Climbing in Pucon

Half day Canyoning activity in Pucón

4 activities in 4 days with the awesome Ermitano team.

We booked 4 tours with Ermitano, and they were all fantastic. Everything ran to schedule, and the guides were all friendly, knowledgeable, and efficient. The guides also took photos and videos and sent them to you afterwords, for no charge. Day 1 we hiked the San Sebastian Trail in Huerquehue National Park with effervescent Francesca. This was the best hike we did in Chile ... the scenery was stunning, and Francesca was always checking that the pace was good and that we were okay when climbing the boulders, and that we were managing on more challenging sections of the hike. The hike is a bit over 20kms, round trip and on a good day, you can see all the surrounding lakes and volcanoes ... absolutely spectacular! Day 2 we went White White Rafting with David, Anand and crew. David is originally from Belgium, married a Chilean, and teaches rafting at university ... so we were in good hands! It was the end of the season, so not as much water running, but it was still fun. At one point, where the rapids are too dangerous to take clients through, we had to do a walk around, and then a 5m jump into the water, to get back on the raft ... that was exhilarating cold! We always try to get in a Rafting trip when we travel, and we were happy to have rafted Trancura. Day 3 we did the Villaricca Volcano ascent. This starts in the dark with a slow uphill climb mostly on gravel. Villaricca is an active volcano, with the last big eruption being around 2015. There were around 17 hikers, and 5 guides, who made sure that we took stops olong the way, so that we could adjust to the altitude as we went, and because it's steep! Once we hit the snow, we put our crampons, helmets, and waterproof gear on (all provided in a backpack you're given at the start, and we trekked further up the volcano on the ice until we hit the volcanic rock. This was as far as we were allowed to go, given the Volcano is still on yellow alert. After a food break, we got ready for the fun part. Sliding down the snow on plastic nappies attached to the outside of our gear. Crampons off and the ice sliding began. We did about 3 separate runs, where snow allowed, and then it was all the extra gear off and back in the backpack, and a downhill hike back to the start point. This was on a different path than we went up, and much easier to walk on. We enjoyed the variation in this assent, which was around a 15km round trip, but the views from San Sebastian were way more spectacular, and remains our favourite hike in Chile. Day 4 was canyoning ... essentially rappelling down canyons with "cold"water running. My toes never warmed up the whole time, because you're constantly walking through the Canyon, between rappels, but the Canyon was beautiful and worth it. We had fun and enjoyed the scenery, and the guides were great ... all the different rappelling ropes that click on and off, and get hooked in to this and that would do my head in trying to remember what went where, so we were super happy to put our trust and safety in our experienced guides ... they were awesome! We would definitely recommend Ermitano Expediciones for your adventure activities in Pucon. The prices are reasonable, the team is organised, responsive, helpful, and flexible with changing the days for activities based on the weather conditions. It's not easy for them, with such unpredictable weather, and they really were fantastic. Christian and Marika run a great operation. Thank you for the wonderful memories! Adele & Josef... the oldies from Australia.

Villarrica Volcano Ascent

Great Tour Guide

Even though couldn’t hike to the top due to constraint of the weather, the guide spoke good English and managed to arrange another activity.

Villarrica volcano Ascent Full-Day Activity

Overcoming on the last day of the year

We hired the climb of the Vilarrica volcano with Baum Adventures. We were very well received, informed and equipped by the agency's attendants and guides! We spent more time with guide Diego who helped us a lot on the way up and especially on the way down (my wife was afraid of slipping on the snow). Congratulations Baum adventure and Diego!