Lonquimay, part II

Next morning, after breakfasting, we again set off for the volcano. This time, after a warm-up run, we again set off for the summit. My legs were sore from the start, and my cold had gotten worse, so I wasn't in great shape. I wasn't going to let anybody do it without me, though, so I set off. This was much tougher, obviously, although it was also a lot warmer, and we were soon hiking bare-chested, with our clothes tied to the snowboards on our backs. I hiked on, helped by Sylv's GU bars (chocolate energy bars - magic!). We reached the avalanche pit in good time, and headed on. This was a lot tougher, being steeper and icey. What I thought was a twenty minute hike, was more like an hour and a half. I tended to take ten steps at a time, before pausing. I can't describe how exhausting this was. I crammed snow into my water bag, as I was running out fast. Mike and Meg were well ahead, and I had Mark behind me (a physiotherapist from Philadelphia). Jim was up ahead and Drew was just ahead of me, having set off a little before me. Eventually, I found myself twenty metres from the top, and had to scramble up some rocks, keeping three limbs on the face at all times.

The feeling when I eventually hauled myself over the volcano rim was remarkable. The view was, well, stunning doesn't do it justice. We rested. The wind was light and the sun was shining.. We posed for photos, ate trail-mix and enjoyed the view. The crater - which I had expected to be ten metres across - was actually more like two hundred meters, and formed a wide snow bowl. Mike checked the conditions, and we dropped down the outside (after first putting our clothes back on), heading back to the carpark. This was the steepest powder field I have ever been on, and was like nothing I´ve ever encountered before. We all screamed down, carving deep lines and shouting to each other. Fan-bloody-tastic. After we'd carved this up, we followed Mike down through some narrow gulleys and ended up on a wide, field parallel to the road. Bear in mind we'd now descended about two thousand metres or so. My back leg was screaming at me, but I held it together until I reached the hotel we were stopping at for late lunch. It was now four o'clock, and we toasted with beers and piscos on the deck. Magic.

Back to the hotel to pack, and with no time for a shower, we set off for Chillan...