Climbing Volcán Lanín in Patagonia, Argentina, near San Martin de los Andes
Climbing Lanín Volcano (Volcán Lanín) in San Martin de los Andes, Argentina, was an epic 30th birthday gift for Alex!
In addition to the climb, I wanted to cover the legendary driving route, Road of the Seven Lakes (Ruta de los Siete Lagos). Beginning in Bariloche, we drove through Villa La Angostura to San Martin de los Andes.
From San Martin de los Andes, we linked up with our tour operator, Andestrack. We headed to the Lanín National Park (Parque Nacional Lanín) in Argentina for the two days, one night trek. Yes, in the middle of winter in July.
Getting There:
We grabbed a rental car (book in advance) in Bariloche and drove along Ruta 234 through Neuquén Province. The drive was incredibly beautiful. There are many lookout points along the journey with gorgeous vistas.
After arriving in Villa La Angostura, we did a 30-minute round-trip hike to a lookout point in Los Arrayanes National Park. From there, we could see the infamous Inalco House. This house is the alleged home of Hitler after WWII, according to conspiracy theories. We had a quick bite in the Café Antibes before driving on to San Martin de los Andes, our home base for hiking Lanín Volcano.
San Martin de los Andes:
It's a charming ski town near the base of Cerro Chapelco. We booked a quaint little Casita Del Lago from Airbnb, hosted by the sweet and English-speaking Maria. We stopped into Andestrack where the owner, Julian (also, English-speaking), helped gear us up for our expedition to Lanín Volcano.
Andestrack provided the crampons, avalanche gear, ice axe, helmets, headlamps, as well as all food. They helped us find winter boot rentals. All we brought were our 50 and 65-liter backpacks full of clothes, our sleeping bags, sleeping mats, and water. Typically, winter treks are not allowed, but it had been unseasonably warm and they made sure we were very fit. Our guide, Ricardo, gave us the green light.
Day 1:
We met Ricardo at 7:30 AM for the one hour drive to the ranger station at the base of Lanín National Park. After signing in and distributing the food and gear amongst our three packs, we hit the trails. We weaved along snowshoe trails in the forest until arriving at the base. It was cloudy so we couldn't see the summit. We then continued to trek upwards, avoiding fresh avalanche routes and switchbacking the steep, snowy slopes.
In 5 hours, we reached the halfway point and permanent refugio, our home for the night. The refugio is above the clouds and gave us stellar views of the surrounding mountains and volcanoes in both Chile and Argentina. Here, I surprised Alex with a big slice of birthday cake!
Day 2:
Ricardo, our guide, woke us up at 4:45 AM to have a small breakfast. We packed our backpacks, leaving most of our clothes in the refugio to retrieve later. We set out in the dark, led by our headlamps, and headed straight up.
Around 8:30 AM, the sun started peeking out for the most spectacular sunrise we had ever seen. The trail was steep and windy. It was hard work and cold. After a rough 7 hours of hiking, including stops to eat at Refugio Caja and breaks to catch our breath, we summited. The last two hours to the top were painfully challenging.
Our ascent up Lanín Volcano was steep, and the snow was unforgiving. We had our crampons on all day already, but now we tethered ourselves together with rope and harnesses. We saw winds of up to 80 km/hour and were getting tossed from side to side.
We reached the summit of Lanín Volcano around 2:00 PM. After a few photos on the very windy top, we began our descent down. After collecting our items at the refugio at the halfway point, we continued to the base. Ricardo made it fun by giving us some fabric to make a sled with! We slid down a large portion of the mountain on our butts. That was a fun surprise.
By the time we got to the car, the sun had set, and it had taken us nearly 13 hours. We were sore but happy and accomplished. It was a fantastic way to spend Alex's birthday!
To get the most out of this adventure, get your butt in shape. It will be much more fun. Use our free program, specifically for this climb:
Two more favorite adventures of ours in Bariloche were hiking from Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi to Refugio Frey (2-4 hours depending on conditions). And, backcountry skiing at Mallín Alto:
If you've been meaning to start making GoPro videos of your travels, check out our guide:
For those fit and adventurous couples out there, head over to our website, and sign up for our newsletter so we can help you engineer your best life!
Best,
Ryan and Alex
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