HansDN - Dec 7, 2022 11:59 am Date Climbed: Dec 3, 2022
Ojos del Salado via Argentinian side
Climb of Ojos del Salado via Argentinian side. We organised transport via Jonsom Reynoso in Fiambala to Quemadito (Approx 100 dollars for entire car). We are a group of 4: my girlfriend and myself, and 2 friends who join us for the hike and Medusa. Unsupported.
DAY 1-4
Hiking from Refugio Quemadito to Arenal basecamp via the most frequent route passing Aguas Calientes and Aguas de Vicunas.
Follow the river upstream to Las Juntas from where you start climbing to Aguas Calientes (water source). Then cross some quebradas and plains (no water along the way) until Aguas de Vicunas (melt water from penitentes, sometimes liquid water from penitentes in the afternoon). Climb steeper up the valley to Paso Portezuelo Laguna Negra (2 good campsites after the pass with penitentes, sometimes flowing water). Then continue over some rolling terrain to El Arenal basecamp. There are some good stone walls on the east side, and flat spots (but no decent walls) on the west side. We had running water from the river, but always prepare to melt snow.
DAY 5
Climb up to volcan Medusa on south(west) ridge. We turned back 100m from the summit, this was the first time above 6000m for our friends and it was enough.
DAY 6
Hike up to highcamp around 5950m. There was little snow in the highcamp, but at the middle camp (5750m) there was a lot of snow and running water, we filled up there.
DAY 7
Summit day! We leave around 6:30 and summit about 5-6h later. We had hoped to do it in 4-5h, but there was a lot of deep snow up high which made for slower progress. We descended back the same day to basecamp El Arenal
DAY 8-9
Hiking out the same we came from. From El Arenal a long day to the main valley, camping beyond Las Juntas.
Then from Las Juntas back to Quemadito Refugio and at the main highway where we hitched a ride back to Fiambala
This man's determination is unbelievable. He's partially disabled with Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Both of his calf muscles and one ankle are non-functional.
Great to see you on SP, Dave, and congratulations!
(re-posted this reply because it got detached from davelim's Feb 7, 2008 post)
calvmoes - Aug 14, 2022 8:36 am Date Climbed: Feb 16, 2022
First of Many
First 6000er for me, and first of 11 climbed on a 30-day solo trip. Snow cover was almost complete from 6000 m, with a bit of deeper trail-breaking while traversing the caldera. Round-trip from Tejos in 7 hours.
runout - Mar 15, 2019 7:12 am Date Climbed: Feb 11, 2019
Lots of snow
I was happy to survive an avalanche which was triggered by a russian team just 150m above me.
Solo from Refugio Tejos.
Chie - Feb 6, 2019 6:04 am Date Climbed: Dec 31, 2018
Thanks for the update. I'm heading there next week. How was the weather? Any cell phone coverage in the area?
atavist - Nov 26, 2018 1:31 pm Date Climbed: Nov 22, 2018
Quick trip in High Andes
Climbed with my friend from Barcelona. After arriving and spending one night in Santiago, I took a bus to Copiapo and spent another night in town before 2 nights in Laguna Verde Refugio. It's worth a visit due to the hot springs (one pool is even inside the shelter!). One more night at Murray hut, and finally a night at Atacama camp before going for summit. The acclimation schedule was tight, I felt a bit sick up high and on the way down. We packed up and I felt much better once we got to 4000m.
Chelsey Berg - Sep 8, 2018 5:53 am Date Climbed: Feb 20, 2017
Down at 6600m
The altitude hits differently in northern Chile and we also faced a spurt of bad weather/high winds (45/50km on its way), which hurried up our summit attack by 2 days. We were a bit more fatigued than normal and were opening route in fresh powder, from Tejos. Ended up turning around at 6600m, eager to go back and make it a reality! Very unique scenery, reminds me of the moon!
boriskrielen - Feb 5, 2018 3:57 am Date Climbed: Dec 11, 2015
Ojos del Salado solo from Argentina
Climbed Ojos del Salado and some other peaks during a 18 day / 200 km unsupported solo trek through the Atacama desert. Went along the Mike Dorse Direct route.
gordonye - Jan 7, 2018 12:56 am Date Climbed: Jan 3, 2018
From Chilean side
Joined expedition by Chile Montana, with 8 clients and 2 guides. Base camp was Atacama Refugio, and camp 1 was Tejos Refugio. I turned around at 20000 feet on summit day due to lack of acclimatization, but the rest of the team all made it to the summit.
Hello,
I will be attempting Ojos Del Salado in January 2018 but i have just found a website saying you must have a guide to climb the mountain from Chile? Can you shed any light on this as its the first i have heard of it?
Thanks for any help you can provide
sergejf - Jul 22, 2017 10:22 pm Date Climbed: Jan 20, 2010
Summit
Fabulous day. Felt great until 6400 m. but slow going thereafter until the summit. Never wanted to go down! It snowed the next day. I think we were the last ones to summit.
Guillaume.Ceyrac - Jan 21, 2017 4:14 pm Date Climbed: Jan 10, 2017
Argentine normal route
After a 5 days approach from Quemadito to El Arenal I had to wait three days in my tent in high camp for the winds to calm down. It took me 7 hours from high camp (5900m) to reach the summit on a perfect day. I stayed an hour on the summit. I had to give up my idea to climb Walter Penck and ATA on the next days because of a massive storm coming in the area, and even had to ask for a 4x4 vehicule to come and take me out of this hell.
cinnamonletter - May 21, 2016 2:47 pm Date Climbed: Jan 20, 2013
Fantastic Ojos from Argentina
Although we didn't reach the summit, it was a truly amazing experience.
The Seismiles and around, in the Argentinian part of the Desert Atacama, is one of the most beautiful areas I've ever had access to on this planet. We chose to approach and climb from Argentina and spent 12 days out there totally cut off from civilization; the summit bid fell on day number 9 and we reached an altitude of 6,600m when we decided to turn back due to exhaustion and the coming of a storm.
jck - May 8, 2013 4:53 pm Date Climbed: Apr 21, 2013
Argentinian side
Made a high camp in the valley.
Started a little bit to early (alpine...) and met the first sunrays at about 6400 m. The headwall of summit piramide covered by very tricky snow (from about 6500 m), made the ascent a little bit more diffcult. Had to traverse from normal route more into Mike Dorse Direct variant.
Good but cold weather. Luckily almost no wind at all. A post-season trip was a good choice.
Climbed with Radek (brade) and Darek in 18 days unsupported roundtrip.
squick - Apr 20, 2012 7:54 am Date Climbed: Feb 2, 2012
Argentinian Side - Normal Route
Climbed with a friend in a couple of days from Arenales BC. Apparently we were only the second team to be successful this season on the Argie side due to huge amounts of snow. When we did it there were large stretches of waist deep snow which made progress slow.
Guillaume.Ceyrac - Sep 19, 2011 10:20 am Date Climbed: Mar 3, 2010
Argentine side
Got there with Marcelo (RIP) from Catamarca and Martin from Buenos Aires. We made an amazing (and never attempted before) approaching route with Marcelo's Unimog (old 4x4 truck). Unfortunately, Martin and I finally did not reach the summit. Anyway, it was one of the most exciting adventure I've ever lived, within some of the most beautiful and remote landscapes you could ever dream of. 15 amazing days spent in the area.
Ides - Mar 8, 2011 9:24 am Date Climbed: Feb 17, 2011
Chilean side
Climbed from Tejos, started at 1:00 am. Reached the crater 7-8h later, where we had to stop for 1h to warm our feet, which were insensitive from the cold. We had been tramping in ankle-deep snow for 5 hours. There has been lots of snowfall this year, according to our guide Fernando.
Anyway, starting again at 10am, slow climb to the Chilean summit in 2h. Summiters additionally to me: Olivier Faivre and Fernando Opazo (guide). Great views from the summit. Interminable descent. Rested 1h in Tejos refuge before heading down to Atacama camp.
monkeypike - Mar 4, 2011 10:28 am Date Climbed: Jan 13, 2011
Argentine Side
Neil, Harriet, Arkaitz and Lisandro summitted in perfect weather and spent an hour on the summit before descending. We climbed via the normal route from a high camp at 5750m.
For Neil and Harriet this was one of five peaks climbed in the area (Viento, Ojos, Medusa, Cazadero, Nacimiento) in nine days. For info on these climbs look at our blog: www.pikesonhikes.blogspot.com
gimpilator - Jan 26, 2011 11:44 pm Date Climbed: Jan 8, 2011
The Chilean Side
I climbed this peak in 2 days with a great group of peakbaggers. It was very cold and very dusty but the rock climb at the top was not as hard as I expected.
HansDN - Dec 7, 2022 11:59 am Date Climbed: Dec 3, 2022
Ojos del Salado via Argentinian sideClimb of Ojos del Salado via Argentinian side. We organised transport via Jonsom Reynoso in Fiambala to Quemadito (Approx 100 dollars for entire car). We are a group of 4: my girlfriend and myself, and 2 friends who join us for the hike and Medusa. Unsupported.
DAY 1-4
Hiking from Refugio Quemadito to Arenal basecamp via the most frequent route passing Aguas Calientes and Aguas de Vicunas.
Follow the river upstream to Las Juntas from where you start climbing to Aguas Calientes (water source). Then cross some quebradas and plains (no water along the way) until Aguas de Vicunas (melt water from penitentes, sometimes liquid water from penitentes in the afternoon). Climb steeper up the valley to Paso Portezuelo Laguna Negra (2 good campsites after the pass with penitentes, sometimes flowing water). Then continue over some rolling terrain to El Arenal basecamp. There are some good stone walls on the east side, and flat spots (but no decent walls) on the west side. We had running water from the river, but always prepare to melt snow.
DAY 5
Climb up to volcan Medusa on south(west) ridge. We turned back 100m from the summit, this was the first time above 6000m for our friends and it was enough.
DAY 6
Hike up to highcamp around 5950m. There was little snow in the highcamp, but at the middle camp (5750m) there was a lot of snow and running water, we filled up there.
DAY 7
Summit day! We leave around 6:30 and summit about 5-6h later. We had hoped to do it in 4-5h, but there was a lot of deep snow up high which made for slower progress. We descended back the same day to basecamp El Arenal
DAY 8-9
Hiking out the same we came from. From El Arenal a long day to the main valley, camping beyond Las Juntas.
Then from Las Juntas back to Quemadito Refugio and at the main highway where we hitched a ride back to Fiambala
https://www.camptocamp.org/outings/1488681/en/ojos-del-salado-face-se-depuis-el-arenal-argentine-
chris_goulet - Oct 1, 2022 11:28 pm
Re: Ojos - SoloThis man's determination is unbelievable. He's partially disabled with Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Both of his calf muscles and one ankle are non-functional.
Great to see you on SP, Dave, and congratulations!
(re-posted this reply because it got detached from davelim's Feb 7, 2008 post)
calvmoes - Aug 14, 2022 8:36 am Date Climbed: Feb 16, 2022
First of ManyFirst 6000er for me, and first of 11 climbed on a 30-day solo trip. Snow cover was almost complete from 6000 m, with a bit of deeper trail-breaking while traversing the caldera. Round-trip from Tejos in 7 hours.
runout - Mar 15, 2019 7:12 am Date Climbed: Feb 11, 2019
Lots of snowI was happy to survive an avalanche which was triggered by a russian team just 150m above me.
Solo from Refugio Tejos.
Chie - Feb 6, 2019 6:04 am Date Climbed: Dec 31, 2018
Summited with ChileMontana guidesSummited from Tejos Hut and down to Atacama camp.
Roscoe8848 - Dec 21, 2018 11:05 am
Re: Quick trip in High AndesThanks for the update. I'm heading there next week. How was the weather? Any cell phone coverage in the area?
atavist - Nov 26, 2018 1:31 pm Date Climbed: Nov 22, 2018
Quick trip in High AndesClimbed with my friend from Barcelona. After arriving and spending one night in Santiago, I took a bus to Copiapo and spent another night in town before 2 nights in Laguna Verde Refugio. It's worth a visit due to the hot springs (one pool is even inside the shelter!). One more night at Murray hut, and finally a night at Atacama camp before going for summit. The acclimation schedule was tight, I felt a bit sick up high and on the way down. We packed up and I felt much better once we got to 4000m.
Chelsey Berg - Sep 8, 2018 5:53 am Date Climbed: Feb 20, 2017
Down at 6600mThe altitude hits differently in northern Chile and we also faced a spurt of bad weather/high winds (45/50km on its way), which hurried up our summit attack by 2 days. We were a bit more fatigued than normal and were opening route in fresh powder, from Tejos. Ended up turning around at 6600m, eager to go back and make it a reality! Very unique scenery, reminds me of the moon!
boriskrielen - Feb 5, 2018 3:57 am Date Climbed: Dec 11, 2015
Ojos del Salado solo from ArgentinaClimbed Ojos del Salado and some other peaks during a 18 day / 200 km unsupported solo trek through the Atacama desert. Went along the Mike Dorse Direct route.
gordonye - Jan 7, 2018 12:56 am Date Climbed: Jan 3, 2018
From Chilean sideJoined expedition by Chile Montana, with 8 clients and 2 guides. Base camp was Atacama Refugio, and camp 1 was Tejos Refugio. I turned around at 20000 feet on summit day due to lack of acclimatization, but the rest of the team all made it to the summit.
Ellwood514 - Dec 17, 2017 7:37 am
Re: SummitHello,
I will be attempting Ojos Del Salado in January 2018 but i have just found a website saying you must have a guide to climb the mountain from Chile? Can you shed any light on this as its the first i have heard of it?
Thanks for any help you can provide
sergejf - Jul 22, 2017 10:22 pm Date Climbed: Jan 20, 2010
SummitFabulous day. Felt great until 6400 m. but slow going thereafter until the summit. Never wanted to go down! It snowed the next day. I think we were the last ones to summit.
Guillaume.Ceyrac - Jan 21, 2017 4:14 pm Date Climbed: Jan 10, 2017
Argentine normal routeAfter a 5 days approach from Quemadito to El Arenal I had to wait three days in my tent in high camp for the winds to calm down. It took me 7 hours from high camp (5900m) to reach the summit on a perfect day. I stayed an hour on the summit. I had to give up my idea to climb Walter Penck and ATA on the next days because of a massive storm coming in the area, and even had to ask for a 4x4 vehicule to come and take me out of this hell.
cinnamonletter - May 21, 2016 2:47 pm Date Climbed: Jan 20, 2013
Fantastic Ojos from ArgentinaAlthough we didn't reach the summit, it was a truly amazing experience.
The Seismiles and around, in the Argentinian part of the Desert Atacama, is one of the most beautiful areas I've ever had access to on this planet. We chose to approach and climb from Argentina and spent 12 days out there totally cut off from civilization; the summit bid fell on day number 9 and we reached an altitude of 6,600m when we decided to turn back due to exhaustion and the coming of a storm.
jck - May 8, 2013 4:53 pm Date Climbed: Apr 21, 2013
Argentinian sideMade a high camp in the valley.
Started a little bit to early (alpine...) and met the first sunrays at about 6400 m. The headwall of summit piramide covered by very tricky snow (from about 6500 m), made the ascent a little bit more diffcult. Had to traverse from normal route more into Mike Dorse Direct variant.
Good but cold weather. Luckily almost no wind at all. A post-season trip was a good choice.
Climbed with Radek (brade) and Darek in 18 days unsupported roundtrip.
squick - Apr 20, 2012 7:54 am Date Climbed: Feb 2, 2012
Argentinian Side - Normal RouteClimbed with a friend in a couple of days from Arenales BC. Apparently we were only the second team to be successful this season on the Argie side due to huge amounts of snow. When we did it there were large stretches of waist deep snow which made progress slow.
Guillaume.Ceyrac - Sep 19, 2011 10:20 am Date Climbed: Mar 3, 2010
Argentine sideGot there with Marcelo (RIP) from Catamarca and Martin from Buenos Aires. We made an amazing (and never attempted before) approaching route with Marcelo's Unimog (old 4x4 truck). Unfortunately, Martin and I finally did not reach the summit. Anyway, it was one of the most exciting adventure I've ever lived, within some of the most beautiful and remote landscapes you could ever dream of. 15 amazing days spent in the area.
Ides - Mar 8, 2011 9:24 am Date Climbed: Feb 17, 2011
Chilean sideClimbed from Tejos, started at 1:00 am. Reached the crater 7-8h later, where we had to stop for 1h to warm our feet, which were insensitive from the cold. We had been tramping in ankle-deep snow for 5 hours. There has been lots of snowfall this year, according to our guide Fernando.
Anyway, starting again at 10am, slow climb to the Chilean summit in 2h. Summiters additionally to me: Olivier Faivre and Fernando Opazo (guide). Great views from the summit. Interminable descent. Rested 1h in Tejos refuge before heading down to Atacama camp.
monkeypike - Mar 4, 2011 10:28 am Date Climbed: Jan 13, 2011
Argentine SideNeil, Harriet, Arkaitz and Lisandro summitted in perfect weather and spent an hour on the summit before descending. We climbed via the normal route from a high camp at 5750m.
For Neil and Harriet this was one of five peaks climbed in the area (Viento, Ojos, Medusa, Cazadero, Nacimiento) in nine days. For info on these climbs look at our blog: www.pikesonhikes.blogspot.com
gimpilator - Jan 26, 2011 11:44 pm Date Climbed: Jan 8, 2011
The Chilean SideI climbed this peak in 2 days with a great group of peakbaggers. It was very cold and very dusty but the rock climb at the top was not as hard as I expected.