The mountain is 2,820 meters high.

There are various stages the scree stage, the rock stage and the ice stage.

To make it to the top and back again, you must got through all stages taking a total of around 6 hours.

Rock

Despite protestations of my fitness in the pub the night before, this trek is more difficult than it seems.

After 4 hours sweat and a packet of chocolate biscuits, we make it to the mouth of the volcano which is puffing gently.

Here’s one of the views from the top.

Ice

The next stage is the slide down the ice bit.
Because your pants are special, with a little help from your ice pick you can slide right the way down the iceysnowyglacier, ice covered side.

This is nice and easy and everyone enjoys themselves getting snow in their pants and crashing into each other.

Scree

After the ice comes the scree.

Being difficult to climb, scree is used to speed your descent.

The scree slippage aiding you on your downward path.

Good fun except you get rock dust in your eyes and face.

View
The views are good, perhaps the best I’ve seen in Chile. Better than Snowdon.

volcano

Mount Villirica

Have decided to take Volcano Villirica today and this requires and early start, 7am to be exact.

Go down to tour guide company in the middle of town, B’O’Higgins the main street.

Tour Company
The tour company provide you with most of the kit and the stuff that you wouldn’t usually buy:

  • Hats/helmet

  • Ice pick

  • Crampons

    • Good Joke
    One of the guides thinks it is funny to remove my crampons from my rucksack whilst everyone is getting their gear ready.

    This could have been funny, but for the fact I saw him do it.

    Later when we had to put our crampons on of course, I’m the only one with no crampons.

    Tremedously funny.

    After some gentle vocal persuasion the guide gives me his.

    Russian Star or Welcome to the Jungle BABY

    Found this unlikely, slightly disturbing advert for clogs.

    feel mi wood

    If you can see one of the children is gesticulating with his fingers, the caption reads “I feel Wood”.

    Logo
    Looks like a kind of malformed triangle.

    YOU MUST CHOOSE
    Russian star or Welcome to the jungle baby.
    After all everyone make their own choices in life don’t they.

    HidroSpeed

    Today did this thing called HidroSpeed.

    HidroSpeed basically involves going down a white water rafting course with a wetsuit and a piece of foam shaped like an egg.

    hidrospeed/

    Like white water rafting you get very wet.

    Like surfing you need to do a lot of paddling.

    Like drowning, you need to keep you head above water.

    Cold
    The rivers in Chile are pretty cold, after a certain period of time your hands and feer are numb.

    But don’t let that put you off.

    I’ve never had so much fun.

    What a great day out.

    Rough Guide Argentina

    Doing nothing toight after last nights drunken socialising bonanza.

    Rough Guide Argentina
    Sourced copy of RG Argentina (reference only).

    Autumn is apon us and winter is approaching.
    Have been advised of worsening weather conditions in the south of the country.

    Also, it is not possible to make it to the far south of Chile without taking a costly and time consuming series of boat trips.

    I’m not the best sailor. I don’t enjoy rough seas, or the sea full stop, however I don’t mind buses.
    Buses are plentiful on the Argentinian side of the border; I can travel right down to Tierra del Fuego, Isle Grande, and the spike of land known as Cape Horn.