Andes, Frontside and Back:
Volcan Llaima (Gates of Hell)
Portillo : Argentina Highway : Lonquimay : El Medina : Las Araucarias : Llaima : Villarica : Chillan
September, 2007
The east face of Volcan Llaima as we approached from the small pueblo
of Cherquenco.
We started our climb a couple hours before the resort opened, sleepily
following the t-bar lift up.
There was a middle plateau that felt like an endless sea of snow.
A little hump on the ridge that seemed close by somehow got further
and further away as we approached.
We came to ski the corn, but the last 300ft to the summit was mostly
frosted flakes.
High winds. Sulfer spewing caverns. Collapsing snowpacks. Crumbling steep slopes that fall away into a vertical chasm ending in a smoking molten pit... The Summit rim of Volcan Llaima was a downright unsetteling place. To view the steaming, precipitous depths of the crater gave me new respect for our living, breathing planet. I hate to use the word evil, but there was something stunningly ominous about this place. To fall into the crater here would be to literally crash and burn. In between blasts of wind thundering in our ears, La Choriza turned to me with an even bigger grin than normal and said, "If there really is a Gates of Hell, this is what it looks like".
Click here to see the Lliama Summit Panorama
Diego trying to find solid ground on the summit of Llaima.
La Choriza about to decide that she's standing close enough to
the edge.
I'm not sure if there is a name for the huge, manky snow crumpets
that spackled the top of the peak. You could probably ski them
if you wanted to...
La Choriza eager to shred after summiting our first South American
volcano. Here down we found some more corn-ish snow. But as it
had just dumped the morning the day before, the snow wasn't quite
ready yet...
See more of South America
Portillo : Argentina Highway : Lonquimay : El Medina : Las Araucarias : Llaima : Villarica : Chillan
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