Page Type Page Type: Mountain/Rock
Location Lat/Lon: 41.10527°S / 72.49616°W
Activities Activities: Hiking, Mountaineering, Ice Climbing, Skiing
Seasons Season: Spring, Summer
Additional Information Elevation: 8700 ft / 2652 m
Sign the Climber's Log

Overview

Volcan Osorno and Lago...
Volcan Osorno and Lago...

Osorno is one of the most active volcanoes of the southern Chilean Andes, with 11 historical eruptions recorded between 1575 and 1869. The basalt and andesite lava flow generated during these eruptions reached both Llanquihue and Todos Los Santos Lakes. The upper slopes of the volcano are almost entirely covered in glaciers despite its very modest altitude and latitude, sustained by the substantial snowfall in the very moist maritime climate of the region.  Osorno sits on top of a 250,000-year-old eroded stratovolcano, La Picada, with a 6-km-wide caldera.

Osorno Volcano is a 2.652 m tall conical stratovolcano lying between Osorno Province and Llanquihue Province, in Los Lagos Region of Chile. It stands on the southeastern shore of Llanquihue Lake and also towers over Todos Los Santos Lake. Osorno is known worldwide as a symbol of the local landscape and is noted for its similar appearance to Mount Fuji.

Charles Darwin glimpsed Volcán Osorno from a distance in the course of the second voyage of the Beagle, catching sight of its eruption in January 1835. Volcán Osorno was used as the backdrop for promotional photos and video in Motorola's 2005 global advertising campaign for the PEBL mobile phone.

The volcano was first discovered by Charles Darwin. At that time, Osorno was inactivity. Now, it's dormant.

Getting There

Arriving in Santiago, You have to take bus to Puerto Varas. It takes a whole day on a bus trip.
In Puerto Varas, find an agency to contract transport and guiding services to get the climb going on, starting at Burbujas refugee, which can be reached by car.
It is 50 Kms of good road to Ensenada, and after that another 16 Kms of dirt road going up the hill to its base.

Red Tape

A Permit is required to climb Osorno, and you can get it with local agencies which by the way can take you all the way up to the summit. The route is a little bit long, around 5 hours up and another 3 down, and the price is fair enough.

Good agency to climb Osorno: http://www.thesouthernexp.com/little_petrohue.php
Another one: http://www.kinehuen.com/en/activities/mountaineering/148-2-001-osorno-volcano-climb-1-day.html
And another one: http://www.southernchilexp.com/Sport_Adventure/Hiking__Climbing___Canyoning_E/Peak_of_Volcano_Osorno/peak_of_volcano_osorno.html

When To Climb

Osorno map / diagram

From December to March.
The route is not dificult, only a walk up to the summit with ice in 30º degrees steep slopes. Crampons, ice axes and Plastic boots are required because of the risk of frostbites, after all, this is Patagonia, it is cold year round.

Camping

At Las Burbujas refugee.
No fees to camp.

Weather Forecast


(click at the image)

Legal Issues

To hike/ climb is a dangerous activity and requires proper equipment and clothing, the owner of this page cannot be blamed by injuries caused to anyone who read this page for its info about the mountain, and eventually got hurt by doing so with reckless behaviour or bad weather conditions.

Paulo Roberto Felipe Schmidt – AKA: PAROFES

External Links

My youtube channel: www.youtube.com/parofes - Now with 270+ videos online!

The biggest brazilian website about climbing and mountaineering, for which I'm a columnist:




Children

Children

Children refers to the set of objects that logically fall under a given object. For example, the Aconcagua mountain page is a child of the 'Aconcagua Group' and the 'Seven Summits.' The Aconcagua mountain itself has many routes, photos, and trip reports as children.