villarica climb

Climbing Volcan Villarica was a fun and unique experience--especially looking down into its bubbling crater. It's quite popular, so you certainly won't be alone. When you sign up with an agency, you will be provided with an ice axe and crampons (spikes that attach to the bottom of your boots). The ice axe doubles as a walking stick and the crampons dig into the snow/ice and generally give you a pretty good grip, depending on how solid the ice is (softer after the sun has been shining for a while). A couple of places were a bit slippery and required some extra care--this will depend on the conditions when you go. You need to be in fairly good shape to make it all the way to the top; a number of people didn't make it when I went.

The slide down was fun--you can use the ice axe to control your speed. The snow was too sticky for me, and I had to use the axe to 'paddle'!

it is HARD work. don´t underestimate it. but on a nice day (without too much wind) i wouldn´t say that it´s dangerous, and the view and the experience makes it worth while: i only made it half way up because of the wind but the view from above the clouds still made it a great experience. the guides that we went with were very good and patient with me...i went with a group of guys who were all much keener and fitter than me and took off at a very fast pace...when i realised that i wasn´t going to be able to maintain that pace the second guide volunteered to take it slow with me while the other guys raced off ahead of me. i cant remember the name of the company that we used but it was the big shop on the corner...hmmmmm it´s well known with a good reputation and is probably in the guide book...

Just make sure that you don´t end up in a group of very experienced climbers( I was with some manic Swiss monster ones and let´s face it, they just had to wait for me!!!), It was a great climb, not to difficult for someone like me who was not in excellent shape. I would just make sure to say at the agency that you don´t want to be in an experienced group!!You´ll be fine!BRING CHOKOLATE!!!

it is a lot of fun... The conditions depend of course on the time of year and weather - I went in early october, and all the way up was walking in snow, but I was told that in summer a big part of it is not in snow. I found sliding down scary at first, and rather walked, which was fine for my guide. In the end I decided to try sliding down after all though, and it was a lot more fun and less scary than I had expected. I was lucky to have a guide to myself and thus could chose the pace we were going at - we were actually two people, but the other guy got cramps right in the beginning and returned with a different group. Keep in mind though, that this option of returning with a different group might not always be there - in that case, if you have to return, the whole group might have to return. So if you are very worried you might not make it, better speak about this with the agency first, and ask them how good your chances are of making it. but it really is not too difficult, if you are reasonably fit. i would say if you have done the inca trail and similar trails, this will be easy for you.