The highest volcano on earth is also the highest point in Chile and second in South America. As the volcanic activity is quite recent, it´s classified as a neovolcano and there are still minor activity on the peak. Larger amounts of sulfuric gases and vapor were seen as late as 1994, but normaly a faint smell och sulfur is the only sign of volcanic activity on the peak. Ojos del Salado is a border mountain and can be climbed from both Argetina and Chile. If you don´t like red tape, a hefty peak fee and bureaucracy, Argentina is the place to go for. If you rather pay a bit, prefer to travel high on the mountain in a jeep, have the choice of sleeping in huts and like to go the easiest way possible to the summit; Chile is the option for you.

Ojos del Salado is considered an easy walk-up, but the last part can be a bit tricky. Very loose, rotten rock and grade UIAA II-III/5.4-5.5 on 6900m can cause problems if tired from the long walk to the summit block. In addition to this, you usually have to deal with the strong winds which plagues the area. It is a double summit and the Chileans claim the west peak to be the highest (0.5-1m higher). The Argentinians I talked to said the two peaks were of "almost the same height and it didn't really matter which one you climbed", so basically both sides tells the same story - the west (Chilean) peak is marginally higher.

The peak was first climbed in February 26, 1937 by Polish mountaineers Justyn Wojsznis and Jan Szczepanski.
A good introduction and the mountain's history.

Getting There

Argentina:
La Rioja and Catamarca are the two major cities in the area and both are the capitals of the provinces with the same names. When in any of those quite large cities; look for local transport towards Tinogasta and Fiambalá. Most buses only goes to the former and you may have to change there to get to the latter, which is the perfect base for Ojos del Salado. If you arrive late in Tinogasta and there are no more buses, shared taxis runs until very late and even if you have to rent one for yourself, it's inexpensive at USD$10 for the 50-55km ride.

All necessary basic food items are to be found in Fiambalá and one of the persons who know the area best of all, Mr Reynoso is operating from here. 4x4 vehicles can be rented with a day's notice and will take you for a two hour ride on good asphalt to Refugio Cazadero Grande, a hut along the main road. This is a good place to spend a day, if not acclimatized. The 4x4 can take you another 10-12km on a bumpy path until you hit the Cazadero Grande River Canyon.

Most expeditions have arranged with mulas to take over from here and extremely few have done this trek towards the peak unsupported. For the first day there are plenty of water to Agua Caliente, the source of the river, which is a spring with lots of warm, almost hot water coming straight out of the ground. Good camp spots all along the way and plenty of curious Llamas. The next day to Agua Vicuñas is a dry and windy walk over wide plains, where Nacimiento and Incahuasi dominates the views.

After Agua Vicuñas the going gets steeper and tougher on looser scree and the rough path finally takes you to a pass called Portezuelo Negro at 5500m. In this area it is possible to find water again. Penitente fields, small glaciers and sometimes even running water in a small creek are easy to find. From here it's hard to make a mistake where to go as Ojos del Salado and some of the other high peaks in the range are visible most of time. I've been told most expeditions use a place called Arenal as a base camp and continue towards the peak to C1 at 5800m. Plenty of water everywhere in this area.

Chile:
The normal starting point is the city Copiapo. Many tour operators are located here and the journey from Copiapo to Laguna Verde takes five to six hours on mostly good roads. If not acclimatized it´s a good idea to make an acclimatization stop at Laguna Santa Rosa at 3600m before continuing to Laguna Verde, which is at 4400m. There is a police post here and they want to see your climbing permit before you´re allowed to go further. A rough road will take you to the first refugio; Atacama, which is located at 5200m. It is possible to go even higher with the 4x4, some even make it all the way to Refugio Tejos at over 5800m! It is rough and expensive travelling and many people choose to walk the stretch, which takes 3-4 hours.
Photos showing the route, step-by-step.

Red Tape

From Argentina:
No fees, no permits needed, but the police in Fiambalá is happy if you register before you leave for the mountains. They will ask you how long you plan to away for, what type of equipment you´re bringing and if they find inadequate, or if they consider the weather too bad etc. they may ask you to write a disclaimer, stating they are not responsible for your safety in the mountains.

From Chile:
Admission fee to the "Ojos del Salado Zone" - USD$ 160 for foreigners USD$ 50 for Chilean citizens. You also have to supply the authorities an equipment list and a detailed description of the route you plan to follow. Full details about the admission tax .

Until last year you could apply for a permit on the internet, which was free of charge and you usually recieved it after a couple of weeks. Now it´s much more complicated and expensive. The new deal.

DIFROL is the authority in Chile which issues the permits.

There are talks about new rules soon, which includes Kilimanjaro-like arrangements with an authorized guide for every foreign group etc. Please drop me a line if you know anything about it, as I have not gotten anything confirmed.

When To Climb

Like most peaks in this part of the Puna, Ojos del Salado is normally climbed from December to late March. It´s the warmest period in the southern hemisphere, but also the windy and dry. Some climbers choose to go later in the year as water is easier to find (snow and ice to melt) and the average wind speeds are usually significantly lower. Regardless of when you plan to go to the area, be prepared for very low temperatures and extreme wind force. It may be warm, calm and sunny, but remember; the Puna is infamous for fast weather changes and fierce climate. Wind-proof clothing is an absolute must and so are really good protection for hands, feet and face.

Camping & Lodging

On the Argentinian side there are no huts. Camping is free everywhere and there are some very basic wind-shelters, built by other mountaineers, along the path to the mountain.

On the Chilean side there is a "real" lodge at Laguna Verde. The box-like Refugio Atacama has four beds and the old marine freight container Refugio Tejos has six beds. A lot more people can sleep on the floor in those two refugios. Camping has been allowed everywhere on the Chilean side, but I don't have any info about the latest rules. Please let me know if there are camping restrictions nowadays.

Guides & Organizers

I saw a lot of "bad" organizers in the area. Big city "wanna-make-money-fast-on-expeditions-companies" and it was sad to see these "guides" getting lost in the mountains. At times I had to show them where they were on the map and at one time I got the impression the guy hadn´t much knowledge of reading maps at all. That said, there are probably lots of good ones as well, but shop around, ask tricky questions and be a bit careful when you choose company. I have no personal experiences on the Chilean side and did it all unsupported on the Argentinian side, so I can't give you a first hand account on a good guide. A person who really knows the area and gave me plenty of 100% correct information is Jonson Reynoso in Fiambalá. He has been organizing expeditions in the area for a long time, is still an active mountaineer and was for example contracted by National Geographic when they were making a reportage in the area. Ask anyone in Fiambalá where to find Jonson and you´ll get directions. It´s a small town and he´s known by everyone. His English is very limited, but communication is possible thanks to his translation software.

Second highest in South America? Number three? Number one?

Short version:
Second highest.

Long version:
Ojos del Salado was since a long time back regarded as the second highest mountain in South America. Very few disputed that fact, even though some claimed it could be higher than Aconcagua. It was not until an erronous measuring (or out of the blue false claim) was done the debate started. A Chilean team made a second ascent in 1955 and claimed the peak to be 6988m, i.e. higher than Aconcagua.

Roughly 20 years later, the official elevation was then all of a sudden raised to 7010m and as a certain country´s leader/dictator stood behind that opinion, very few disputed the claim in the country in question. Its neighbor laughed at the whole thing and did not comment it much. Aconcagua was definitely the highest as far as they were concerned. The rest of the world were quite convinced about the latter and the claim of Ojos being over 7000m slowly died off.

Some years later it was time again for a new debate, but now it was not about Ojos being number one or number two. Over night it had been downgraded to number three! This story obviously started in Ecuador when a British team of GPS specialists measured Chimborazo. It was made with the differential GPS technique and the peak´s altitude was set to a level 40 m lower than before. The Argentinians was impressed and used the same technique on Pissis, which was measured to 6882m and that meant it was two meters higher than Ojos del Salado. The latter mountain´s altitude was at the time set at 6880m and Argentina could claim the two highest peaks on the continent.

Penitentes fields en route

Lately, SRTM-data (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) has shown two things; 1) Ojos del Salado is roughly 6900m and 2) Pissis highest point is approximately 90-100m lower. People who have taking GPS-readings on the peaks verifies these facts.

So, nowadays Ojos del Salado is back on it´s original place on the list as number two. John Biggar´s Peak List is probably the one closest to the actual elevations of the peaks in South America.

Lately, I have heard and seen information about both Tres Cruces and Bonete Chico being the second highest in South America. I can really understand why some climbers think Tres Cruces is higher. It for sure looks very high when in the area. So does Bonete, but both these peaks are very seldom climbed, so I guess they are perfect for myth-building. I would say it´s an extremely small chance there will be any changes in the peak lists from now on, or at least if we talk about the top 3 list.

Peter Schoen adds:
A team of the TU Dresden has during their surveys of the region for the new "Alpenverein" Map in 1:100 000 confirmed that the Chilean survey of 6893 m is the most accurate one.

Jonathan de Ferranti has an interesting web page: Some frequently misquoted elevations.

The highest of the two summits on Ojos?

Ojos del Salado has a summit block with two peaks which are of the same height.
Or?
I have heard some debates about which of the two you should climb. If coming from Chile, you're told to go to the right at the saddle, because the "Chilean" (west) peak is higher. If coming from the Argentinian side, you're told to walk along the summit ridge until you are at the highest point and don't bother to descend to the saddle and climb to the west peak.
So what to do and which is the true summit?
From what the local climbers told me, it doesn't matter which of the peaks you summit - both counts!
A rescent survey has measured the east peak 20-30cm higher, that's the one usually regarded as the "Argentinian" peak. The talk about one Argentinian and one Chilean summit is nothing but nonsense as both are located right at the border.

That said, if you want to be 100% sure - climb both!
The east peak is harder to reach from the saddle as it is steeper and more exposed. Bring a rope. Warnings for rotten and loose rocks.

Maps

The best map I've seen of the area.

See also this comment about the above map.

Useful GPS-Coordinates

The table below give you the coordinates from a walk all the way from Incahuasi, past El Fraile to Ojos del Salado. Very few of you will probably consider this option, but I choose to include as many coordinates as possible. The ones written in italic are from the Fraile-Ojos del Salado stretch. The rest is from the actual climb and starts from a valley a bit NE of the normal approach route - takes you to the normal route - to the summit -down to the main road at Cazadero Grande.

Location	Lattitude	Longitude	Altitude	Remark
Fraile Pass	27*00’345	68*20’111	5000	Border pass Arg/Chi
***	27*02’353	68*21’243	5125	***
Fraile Camp	27*03’295	68*21’539	5165	Snow to melt, shelter
Pass	27*05’429	68*23’378	5227	***
Pass	27*05’466	68*23’836	5333	***
Pass	27*06’531	68*26’354	5483	***
Camp	27*08’588	68*28’743	5524	River, glacier, shelter
Arenal	27*09'014	68*29'774	***	***
Stop	27*08’043	68*30’786	5722	Good place for break
Camp 1	27*07'703	68*31'618	5957	Below steep part
Stop	27*07’291	68*31’653	6339	Over the glaciers
Summit	27*06’571	68*32’415	6897	***
Vantage point	27*08’998	68*29’481	5581	Good views
Platforms+shelters	27*09’555	68*28'256	5537	Camp, water nearby
Portezuelo Negro	27*09’910	68*27’550	5553	Pass, water nearby
Agua Vicuñas	27*11’788	68*25’791	4965	No water
Aguas Calientes	27*18’018	68*21’093	4180	Water
Camp	27*19’785	68*20’190	4023	Water
Chorro	27*20’428	68*16’476	3829	Water
4wstart	27*22’226	68*13’756	3699	Ravine start/finish
4wstop	27*22’966	68*08’353	3490	Main road
Cazadero Grande	27*25'190	68*07'778	3482	Refugio

External Links

Jonson Reynoso, Fiambalá
The person who probably knows the area best.

Andes Explora Climbing Tours
Ojos del Salado Expeditions Service,Transport Service, High Mountain Guide Service, accomodations, Information, photos and Andes Explora Staff.

Go Chile about Ojos del Salado
Basic information on a commercial site promoting Chile.

Andes Handbook
Route information, access and photos (Chilean side).

Maps for Ojos del Salado
A good selection of digital and paper maps from the Military Geographical Institute.
Example, showing a digital map of the Ojos del Salado area

A nice site which gives you good information
about routes and how to get to the peak.

Interesting info on volcanoes
Lists of prominent and high volcanoes, info about the volcanic 7summits aand much more.

List of 6000m peaks in the Andes.
John Biggar's list is probably the most correct around. Also lists of lower peaks on his informative website.

Dry Andes
A scientific site about the area.

Riding downhill Pissis, Incahuasi and Ojos
Manuel Bustelos website on biking downhill in the puna

Some photos of Ojos.
Which gives you a good picture of how it looks like, with and without snow.

Comments about climbing from Chile

The below are comments from climbers who have had very different experiences climbing on the Chilean side.
Personally, I can't comment any of this as I only have been on the Argentinian side of the peak.

Negatives
I got one mail and talked to two persons who were upset. I was told the following:

When arriving at Refugio Atacama the climber was told he couldn't neither use the facilites of the refugio, nor sleep inside. The ranger staying there had at that time the whole place for himself.

Climbers arriving from Argentina sometimes have to go all the way down to Maricunga to stamp the passport, sometimes not. That's about 80km from the pass. Sometimes it's the same procedure when leaving Chile, sometimes not. The bottom line is: rules seems to change depending on who's working at the moment.

The couple was given a badly working walkie-talkie by the authorities and when they asked if that was all they got for the $160 permit, they got a very snotty and arrogant reply that they should not complain or leave the place.

Both sources felt there was a lot of fishing for bribes on the Chilean side. The solo climber was in the area with his bicycle and was charged a ridiculous sum of cash because the vehicle didn't have a license plate. When he refused to pay, the border police started to scutinize his passport instead.

Positives

Desi Says;
I read the comments about climbign from Chile. I did it on 2005 but I had a very good experience! The police invite me and my husband for a special dinner because we riched the summit that day! They were very nice.

Cyclista says;
Either the things change for worse or I was lucky. Three years ago while hitch-hiking alone in that area I had utterly different experience. The police at Maricunga gave me a free shelter for four days, supplied with food, water and Pisco Sour:) and finally organised transport to Laguna Verde. The police at Laguna Verde were equally kind so I suppose everything depends who you are lucky or unlucky to meet there – they change every couple of weeks.

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