Climbing the Lanín, A Dream Come True (Part I)

I was once told: “When you explore the summit of a mountain, in fact you are exploring yourself”. This brief and challenging maxim is the motivation for myself and three of my friends (Ale, Alberto y Migue) to conquer next February one of the most attractive and mythical Andean massifs in the Patagonia: the Lanín volcano.

El Lanín is within everybody’s reach, from 10-year-olds to 70-year-olds. At 3,776 meters above sea level, the air is more pure, the sun shines brighter and the view is incredible. Still, the volcano is a demanding alternative. It demands a great physical effort and a medium level of exposure, as it combines rocky alluvium slopes and irregular environments. Far from intimidating us, those facts prompt us to leave hesitation aside and do the climbing.

What we cannot deny is that we should be in good shape or, if not possible, do some previous training, in order to go on this kind of excursion. Two days of hiking in the greatness of the Lanín National Park are ahead of us. We would spend one night in a mountain hut, sharing and feeling the adventure step by step, altogether.

In order to achieve our aim properly, we are hiring the services of a mountain guide agency authorized by the Lanín National Park, Alquimia Expediciones. They will assume the task of dispelling all our queries and explaining what we would need for the climbing, and of course taking us to the summit and back. Correct preparation is the key, and motivation is the vehicle that will lead us to one of the highest summit in all Patagonia. A dream come true.