| Report Type | Full |
| Peak(s) |
Ojos Del Salado - 22614 |
| Date Posted | 03/18/2018 |
| Modified | 03/24/2018 |
| Date Climbed | 02/19/2018 |
| Author | desertdog |
| Eyes of the Salty One |
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Ojos del Salado⦠Eyes of the Salty One The Mountain* Nevado Ojos del Salado is a stratovolcano in the Andes on the Argentinaâ‘Chile border and the highest active volcano in the world at 22,614 ft (6,893 m). It is also the second highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere and the highest in Chile. It is located about 370 mi (600 km) north of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere at 22,838 ft. (6,961 m) . Ojos ânumber twoâ status to its 216 foot higher neighbor Aconcagua causes it to be often overlooked as a South American climbing destination. Due to its location near the Atacama Desert, the mountain has very dry conditions with snow usually only remaining on the peak during winter, though heavy storms can cover the surrounding area with a few feet of snow even in summer. Despite the generally dry conditions, there is a permanent crater lake about 330 ft. (100 m) in diameter at an elevation of 20,960 ft. (6,390 m) on the eastern side of the mountain. This is most likely the highest lake of any kind in the world. The ascent of Ojos del Salado is mostly a hike except for the final section to the summit which is a difficult class 3+ scramble. No easy task at 22,615 ft. in mountaineering boots. The first ascent was made in 1937 by Jan Alfred SzczepaÅski and Justyn Wojsznis, members of a Polish expedition in the Andes. Its name, meaning roughly "Eyes of the Salty One" in Spanish, comes from the enormous deposits of salt that, in the form of lagoons or âeyesâ, appear in its glaciers. *Information from Wikipedia Beforehand I am always apprehensive before a big climb, saying never again because of all the work it takes, but when I'm done I can't wait for the next one. In February 2017 I was sitting Mendoza, Argentina after completing a climb of Aconcagua wondering what was next. I had plans for Mount Elbrus in Russia that summer, but wanted something with a little more adventure for the winter of 2018. Over dinner, my a climbing partner that had summited Aconcagua with me, brought up Ojos. He knows South America's mountains well and described Ojos as a seldom climbed, real high mountain in the middle of nowhere. Oh yes, it is in the one of the driest places on earth, the Atacama Desert, and is the highest active volcano in the world. Having been to the Atacama in the past, the hook was in me! We shock hands and committed to give it a go the next winter. Getting There Almost one year to the day from our dinner in Mendoza we were on the plane to Santiago, Chile after doing some acclimatization climbs outside of Quito, Ecuador. From there we transferred by plane to our jumping off point for the climb Copiapo, Chile. Copiapo is a mining town and is well off by South American standards. Any supplies such as groceries, transportation, etc. can be found there. We chose Unimarc, which is sort of like Sams Club, to purchase our food. There is a camping store, but not a mountaineering store in town, so you want to make sure you have any specialized gear with you before you arrive. The downtown area with its main square, coffee shops, and restaurants is worth a walk around. Atacama Suites Hotel is downtown and a good place to stay. Day 1 Santa Rosa Lake 11,811 ft. (3600m) We had acclimated climbing in Ecuador and it was a short flight from Santiago, so we were ready to go right after arriving. Our driver met us at the airport and after buying food we hit the road. We had decided to hire the logistics company, Tequirque, to handle driving, cooking, and supplying group gear. More on this company later, but I would NOT recommend them. While they did not deliver on many fronts, one of our main reasons for hiring a company was driving the backroads of the Atacama. As we got closer to the mountain the roads were poorly marked and in some cases had sand dunes caused by blowing dust that we had to work around. We were very glad to have a 4WD truck and the driving covered for us. I think this is a must for getting to the mountain. After an hour or so on a highway, the road turned to dirt and in 4 hours we got to to Santa Rosa Lake. Our original plan was to set a camp at the lake, but it turned out there was a great hostel there, and we chose that instead as we had plenty of time in tents ahead of us. The lake is located within the Nevado Tres Cruces National Park which also has the largest salt flat in Chile. The lake is home to lots of birds including Flamingos, which are pink from feeding on the shrimp in the lake. We took advantage of the long hours of day light and hiked on the hills around the lake, enjoyed the views, and returned across the salt flats. The combination of the beautiful lake, bird watching, and salt flats made for a great first day, Day 2 Laguna Verde 13, 779 ft. (4200m) + Mulas Muertas 5910 meters/19,390 feet We drove 3 hours to Laguna Verde, another high lake with incredible views all around. This area has camping sites and hot springs. This would be our first encounter with what would be a reoccurring theme of our tripâ¦the Russians. Appartently, 7Summits, a well know Russian mountaineering guide service had organized a large group to climb Ojos and the Russians were everywhere. As our trip went on it proved to be a great chance for cultural exchange. We elected to let our drivers set camp and we set off for our first acclimatization climb of Mulas Muertas. At 19,390 ft. a climb of Mulas Muertas may seem aggressive for day two, but we had already done plenty of altitude in Ecuador and felt good. Mulas Muertas was a walk up with a trail right out of the Laguna Verde camp. There is no technical climbing on this mountain, but the wind and sun are relentless. As we worked our way to the summit I began to feel the altitude and develop a slight headache. This is pretty common for me we I first climb above 17,000 feet. Once at the summit there were several penitente fields (Snow formations found at high altitudes. They take the form of elongated, thin blades of hardened snow or ice, closely spaced and pointing towards the general direction of the sun.), plus incredible views of Laguna Verde and countless other high volcanoes. We spent 30 minutes on the summit, but the altitude got us and we quickly retreated to camp. Back at camp our tents were not set up and our drivers were sitting around talking. We had climbed a 19,000 ft. mountain, but our drivers had not managed to get camp set. We laughed and did it ourselves. I've learned on my many trips south of the border you gota just roll with it. Day 3 Refugio Claudio Lucero 14895 ft. (4,540m) Our original plan was to spend a second day at Laguna Verde, but we felt good and decided to move up to Atacama Camp. That was the plan, but it was not to be. Our driver disappeared for the day and we were left stranded at Laguna Verde till 5pm. We never really got a straight answer as to what happened, but from what we could tell it involved two nice looking local women that needed to be guided up one of the mountains around Laguna Verde. Roll with it. Because of the delay, we did not have time reach Atacama Camp, so we decided to keep moving up, and drive the short distance to Refugio Claudio Lucero. This actually worked in our favor because Refugio Claudio Lucero was a great stop. The refugio was set up by the Chilean Mountain Club on the site of an old inn that the owner burnt down to collect on the insurance, but never. That's a story for another day. The refugio was comfortable with sleeping and dining areas. It also gave us an incredible, and our first view of Ojos del Salado. Day 4 Atacama Basecamp 16,732 ft. (5100m) We slept late, ate breakfast, and began our drive to Atacama Basecamp. Unfortunately, one of our drivers got altitude sickness and bailedon us, so I ended up driving one of our trucks following the other driver. Roll with it, baby! At this point, the road got really rough and hard to follow. Deep sand and multiple options as to the direction to go made driving tough. I was really glad I was not leading this effort. While the driving was a challenge, the views were great, and we stopped for lots of pictures along the way. After two or so hours of driving we arrived at Atacama Basecamp. Guess who was there? Our friends the Russians, all thirty of them. We smiled knowing that at some point there would be some vodka in our future. There is not much to Atacama Basecamp. It is just a flat area at the bottom of a 4WD road that leads the Tejos Hut high camp. It has a great view of Ojos and its climbing route. We set up camp and relaxed the rest of the day. Day 5 Hike to Tejos Hut 18,864 ft. (5750m) I am big believer in getting your heart pumping, climbing high, and sleeping low to acclimate. This process has always worked for me and to help with this, we hiked 2.5 hours up to the Tejos Hut high camp at 18,864 feet and hung out for a couple hours. You could actually drive this in a 4WD, which people (the Russians) did, we felt that driving did not get us what we wanted for acclimatization, so we hiked it. We did feel the altitude at the hut, but we had hiked slowly and felt pretty good given we had moved up to 18,864 feet in just five days. Day 6 Move to Tejos Hut high camp 18,864 ft. (5750m) Summers in the far Southern Hemisphere are long and we took advantage of this by not breaking camp and leaving for high camp till 4pm, putting us at the Tejos Hut at 7 pm. Plus we did not want to be at altitude longer than needed. The Tejos Hut is really just two shipping containers with a dining area and sleeping quarters. Because we wanted an alpine start for our summit bid, our plan was to eat and go to bed early. That was not to be. At 8pm or 9pm a team of Polish climbers arrived from a 16 hour odyssey trying to climb the mountain. Some were sick from the altitude, others made tea in the dining area. The noise from the Poles did not lend itself to our goal of sleep. Then at some time after that, two climbers from India radioed to the hut they were lost on the mountain and needed help. Two guides from another group went up looking for them. It turned out they were just 30 minutes out from the hut. At this point, sleep was a no go for us. I had been here before on other big mountains and powered through on no sleep. Day 7 Summit day 22,614 ft. (6893m). Descent to Refugio Claudio Lucero. We woke from pleasant slumbers at 1am, choked down oatmeal, and began the climb. The mountain was dry, no snow to speak of, but very cold. I had on an expedition parka, mitts and insulated pants at the start. The route switchbacks on a well-marked trail on a 2,000 foot plus scree slope. Our Russian friends were ahead of us, and I could see their headlamps in the darkness. Headlamps in the dark on a big mountain is a view I always love. âIt feels like victoryâ to me. They had driven up from up from Atacama Basecamp rather than staying at the hut. This is something I would not have done, but heck they are Russians and tough! It took a very long time to work our way up this slope, and we had to work our way around some penitente fields in the process. At this point we felt great from an altitude standpoint, and soon passed the Russian team. Either they were mad we passed them or the altitude was taking its toll because all they did was grunt when we said hello. One of them was actually smoking a cigarette at their break at 20,000 feet. Like I said, tough! At around 20,000 feet we turned right and began a slow traverse to the crater of Ojos. The sun was coming up and the view was spectacular! Up to this point I had felt great, but it all came crashing down at 21,000 feet and I bonked. I think we had moved too fast and the altitude really was kicking my butt. I didn't know if I could continue. I had been here before on other high mountains. Climbing this high is a fine line between suffering or doing something stupid by pushing yourself too hard and getting sick or worse. I took a long break, drank, ate, and prayed to the mountain gods. I arose from the dead, picked myself up and rallied. Incredibly, once I started moving I felt much better. We made quick time to the snow covered crater and took a break. We could see the summit and the remaining route. The Russian team came up behind us. We knew we did not want to climb behind the Russians, so we cut our break short and began the remaining part of the climb. We felt strong. Up to this point we had been on a trail, but this would change as we had some real climbing ahead of us. The remainder of the route was a steep gully, 15-foot headwall, and a 100 foot ridge with significant exposure. At a lower altitude no problem, but at 21,000 feet, tough. We worked our way up the loose, but not steep gully. The big issue here was the altitude. Two steps forward, one step back. I don't remember much, but I would guess it took us an hour or less to reach the headwall. There were some ropes on the headwall, as well as plenty of hand and foot holds. I would rate this at class 3 or low class 4 climbing. Once we reached the ridge we pulled out our rope and set up some protection along a short section of the ridge. This was defiantly a do not fall zone. There was a fixed rope already there but it looked sketch to us. Think Little Bear. We reached the small summit in great spirits feeling fantastic. The views of the volcanoes of Atacama were wonderful! After a nice break we could hear the Russians below and knew it was time to leave. We down climbed the ridge and found a perch to let some of the Russians pass us. Many of them had turned around from the original team. The âsurvivorsâ looked haggard, but happy. We cringed as we noticed they were using ascenders on the frayed fixed line! Fortunately, it all worked out this day and everyone came off the summit safely. After the down climb off the technical section, we took a break at the crater. From there we descended nonstop to the Tejos Hut. We had arranged for our driver to meet us there, which was a good move as the day, at 12 hours, was longer than expected. We broke camp and drove to the Refugio Claudio Lucero for a celebration dinner of wine and cheese plus freeze dried stuff. Another summit done. Key Things I Learned ⢠DO NOT under estimate this mountain. At 22,614 feet, the altitude is not something to be taken lightly. We had spent two weeks in Ecuador climbing and were able to move quickly. I think other climbers thought because the climb was straight forward, the altitude was not as much of an issue, as say Aconcagua. I saw more people sick with altitude on Ojos than any mountain I have climbed. Plan on taking your time. ⢠Plan for snow. We brought crampons and ice axes. Had there been snow we would have needed them. We got lucky with the weather, but at 22,614 the chance for snow is high and there were dustings while we were there. ⢠With some basic experience, you do not need on guide on this mountain, but hiring a logistics company was a big plus for us. Just the hassle of navigating the roads was worth it. As I said, I did not think our company did a good job, but there are other options. Just do your research. I met a guy named Ernesto Olivares www.sirdar.cl at Refugio Claudio Lucero. He seemed like a great guy and his clients were very happy. He might be a good option. ⢠This is a very remote area. It is a solid day to get back to civilization. Bring plenty of food, water, medical, and radio. ⢠Become one with the dust! This is one of the driest places on earth. The dust will be in all your gear and every entry point on your body. Bring multiple buff and maybe even a surgical mask. Keep the buffs on at all times. ⢠If you are interested in climbing Ojos del Salado I will be happy to talk to you about the trip. Just PM through 14ers.com and we can do a call. Richard Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow): 
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