out of sheer luck, we stumbled back upon our tour agency building and within the same complex, they have a pizza joint. The pizzas were very cheap for Pucon and wood fired. We were saved.

This morning, we woke up at 5am, packed up, and got to our tour office by 6. In total, Hunter and I, a guy from Germany, a guy from New Zealand, and 2 guides made up our group. They gave us our packed gear bags and we transferred our food and water. When we were all packed up, they loaded the bags onto the roof of a 4×4 and we set off around 6:30. It was about an hour drive toward the Villarica volcano and the sun just started to rise as we parked. The last bit of driving was a fun, more-technical, off-road path.

The first bit of the trek took us about an hour through the forest. Then, we emerged from the treeline and started climbing the volcanic rock section. As all volcanos go, the hike became more steep as we traversed. It was super cool to see the volcano come into full view just as the sun peeked around it’s summit. We were also able to clearly see smoke and gas coming out of the top. Guess the summit closure does make sense after all. The guide explained the history of eruptions and the last one (minor eruption) was in 2015, so really not that long ago.

We got to the edge of the glacier right around 10am after a pretty steep and gravely hike. It was cool to see the glacier-melt river as we got closer to the edge of the massive ice expanse. As well, we could see the massive black-rock rivers that snaked through the forest, results from older eruptions. At the edge of the glacier, we took a solid break, got some food water sunscreen, and geared up. Crampons, leg guards, gloves, ice axe, helmet. Needless to say this was my first time using most of the equipment, but it was so fun. And, it felt legit. No walking on selected sections like in Calafate’s glacier. We were on a legit volcanic glacier and if you slipped and gained enough speed, bye bye.

The guides showed us how to tackle a situation in which we did start sliding and how to use the axe to stop ourselves. Hunter included how in the States, these courses take several practice days before actually using the skills in a real situation. Here, we were off in 5 minutes. Gotta love it. The best part was, the guides roped Hunter and I together, the other two guys together, and then themselves together, essentially leaving a bunch of noobs roped to each other without a guide. This was an adventure for sure. It wasn’t actually that steep on the glacier itself and the crevasses were not wide enough to fall very far into, but it was still a thrill for sure. According to Hunter, the training we got seemed miniscule for what we were actually doing.

We trekked to the base of the first wall where one guide effortlessly strolled to the top and installed our anchor points. This was all of our first times trying ice climbing, and it was epic. We all gave the wall a try and all made it up. Thankfully, Hunter and I watched a youtube vid the night before, which helped tremendously. Turns out, you really don’t need to swing the axes very far into the ice for a solid grip. In fact, the harder you swing, the harder it is to remove and thus takes more time and effort.

We then roped back up and headed to another spot. I don’t think the guides actually had specific places in mind. It seemed like they found spots that looked doable and safe, and we just went for it. I loved it. That’s why we are here. For this new spot, we actually repelled into a crack and then the guides created two routes from the bottom. The second wall went much more smoothly, so I tried it again. Slowly getting the hang of it. The third wall was a more challenging route as it had a large hole in the middle of it, so we had to spread our legs on either side of it to support our weight. I was a little nervous on this one, but still finished it. Hunter hopped up like it was nothing. Also, I found that I was using my arms way too much and not enough my legs. Clearly I am not a climber, but maybe i’ll take some more courses soon because this was a blast.

All in all, we were on the glacier for nearly 4-5 hours. As the day progressed, it was crazy to me to hear how much more water was melting than when we arrived. I did not appreciate how much glaciers melt and refreeze on a daily basis. The hike back was tough. The glacier part wasn’t too bad, but the middle section of loose volcanic rock took its toll on already-tired legs. Finally, we hiked the forest part and reached the car. The mountaineering boots they gave us were not ideal, and our feet hurt, but they did the job. We got to the car right around 5pm after a long but awesome day.

When we got back to town, they had beer and snacks waiting for us. Amazing tour company and guides. This tour was really the best of both worlds. We got to climb the volcano to nearly the same point as the volcano-specific tour, and also got to ice climb. Very happy with our decision. And tomorrow, we are headed to the thermal hot springs to relax the muscles. How perfect.