Everything you need to know about Climbing the Villarrica Volcano:

Any Google search of Pucon, Chile will surely yield a plethora of images displaying the amazingly beautiful Villarrica Volcano. Trust me, it is even more spectacular in person, and you can catch views of it from anywhere in town. I actually ended up in Pucon because I read my friend’s blog post about climbing the Villarrica Volcano, and knew I had to make my way there. Pucon is an adventure lovers dream, with the option to do heaps of hiking, rafting, sky diving, canyoning and more! I am now spending three months working at Chili Kiwi Hostel in Pucon, and I can confidently say, climbing the Villarrica Volcano is the coolest activity you can do here.

Why climb the Villarrica Volcano?

Villarrica is the 3rd volcano I climbed – Mt. Fuji in Japan, and Mt. Batur in Bali have already been checked off the list. I can easily say climbing the Villarrica Volcano was my favorite. It is the first active volcano that I climbed, and it is actually one of the biggest, most active volcanos in South America. It sits at 2,847 meters above sea level. On some days you can even see the lava pools in the crater. The last erruption occurred in 2015! The guides showed me a video of the lava spraying out of the crater the day before the erruption.

3 main reasons to climb the Villarrica Volcano

You get to climb up the glacier of the volcano using crampons
At the top, you look into an active volcano and can even see lava somedays
Getting back to the bottom is easy because you get to sled most of the way down (all the way in winter)!

I will go into all of these highlights in more detail below

We both climbed the Villarrica Volcano

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Which Tour Company to Choose

I climbed the Villarrica Volcano with Casa De Guias Pucon and it was amazing. They are rated as one of the best tour companies in Pucon! Uber and his team go above and beyond to ensure a fun and safe climb. For the most part, Casa De Guias Pucon works exclusively with Chili Kiwi Hostel. This is awesome because the demographic of climbers are backpackers from all around the world! They consistently get everyone to the top, supply high quality equipment, and bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the climb. I would recommend 100%!

Uber & Team

What Time of Year to Climb

Climbing the Villarrica Volcano is no easy task, but in my opinion was not nearly as hard as I expected. I also got lucky with pretty much perfect weather. I completed the hike on February 1st. The weather was clear blue skies and minimal wind. The volcano can be climbed all year long, but there are definitely times when the trekking is easier and the weather is more reliable.

Summer time: December, January & February. Weather is consistently nice, temperatures are warmer, and there can still be snow!

Fall: March, April & May: Nice weather, still pretty dry, but some more rainy and cloudy days, temperatures are lower, least amount of snow on the volcano

Winter: June, July & August, snowy and weather unpredicatable, colder temperature and a lot of snow

Spring: September, October & November: Weather improves, more sunnier days, still a lot of snow on the mountain

Spring and Summer would be the best time to hike because the weather is more consistent allowing for the tour to run regularly. In addition, there is still a lot of snow which allows you to slide most of the way down the volcano – my favorite part! Fall is also an easier time to hike because there is the least amount of snow, making it a faster climb to the top (but less sliding down).

What is Included in the Tour with Uber Expeditions

Casa De Guias Pucon provides everything you need for climbing the Villarrica Volcano including the guides, entrances into the park, transportation and equipment. In terms of equipment, they provide hiking backpack, hiking boots, crampons, gators, ice axe, helmet, gas mask, gloves, waterproof suit (for the sled down) and the sled. Climbing the Villarrica Volcano with Uber Expeditions costs 80,000 Chilean Pesos (around $120 USD). This is very competitive with other operators in town, and the quality is unbeatable.

What you need to bring

Pants, multiple layers of jackets depending on the weather, thick socks, sunglasses (A MUST!), sunscreen, food (quick snacks and sandwiches), and 2 liters of water.

Pro Tip: bring music to listen to!

The Day: As Told From my Experience

I wasn’t able to sleep very well the night before the big volcano climb because I was so nervous and excited. I woke up multiple times fearing I had missed my alarm. Finally, 5:30 AM rolled around and I jumped out of bed ready to get this adventure started.

The guides arrived at 545 AM with more energy than any human should have at such an early hour. They helped fit us into the appropriate hiking boots and gave us our backpacks loaded with all the gear that we would need for the day. We then piled into a couple different vans and headed to the start point of the volcano. There were 11 of us making the hike this morning, and a ratio of 3 hikers to 1 guide.

Sunrise as we began the trek

The Ascent

The hike begins from a ski lodge at 1400 meters and ends at 2847 meters. We had the option to take the ski lift and skip the first hour of hiking (400 meters). The ski lift is not always working, but if it is I definitely think it is worth paying the extra 10,000 pesos. Everyone in my group decided to take the ski lift up, but it is totally up to each individual if they want to hike or take the lift. The first section of the hike is the hardest and most unappealing section of the climb so you dont miss anything by taking the lift.

I recommend the ski lift

When we got off the lift, we were almost to the beginning of the snow. We walked another 5 minutes and then we stopped to put the crampons on our boots and learn how to use the ice axe. Uber gave us a quick briefing on how to use the ice axe to stop yourself from sliding down the glacier if you lose your footing (I do not think this happens often).

Using Crampons to Climb

All geared up, we began the accent to the crater. Hiking in crampons is really awesome! I had never done a hike where we were literally creating the trail as we went. The guides carved out places for us to step and we all followed single file behind. We made big zig zags up the mountain so it was never too strenuous of an incline. Uber Expeditions also took us on a path a lot different from the other tour groups that seemed to be going up the same way. This allowed us to be on our own face of the volcano and we did not see any other groups until we got closer to the top.

We made progress very quickly in our military style hiking formation. I was able to take in the scenic views down below as we ascended higher. We got 4 breaks on the way up to relax, eat food and take more photos.

Reaching the Crater

We dropped our big heavy bags 15 minutes before the top to make the final ascent. The top of the volcano felt like another planet. A combination of snow and rocky volcanic dirt as well as the eerie gases coming from the crater produced a extraterrestrial vibe. We had to wear the gas masks when we were looking over the crater because the fumes were really strong. My eyes burned and I could feel it in my lungs as well. I did not spend to much time in the fumes and chose to go take photos on the edge where the gas masks were not needed.

If you are really lucky, you may see lava in the crater!

Like Another Planet

The Descent

After about 20 minutes on the crater, we made our way back down to our bags and got some time for lunch. Then we suited up for the slide down. Casa De Guias Pucon provides you with a whole waterproof suit and a sled. Once we were all dressed up, they showed us how to use the ice axe as a brake and started sending us down the snowy tobbogan run one at a time.

Sledding down the volcano was definitely the highlight for me! I loved flying down and I tried to use my brake as little as possible… It was such a rewarding feeling to fly back down the same slope that had taken hours to climb up. We were able to sled all the way back to the beginning of the snow. From this point, we only had another 20 minute descent back to the van.

Wrapping up Villarrica Volcano Climb

Overall, climbing the Villarrica Volcano was so epic and rewarding. It is such a dynamic hike with so many factors involved. Uber and his team are really positive and encouraging the whole time. They also did a great job at making sure everyone made it to the top regardless of physical condition. No one got left behind! The hike seemed easy because we had great weather, and the views at the summit made the climb worth it. Also, taking the ski lift in the beginning definitely saved me a lot of energy. I was definitely tired by the end, but more so because it was such a long day. The ascent took us about 5 hours and we did not return back to the hostel until 15:30.

To wrap up the trek, the guides gave us all a celebratory beer and shared a lot of the photos and videos they took as well.