Cerro el Plomo 5434m asl

Believe it or not, we still have a fairly decent "to-do" list of adventures in Chile. One of the items that had been there (and in real life looking right back at us most days) is Cerro el Plomo. Despite being called "cerro", which in Spanish means "small mountain", this is the biggest mountain around the Santiago area and it stands proudly at 5434 above sea level. It can be seen from most places in Santiago (pollution allowing) and back in the Inca days it had an "Apu" status: The incas believed that the biggest mountains had a spirit/god.

Well, last week a number of factors came together: a managable(ish) work load, excellent weather conditions and a nice group of prepared people that wanted to climb it. We were a bit intimidated at first but realised that "the universe" was giving us a good opportunity and not taking it would have been a mistake ;o)

Cerro El Plomo (far at the back, slightly left... disappearing in the haze) on a not even particularly smoggy day in Santiago

So on Thursday evening, after work, we drove to La Parva with all our gear and food. We started walking at the bottom of the ski lift to Laguna Piuquenes, 700m of ascent ahead of us, with the moon illuminating our way. It took us about 2 hours to get to where we wanted to pitch out tent and spend the first of three nights, at 3600m asl.

The next day, on Friday, we walked from Laguna Piuquenes to Valle Nevado, then onto Piedra Numerada. This is a place where the "arrieros" (people who carried goods with mules over long distances) used to count their animals. It is a beautiful spot in between some rivers and we had lunch nearby with the view of a waterfall. After a short rest from walking and from carrying our packs, we moved onto Refugio Federacion which is the place where most people camp before attempting El Plomo. At this point, the altitude is 4150m asl. We were feeling quite well throughout the day, although on setting camp and lying down, we both felt very tired. We made some dinner, and rested. The night, as usually happens when you are at height, was a bit awkward (weird dreams, not being able to breath properly etc).

Saturday morning we were tired but overall feeling quite ok. So what better to do than go on a little "acclimatisation / training trek" from Refugio Federacion to La Olla (a beautiful glaciar lake, just a few minutes walk, 4300m asl).

At the "La Olla" glacial lagoon 

Still feeling great, we then moved onto Refugio Agostini (4600m asl) and spent a couple of hours at that altitude enjoying the views, reading and generally getting used to the thin air. Later in the afternoon we went back to Federacion to meet the rest of the group (who consisted of 6 friends and friends of friends and who had started their trip a day behind us), cook, relax and get ready for the summit attempt on Sunday.

Preparing dinner before the big day, with El Plomo glowing in the setting sun in the background

Sunday morning - the big day. We got up at 3am. No breakfast but with proper warm clothes on, the almost full moon as our main illumination, we set off towards Refugio Agostini again. The views were really incredible. Once you get high enough, Santiago lights in the far distance, the full moon in the sky, the mountains surrounding us. Bit by bit the morning light started to appear and the full moon started to set. By the time we made it to Pirca del Indio, at about 5200m asl, we had the first rays of sun and the glacier made for some impressive photos.

Sunrise at ca. 5200m asl

As if the views weren't interesting enough, there is quite an incredible story about Pirca del Indio. This is a sheltered place located just before the Iver glacier crossing. In 1954, in the vicinity of this place, they discovered the perfectly preserved body of an inca child, known as the "Prince of El Plomo", who had been part of an offering to the mountain Apu (the download takes a while but it is well worth the read). The body had preserved itself in near perfect conditions due to the dry air and the low temperatures and is currently in the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, where an identical replica is on display. This archaeological discovery is one of the most important of the American continent (although, there have been some others such as the "Laguna de las momias" in Peru).

For the Glaciar Ives crossing we needed some crampons, which was fun (apart from very scenic). From then on, there is a bit of a climb to the top but it is fair to say that most of the hard work is done. The top has views that on a clear day are well worth the ascent.

Crossing Glaciar Ives

El Plomo is often mentioned as a very hard mountain to climb... our experience was that it was not a difficult mountain, it is just a very underestimated one. One needs to give oneself time to acclimatise and, as most people try to climb it over a weekend and from Santiago, this process does not happen (which results in lots of headaches, tiredness, slowness, disorientation and generally failed attempts to climb). We very much enjoyed the ascent and were very pleased that the Apu let us climb it. But we also know that we were lucky with the weather conditions.

We certainly enjoyed it a lot more than our Misti climb where we were a bit more pressed for time and struggled a lot more with the altitude. The hardest bit (which most people forget!) is to get back down, pack your tent and walk all the way back to La Parva carrying all your gear and after a hard trek up El Plomo ;o)

As usual, slide show below (for higher resolution click here or here if your device doesn't support FLASH):