Wonderful! We wanted to do this. We were going to take our snowboards up with us. But t was foggy so they hike was cancelled.

Sounds like an awesome experience!! Too bad there's no evidence.... Bob?

I'll weigh in here from a first-person perspective. The sequence is:: The day before, you get fitted for climbing boots and helmet (critical) and outer suit (jacket and pants). At 6:30 sharp, you don your boots and put a bunch of other stuff in your backpack (provided). It contains: slidey stuff, ice pick, crampons, outer wear and gas mask. If you don't have sunglasses, they won't allow you to climb, even if you have paid. Too much blindness risk at that altitude with snow cover. ..True story. We got about 25% up the climb and a client told the guide that he didn't have sunglasses. The guide said you have to go back down. This is really bad from a Chilean perspective because so much of their economy depends on tourism. Anyway, I offered that I had an extra pair and provided them. The guide was just so happy that he didn't have to resolve this issue with at paying customer. On the bus back down at the end of the day, the guy and the guide found me on the bus and offered a sincere thank you (in English that is as broken as my Spanish). Much appreciated. Anyway .. Next, you get on a van and they drive you to the start of the climb. This is serious ascent in itself. They actually drive you to a parking area for the local ski resort that is at the base of the volcano. You get out of the van and get an orientation with your guide. Then you start to climb. After about 10 minutes they say "OK, we advise you to get on the chairlift for the next 400 metres or you can climb". In advance, Xander and I agreed we would climb. Good plan. More later. Mas tarde. Including how to take off layers (and then put them back on at higher altitudes), choking sulpher smoke, how you bypass slower climbers, getting from the 'false' to the real summit, that the volcano was glowing red and 'breathing' that day (you can actually hear it). For now, hasta luego.

Yes Xander and I were glad that we had decided to climb because the chairlift looked in rather poor condition (which was later confirmed by our Chilean hosts). About half of our group of 12 took the chairlift. The other half climbed with the guide. Before starting he said, "Take one of your three layers off now. The ascent is steep and you will get very warm (the sun is shining but its quite cold). Also, you must be in top physical condition to do this. We can't stop, we must keep a steady pace and if you can't keep up, you'll need to descend. We can't wait for you". No pressure, right. It was steep and at this point you are climbing up a gritty volcanic sand switchback route right underneath the chairlift. At the top of this pitch just before the chairlift end point, the snow/ice begins. The guide sits everyone down and puts on their crampons which are metal spikes that mount onto your climbing boots. For pretty much the rest of the climb you are ascending a long steep, bare slope of snow and ice. Depending on where you are with respect to the other groups (there were about 100 climbers that day with various companies), you are either breaking the path or following in somebody else's path. We stopped several times to put on more layers as it gets very cold and windy as you get higher. The slope is steep and slippery enough that if you drop something or fall yourself as you are changing layers or getting something to eat, you or the object will keep sliding very fast and for a very long way. It's quite intimidating. People in our group gradually slowed down but Xander and I stayed at our guide's pace so it just became the three of us. He liked a faster constant pace so he ended up making his own routes to bypass other slower groups. As you get higher, you start to use an ice axe as well as a climbing pole in order to help you balance on the steep slopes. At around 100 meters from the top, we started to get affected by the sulpher smoke plume. It comes and goes minute by minute as the volcano 'breathes' and the wind moves around. It restricts your breathing and makes your eyes water which can really slow you down. They give a gas mask that helps a lot. There is a 'false top' about 50 meters (vertical) from the real top which is a large plateau. At that point you leave your pack and just go with your ice axe. The top is flat and likely a kilometer or so in diameter. Most of that is the caldera which is about 100 meters deep. The guide (who climbs every day) was pleased that the vent at the bottom of the caldera was glowing red (more activity) which is rare. You could actually hear the volcano breathe (every minute or so, exhale a big plume of hot gases) out of the vent. It is a truly poisonous, lifeless place. You stay at the top about 15 minutes which apparently is the max allowed by the national park system that oversees the volcano. Then it's time to go down which you do by donning a miniature snow saucer that fits over your butt. There are specific trenches in the snow that you climb down into and then you just rip down the volcano on your bum using your ice axe to brake. It takes about 4 hours to climb and 30 minutes or so to descend. As long as you are fit enough, I would highly recommend this excursion. It's one of the few that actually surpassed (for me anyway) the marketing. It will be a lifetime memory for me and I'm sure for Xander also. Ciao.

Bob - thanks much for all the detail! I can feel the intensity - and the fear that would come from time to time. I agree - this sounds like a memory the you will keep forever. Well done!

Just as an update... We talked with 2 other people who climbed the Volcano this week and they had shut down/closed the chair lift.

Awesome! Glad you both made it safely. Thanks for the details!