Ojos del salado volcano expedition 6893 m - atacama - chile

From your country of origin, you arrive in the capital of Chile - Santiago. Then you can transfer to the public bus terminal towards the city of Copiapó for a 10 hour and 30-minute journey. Do not worry about spending a sleepless night, as the buses are very good, mostly 180° lie-flat bed buses. FRANPISCO ADVENTURE E.I.R.L. staff will wait for you at the bus terminal in Copiapó to transfer you to the hotel. Alternatively, you can choose to travel by flight from Santiago to Copiapó; flight schedules are 7:15 am, 8:00 am, 11:30 am, 12:15 pm, and 1:40 pm. If you travel by air, Franpisco Adventure staff will wait for you at the Atacama Desert Airport – Chile.

FRANPISCO ADVENTURE E.I.R.L. staff will wait at the bus terminal or airport to transfer you to the hotel. We will have a free day in the city to enjoy the local gastronomy, adjust to the climate, and review the equipment for the Ojos del Salado 6893 m expedition.

After breakfast at the hotel at 9:00 am, we transfer in a 4x4 vehicle from Copiapó to Santa Rosa Lagoon. The transfer takes about 3 hours or more depending on the condition of the dirt road. At Santa Rosa Lagoon, we will have a delicious lunch, followed by a short walk around the lagoon to enjoy the birds. We spend the night at the camp, and if you wish to sleep in a bed, you can pay an extra fee to sleep in a small refuge offered in the area.

Breakfast at 8:00 am, then we continue our expedition in 4x4 for about 2 and a half hours to Verde Lagoon (4350 m) camp. Nature and landscapes surprise us more each time; this time we will camp very close to hot springs, an ideal place to take a bath and enjoy the landscape surrounded by beautiful volcanoes of the Andes - Atacama. After lunch at the camp, we will have enough time to explore around the turquoise green lagoon, where you can take photos and videos with a beautiful view filled with the volcanoes of the Chilean Andes – South America.

Breakfast at 8:00 am to go out and ascend to the summit of Mulas Muertas mountain at 5895 m. After the summit, we return to the Verde Lagoon camp. This way, our acclimatization will be done in the best possible way for the coming days of the expedition. Today's expedition will take approximately 6 to 7 hours. After returning to camp, we will have lunch and dinner to rest until the next day.

Breakfast at 8:00 am. After breakfast, we will have time until noon to enjoy the landscapes of this beautiful green lagoon one last time. After lunch, we continue our expedition in 4x4 towards the Atacama Refuge (5250 m) for approximately 3 to 4 hours where we will set up our camp, have dinner, and rest for the next day.

Breakfast at 8:00 am. Today we will carry part of our equipment to the Tejos Refuge at 5800m. The ascent will take about 3 hours, and then we return to the Atacama Refuge for a 2-hour descent. Back at the camp, we have lunch and dinner to rest until the next day. Gradually, we prepare for the following day to climb the summit of Ojos del Salado 6893 m.

After lunch at noon, we head out with the rest of our equipment towards the Tejos Refuge at 5800 m. Tejos will be the place where we spend the night at 5800 m. The wind is stronger, and the temperature drops rapidly when the sun sets. The weather already forces us to wear our technical expedition clothing. From this point, the temperature can reach -15°C, -20°C, to -25°C. It is recommended to wear technical clothing for extreme cold.

Extra day; today we will handle the camp itinerary very flexibly to rest in case of bad weather or if the group has not achieved good acclimatization. We will stay one more day at the camp.

Today at 1:00 am, we set out for the summit of Ojos del Salado Volcano 6893 m. We will ascend via the north route; we may use crampons depending on the season of the expedition. Generally, the season with the most snow on Ojos del Salado occurs during the southern hemisphere winter months from May to September. However, it is a mountain that maintains snow or ice on its summit and upper parts year-round due to its extreme altitude. Snowstorms, sometimes due to the 'Bolivian Winter,' can occur even in summer, between November and April. Once at the crater, we use a safety rope to climb the last 40 meters to the top of Ojos del Salado volcano. After the summit, we return to the Tejos camp. If the group is in condition to continue descending, we can go down to the Atacama camp to rest. Today's expedition will take 8 to 9 hours for the ascent and 3 to 4 hours for the descent, totaling 13 to 14 hours of expedition.

Breakfast at 8:00 am. Then we will proceed to return from the Atacama camp on board our 4x4 transport to the city of Copiapó to check into your hotel. The transport will take approximately 8 to 9 hours of travel, depending on the state of the road.

Today we transfer you from the hotel to the bus terminal or the airport according to your return schedule to Santiago de Chile, end of our services. You have the option to return to Santiago by bus or by flight according to your time availability.

You schedule your own taxi to take you to the airport according to your return flight time to your country. If you wish for any hotel or taxi booking arrangements, let us know in advance. We will gladly help you manage them.