About two years ago, I decided to get into mountaineering, something I had wanted to do for a very long time. My first trip took me to Cotopaxi and Chimborazo, the two highest mountains in Ecuador. You can read more about that experience here: “My First Mountaineering Trip: Cotopaxi and Chimborazo”.
Now, about a year later, it was time to take the next step in my mountaineering “career”.

My initial plan was to climb Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas and also the highest outside the Himalayas. I had everything booked including flights, climbing insurance, and logistics support for an unguided expedition. However, due to increased permit costs to climb the mountain, the total expense exceeded my budget, so I had to look for another alternative.

I already knew about a mountain called Ojos del Salado, it had been on my radar before. Ojos del Salado is only 70 meters lower than Aconcagua, which makes it the second highest mountain in the Americas and also the highest mountain in Chile. The cost to climb it is roughly half compared to Aconcagua, and the location is, in my opinion, even more interesting since it is situated in the middle of the Atacama Desert and feels very remote and isolated.

So I decided to go for it.

Here is my 14 day experience climbing the highest volcano in the world.

Day 1 - 391 m

After five flights and 31 hours in planes and airports, I finally arrived at my final destination, Desierto de Atacama Airport in Copiapó. Slightly tired from all the traveling, I grabbed my luggage and headed into the city where my hotel was located. Since this was a guided expedition, I immediately met the rest of the group when I arrived at the hotel. We had a short meeting and briefing, and after that we had the rest of the evening free to do whatever we wanted.

For this expedition, there were nine of us in total. Four climbers from Poland, one from France, myself, and three guides.

After the meeting, I spent the rest of the day relaxing at the hotel before heading out into the desert the next day to reach our first camp.

Day 2 - 2500 m

After a good night's sleep, we had a few hours in the city to explore and pick up the last things we needed before heading out into the desert, because once we left the city there would be no way to get any supplies. I already had everything I needed, so I spent the time walking around the nearby area and had a very good lunch.

At around midday, we all met in the hotel lobby to load our 4x4 vehicles. We fueled up the cars and left the city, immediately losing internet connection as the landscape became more and more vast and remote. After a few hours of driving, we set up our first camp near a small settlement where an older man was living with his dogs.

We pitched our tents and went for a short hike up a nearby hill. The dogs were very social and kept us company the entire time. After the hike, we had our first dinner made by our guide and chef Juanito. The food during the whole expedition was absolutely fantastic.

Day 3 - 3780 m

On day 3, we packed our tents and loaded our 4×4 vehicles once again to head to our next camp (Laguna Santa Rosa) where we would spend two nights. Soon after leaving our first camp, the roads quickly became more bumpy and remote, we could definititely notice we we’re getting further into the desert.

Day 4 - 5000 m

On this day, we did our first acclimatization hike. We hiked to the top of a nearby mountain, which I unfortunately cannot remember the name of. It was almost 5000 meters high and had a great view of the remote landscape surrounding us. We spent about an hour at the summit to fully take advantage of the altitude and help our bodies acclimatize to the high elevation. Once we got back down to camp, we had dinner and enjoyed an incredible sunset.

Day 5 - 4350 m

After two nights at Laguna Santa Rosa camp, it was time to move on to our next camp, Laguna Verde, which serves as the base camp for Ojos del Salado. This is where we would spend the rest of the trip before the summit push.

During the drive to base camp, we made a few stops to enjoy the landscape, including a dried up river, a waterfall, and we also got our first glimpse of our main objective, Ojos del Salado.

Once we arrived at base camp, I started to feel the altitude more clearly. A slight headache appeared and my body felt quite fatigued, mostly because of the elevation. The headache stayed with me for the rest of the trip, but I did not experience any other symptoms of altitude sickness.

Day 6 - 5450 m

Another acclimatization hike was on the schedule today. We drove with our 4x4 vehicles for about 45 minutes from camp, then turned off the main road and continued off road for another 15 minutes until we reached the starting point of the hike.

Today’s hike took us up to 5450 meters, which helped our bodies get more used to the altitude. Once we reached the top, we stopped for lunch with a great view of Mt. San Francisco at 6016 meters.

On the way down, we passed some interesting snow formations called penitentes. These are tall, thin blades of hardened snow or ice that form at high altitude in very dry conditions. They can grow several meters high and are common in the Andes above about 4000 meters.

After returning to camp, we had dinner and spent the rest of the evening resting and preparing for the next days of acclimatization.

Day 7 - 4350 m

Today we had a rest day at base camp. I spent the day enjoying the nearby hot springs and took a short hike to get a view of Laguna Verde.

Day 8 - 6119 m

Today was a big day. Our goal for today was to summit Barrancas Blancas, at 6,119 m. We started early by jumping into our 4x4s and driving for about 45 minutes. Once we reached the start of the climb, the sun had just come up. We climbed at a steady pace and it took us about 7 hours to reach the summit.

Day 9 - 4350 m

Another rest day, and more swims in the hot springs.

Day 10 - 6300 m

Final acclimatization day. Today was the first day we actually got to set foot on Ojos del Salado. We drove through the desert to the base of the mountain, really impressed that our vehicles were able to reach it, considering all the sand and the completely off-road terrain. We climbed to about 6,300 m before heading back down.

Day 11 - 4350 m

Rest day before the big day. I didn’t do anything other than save energy.

Day 12 - 6893 m

Finally, the day had come. Our summit attempt on the tallest volcano in the world, and the second-highest mountain outside the Himalayas. We woke up at 23:30 (11:30 PM) for breakfast. We put on our warmest clothes and hopped into our 4x4s to drive to the base of the mountain. As I said earlier, the drive to the base is completely off-road through the desert, and we had a slightly stressful moment getting stuck in the middle of nowhere for about an hour. I started to get slightly worried that our summit attempt would be over before we even started, but luckily we managed to find firmer sand and get going towards the mountain.

We climbed all the way through the night. I felt sleepy in a way I’ve never felt before; I literally had to force my eyes to stay open. We stopped for about 10 minutes and I took a little nap to regain some energy. The nap, as well as seeing the sun come up, helped me regain my energy and I felt quite strong afterward.

After several hours, we reached the plateau before the final “technical” section. We took a short rest before making the final push. Two people in our group had at this moment decided to abort the attempt, but seven of us kept going.

At 14:00 (2:00 PM), I stood on the summit. I was the first to reach it and got to have it to myself for about 10 minutes, which was a wonderful feeling. I enjoyed the summit for about an hour before heading back down.

The total time for summit day (climbing up and back down) was about 15 hours, including rests.