Volcano Villarica

As we approached Pucon on the bus we started to appreciate the task laid out in front of us.... Volcano Villarrica.

More than one hour before arriving in Pucon the Villarrica looms ominously on the skyline, a near perfect triangle. The volcano is one of the ten most active in the world, and on nearing Pucon clouds of grey were clearly visible spewing out from the top. The volcano is layered with snow, ice, black volcanic rock and cloud.

With the aim of summiting the Villarrica in a day we signed up for a 4.30am start. The previous evening required a small induction and fitting of the mountaineering gear required. A short nights sleep filled with anticipation and fear had us waking at 3.45am and kitting ourselves out in mountain boots and overalls, as well as picking up the rest of the required gear; helmet, headlight, iceaxe and crampons.

A short drive to the national park and the base of the volcano had us walking and setting off from the bottom at around 5.30am. A slow start and we were playing catch up as Adam had to do a Paula Radcliffe half way up the mountain. After an hour and a halves climb up the volcanic rock, at a speed of two steps forward one step back, as you slide back down the loose rock, dawn was breaking and the flash lights could come off the head. A welcome relief as one of ours had already died a half hour previous!

From here we were told it was to get difficult and the helmet was now mandatory. We entered the cloud and all visibility dropped to a minimum. If you dropped more than 10 meters behind the guide, you had no guide! A combination of perseverance and willpower had us climb uphill as far as possible through the cloud and across a small icefield before having to reevaluate our equipment.

On came the crampons, all and any additional items of clothing, two pairs of gloves and the pickaxe in hand. From here it was ice and snow and lots of it! The temperature was well below freezing and the moisture and wind in the cloud subtracted about another 10°c. The 10 meters of visibility we had earlier felt like a mile as the guide and the rest of the group disappeared five meters ahead and out of sight! The climb up the ice was difficult due to the weather but with the crampons on it was easier than climbing the volcanic rock earlier in the morning.

We had several painful stops on the way up, standing still on the ice in the cloud and clung to the side of the volcano in freezing winds is not a friendly experience, and with two pairs of gloves on you can forgot about being able to blow your nose! Our stops were to allow the guide to check the conditions ahead, and with one final push to the top we got some bad news... Conditions at the top were more severe and required a near vertical climb up loose falling boulders. We had been defeated by Mother Nature. With just several hundred meters to go to we had no choice but to turn back. Reaching the summit would have gained us nothing due to the thick cloud and lack of visibility, whilst turning back would at least save us another hour of pain before the crater.

Heading down however proved no easy feat, descending a near 45 degree angle on the ice is a challenge. After falling twice, one requiring a heavy swing of the ice axe to hinder an infinitive slide down the glacier it was a welcome relief to get the crampons off and start making a more solid descent down the side of the volcano.

As we exited the cloud we had some great views of Pucon, the national park and the lake. From here it was clear that Pucon was basking in the sun, whilst we just a short distance away but more than a thousand meters higher were in a thick isolated volcano cloud!