Volcan Lonquimay

Volcan Lonquimay as seen from Llaima. — Volcan Lonquimay, 9,400 feet, as seen from Llaima. Our route of ascent, from the Corralco ski area, follows the right skyline.

Our Chilean ski adventure began with Volcan Lonquimay.

After a long flight to Santiago, followed by a short flight to Temuco, we hopped in our rental car and made our way towards Malalcahuello, near the Lonquimay volcano. Like many volcanoes in this region, this one has a ski area at its base. The Corralco ski resort is popular with ski racers as a summer training camp, and even though the lift-served ski season was winding down at this point in early October, several ski teams were still racing gates each morning.

Christy Mahon skins the upper flanks of Lonquimay. — Christy skins the upper flanks of Lonquimay.

We thought Lonquimay would be a good intro to the snow and conditions, and a great shake-out after our long travel the day before. The ascent from the base of the ski area to the high point on the crater rim was a little more than 2.5 miles, gaining 3,700 vertical feet along the way. The summit was at 9,400 feet, so no acclimatization is needed if you come from Colorado, where most outdoor activities take place at or above that elevation.

A map of our route of ascent on Volcan Lonquimay. — The map of our route of ascent. You can see the Corralco ski lifts. We descended a route fairly due east off the summit. Click to enlarge.

As an option, if the ski area is open, you could ride the lifts and make the ascent even easier. We weren’t looking to make the day any easier, so we began skinning up along the edge of the ski area to the top of the lifts. From there, it was basic skinning with switchbacks to reach the crater rim.

Joey on the summit of Lonqiumay. — Joey on the summit of Lonquimay.

It had been five months since we were last in ski boots, and it felt good to be back on snow. It took us about three hours to reach the summit, which was a little windy. It was a sunny day, though, and the views in all directions were outstanding. To the south, we could see Llaima, which was our objective the following day.

After taking in the views, which were a first for all three of us since we had never been to Chile before, we got ready to ski. This east-southeast-facing route was getting plenty of sun, and we thought we might be timing it just right. We dropped in off the summit and found the snow soft, and warming up to corn conditions more and more as we descended further. We skied the fall line continuously until we were a bit north of the ski resort base area and then started traversing back towards the lodge and parking lot where our day began.

Christy Mahon, ready to ski Volcan Lonquimay. — Christy, ready to ski.

Christy Mahon skis the east side of Volcan Lonquimay. — We found good snow on the east side of Lonquimay.

Skiing corn snow on Volcan Lonquimay — Joey, in the corn snow a bit further down.

It was a huge success, and it was a great feeling to be here. Our first day in Chile, on skis, in new mountains, with a new summit– and we had a lot more ahead.

Christy Mahon and some Monkey Puzzle Trees near Volcan Lonquimay — On our way home, we stopped to check out the Monkey Puzzle trees. You can see Lonquimay behind.

We had a beer on the deck at the base area before making our way back to our lodging, the Suizandina Lodge, which was close by and a spot we definitely recommend if you’re in the area. It would be an early night, because we had to get up and drive to Llaima the following morning.