Climbing the Lanín Volcano
Gadi Slomka - Aventurarse Expert

During the Summer, the temperature in the Lanín volcano region is pleasant. This contrasts with the volcano's peak, always covered in snow and ice. This could be why this young mountain is, to the adventurer's eye, one of the world's most beautiful sights. I had already climbed the Lanín once, but that was not enough to keep me from coming back for more.

The Lanín is beautiful in itself and in its surroundings; lakes formed by the melting of glaciers cover the land. Lake Tromen is the one closest to the volcano, although there are others, like lake Paimún and Huechulafquen, that are just as beautiful. The Pehuén forests, dozens of meters high, add magic and attraction to the region. The Pehuén is a conifer of great beauty. It grows at medium heights (up to 1500 meters above sea level).

Alike my first ascent, we decided to climb up the regular route: the North face. We had all the time that was necessary, and we were willing to enjoy the region's magic without a rush.

After preparing our equipment and finishing off some paperwork in San Martín de los Andes (a city nearby the mountain), we headed for the Lanín National Park. We began our approach on the shelter, passing by the parkranger´s post. It was ten o'clock in the morning.

Heading towards the shelter

We began walking up the trail that would lead us to the R.I.M. 26 shelter, at a height of 2450 meters. Once there, we would prepare our approach on the summit. We arrived at the Turbio river with the sun on our backs, happy to be on the move, near the sleeping giant that is the Lanín.

We found ourselves in a forest, with the Lanín rising to the left, imposing its perfect conical shape. The trail became steeper; little by little at first, abruptly a while later. After walking for a while, we came to fish spine that marked the beginning of the normal route's ascent. Our walking sticks sank slightly into the rocky earth path.

The ascent allowed us to observe the landscape's beauty, the lakes, the other mountains. We had the advantage of a friendly weather, in spite of the height.

As we walked, the vegetation gave way to more desertic grounds, covered in rocks and snow. Above 2000 meters, there was nothing green to be seen.

We kept up our pace, but didn't hurry. The first sheets of snow lied before us. Our walking sticks were enough for that section of the ascent. Past mid-day, the sun disappeared and the day almost became dark. We weren't far from our objective. The wind made us feel its presence and had not gone away when we arrived at the shelter. The day did not look very promising.

When we arrived, we took off our back-packs and took a look at the distance we had covered. Amid an afternoon that promised a severe storm, we sat down to enjoy the view.

The Ascent

We woke up to a splendid day. After tossing and turning in our sleeping bags for a while, we made breakfast and prepared for ascent. The first part of our journey towards the summit was uneventful, but the skies had hidden intentions. The snow in our way was pretty hard, which made walking easy and fast. We came across the CAJA shelter (owned by the Junín de los Andes mountain club). After a couple of minutes, we began crossing a long sheet of snow. An area of crevices appeared to our right, but we went around them easily. We had all the appropriate equipment and this was very comforting.

Everything was going as planned, and although we didn't leave the shelter very early, we would have time to summit and descend under the sun's light. Suddenly the sky darkened, and a few gusts of wind crossed our path. The storm was with us. We slowed down our pace, but kept on. After a while we saw that the worst part was over. Light was scarce, but it was worth it: The horizon, with its red glow, was so splendid that nothing could disturb us.

We were pretty tired when we arrived at the last stretch. We had to cross a zone with plenty of snow. The snow was soft, which made our walk slightly difficult. When we got to the summit, we dedicated some time to enjoying the world beneath us.

We then began our descent, happy and tired. Luckily, the sky was merciful on us and we had n problems getting back to the shelter. When we arrived, sunlight was gone. We left the final descent for the next morning.