Climbing Volcano Villarrica, Pucón

Climbing the active volcano Villarrica in Pucón is a challenge that many adventurous travellers are eager to take on. Pucón is a small town in the South of Chile, also known as the adventure capital of Chile.

It takes 4-5 hours of hiking over a glacier to reach the peak of Volcano Villarrica at 2.860 m. The last eruption of the volcano was in 2015 and almost 4.000 persons had to be evacuated.

Driven by our desire for adventure my friend and I decided to take on the challenge and climb the volcano together with a guide.

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Table of Contents

Things to know before you climb Volcano Villarrica

Physical fitness

Climbing volcano Villarrica is certainly not any form of extreme sports but it does require some physical fitness and endurance. The hike takes 4-5 hours and includes climbing a steep trail on a glacier. As the hike is usually done in a group with a guide who leads the group, all members of the group should walk the same pace.

You won’t take many breaks as the steep icy ground is not ideal for sitting down to catch your breath. We made a few short stops to drink some water but there were no major breaks.

Just right before reaching the summit we sat down for a few minutes to eat something.

Safety

It’s important to be aware of the risks that an excursion like this comes with. If you tend to be scared of heights or walking on ice makes you feel uncomfortable, this hike might not be the right activity for you.

The agencies that offer this excursion protect themselves by letting the participants sign a declaration of consent. It states that the agency is not responsible if anything happens to you. That didn’t give us a very reassuring feeling but we signed it anyways.

Now I don’t want to scare you, I just want you to be aware of the risks. Personally, I felt safe during the whole trek and hundreds of people climb volcano Villarica on a daily basis. Nothing will happen to you as long as you pay attention to your steps and follow your guide.

Chance of cancellation

The agencies have the right to cancel the hike to the volcano Villarrica for several reasons. Firstly, if the seismic activityof the volcano is too high it would be too dangerous to climb the volcano. Secondly, if the weather conditions are not ideal, the trip might be cancelled too.

This is why I highly recommend scheduling the volcano hike for the beginning of your stay in Pucón. Like this you have the chance of trying on another day in case it gets cancelled.

What happens if the trip gets cancelled?

If the volcano trek gets cancelled, the agency offers you to try again the next day or as soon as it’s possible to do the hike again. This means that you could be extremely unlucky if the weather is bad during your whole stay in Pucón.

One of my friends was in Pucón for 5 days and he couldn’t climb volcano Villarrica because the excursion was cancelled each day. This is truly bad luck but if this happens you get your money back of course.

When will I be informed if the trip is cancelled?

This usually happens the evening before or even on the same day in the morning as the weather is often unpredictable and changes quickly.

In my case, our group left off to the base of the volcano, motivated and energised to climb it.

Then our guide told us the bad news: The wind was blowing in the wrong direction. This meant that the wind blew the toxic volcano gas directly on the trail, making it impossible to climb the volcano.

He said that there was a 50% chance that the wind would change in a while, allowing us to do the hike but that he couldn’t promise it.

At this point he gave us two options:

Either we cancel the hike, go back and get part of our money back,
or we start hiking and hope that the wind changes. In case the wind wouldn’t change, we’d have to turn around and wouldn’t get any money back.

All of us were dedicated to at least try to hike up since we were already there and nobody wanted to go back. And I’m so happy that we did it – after half an hour of hiking, the wind changed and blew the toxic gas on the other side of the volcano. This allowed us to hike up to the peak on our first try.

Compare several agencies

There are numerous agencies that offer an excursion to the summit of Volcano Villarrica. Prices differ slightly but most agencies charge a price between 80€ and 120€.

We chose the most affordable agency and were completely satisfied with everything. Our guide was experienced and the equipment was in a great condition.

Bring enough water and food

Your body requires a lot of energy for an uphill hike of 4-5 hours. Make sure to bring at least 1.5 litres of water and some snacks such as energy bars and fruits.

You can take a chairlift

too excited – you still have to do 3-4 hours of hiking.

If you’re unsure about your fitness, this is the way to go. While others have already hiked for an hour you will arrive relaxed and full of energy at the top of the chairlift.

A ticket for the chairlift costs about 10€.

The agency provides all the equipment

As you’ll be hiking on a glacier you need adequate shoes and crampons. For safety reasons, you’ll also get a helmet and a gas mask. The gas mask is necessary because the gas that emerges from the volcano is toxic. In addition, they give you waterproof pants and a jacket for your way down on a sled.

All you need is a small backpack with water and food and comfortable active wear.

Bring sun protection

You’ll be hiking in high altitudes on snow that reflects Chile’s strong sun. Make sure to protect your skin with sun screen and to protect your eyes with sunglasses.

Climbing Volcano Villarrica

Right before the start of the hike we got a short safety training. Equipped with a helmet, an ice axe and crampons we began the ascend. While about half of the people in our group took the chair lift for the first part, me and three others did the whole trail on foot.

Due to the extreme steepness we had to walk zigzag uphill. It was important to pay attention to every single step we took because we were walking on ice. If you slip there’s nothing to hold on to and nothing to stop you from sliding down (okay, that’s a bit exaggerated, you do have the ice axt to save you).

The trek was truly challenging. It took us more than four hours to get to a spot where we could finally sit down to have a short break and to eat something. All the other groups of hikers stopped at the same place so it was quite crowded up there.

The view of lake Villarrica and the surrounding mountains was incredible and the weather was perfect. From that point on it was only 15 more minutes to the peak. We were so happy and proud that we had almost made it but we were also quite exhausted.

The last few minutes of climbing to the top were not that hard anymore. At the peak we had an amazing view over Pucón and the snow-covered mountains.

You can go really close to the crater and with some luck you might even see the lava inside. Unfortunately, we were only allowed to stay at the peak for 15 minutes because of the toxic gas.

Descending the volcano on a sled

The best part of the whole adventure was still ahead of us – sliding down the snow-capped volcano on a sled. This was such such an amazing and unique experience.

Who can say that they slided down a volcano on a sled?!

I went so fast that sometimes I was afraid of not being able to stop anymore, but luckily everything went fine for me. One girl of my group accidentally hit her nose with the ice axe. She was bleeding slightly but fortunately nothing severe happened.

It’s incredible that we descended the mountain within half an hour while it took us almost five hours to climb it. When we arrived on the foot of the volcano our bodies were full of adrenaline and excitement about what we had just experienced.

Climbing Volcano Villarrica - Yes or No?

Even days after the trek my bottom still hurt from sliding down the slope, but it was definitely worth it.

Climbing Volcano Villarrica and sliding down over its glacier was by far the most amazing adventure I had experienced during 5 months of living in Chile. The trek was hard but the views and the down-sliding definitely made up for it.

I totally recommend climbing the active volcano Villarrica to everyone who is physically fit and up for adventures. In case you’re unsure if you’re fit enough, just talk to a tour operator about it and they can help you decide.

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