An Attempt on Cerro Leonera

Step… breathe… step… breathe…

This weekend I had my first opportunity to go into the high Andes and do some hiking and mountaineering. A friend and collaborator linked me up with a group planning an attempt at climbing El Plomo, a 5400m peak outside Santiago. As part of this attempt, a training/acclimation trip was planned for Cerro Leonera. This would give the group a chance to attempt a 5000m summit and to get some high-altitude acclimation for the subsequent try for El Plomo.

Approach

On Saturday around 1130, our group of 8 met up at a gas station on the edge of Santiago for a quick coffee before the final drive up to the La Parva ski resort. The group were all astronomers and all based in Santiago (aside from me, being in Concepción and moving to Santiago), originally from a variety of countries.

After a long, curvy drive up to the ski resort, we were greeted with a locked gate at the access road. Discussions ensued with the ski resort personnel—who were operating the lift for mountain bikers—and we were told we could not drive up to the top and start hiking from there. After some back and forth, we decided to buy a lift ticket up the mountain, rather than gaining an additional 450m over 2 kilometers.

The chairlift took us to the top of the ski lift, a which point we began hiking. The first few kilometers were a steep hike up a scree field – certainly not a gentle beginning to the trip.

After a while, we reached the ridgeline we would follow to our basecamp and the pace picked up slightly.

We gained a little bit of altitude skirting around a small peak on the ridge before descending to a saddle with one of the camping options (as well as a small metal storm shelter). At this point we had a decision to make – we could camp at the saddle or we could continue over the next rise and camp farther up the trail. The latter would put us closer to the summit, but at the expense of additional time carrying our full packs, loaded with camping gear and food. After some discussion amongst our evenly-split group, we decided to stop at the first location and set up camp.

We hiked down a few minutes below the saddle, which both put us out of the wind and put us closer to a small snowfield we could use as a source of water. After setting up tents, a few people in the group walked up a nearby summit to watch the sunset. I was feeling fairly tired and wanted to conserve what energy I had for the next day’s summit. After the sunset-viewing crew returned, we sat around our communal cooking area for a well-deserved dinner before heading to bed.

The evening views were impressive, with lots of color in the mountains accompanied by dynamic cloud formations moving between the peaks.

Cerro Leonera

Our summit day started once the sun touched our tents. Despite the typical “alpine start” bringing a start in the wee hours of the morning, we opted for a post-sunrise start, to hike in somewhat warmer conditions. The route would also be free of snow, so we did not need an early start to ensure firm snow. We had a quick breakfast before shouldering our summit packs and heading back towards our objective.

The landscape of the high Andes is very impressive. There are relatively sizable plateaus almost entirely devoid of plants and you are surrounded by high peaks.

The going was relatively slow. Our camp the night before was at 3000 meters elevation and the summit of Cerro Leonera is at 4000 meters. I had been that high a few times before, but it is always a slog.

Cerro Leonera is very close to El Plomo, a 5400 meter peak outside Santiago (and even visible from downtown Santiago). The route took us past a stunning vista of El Plomo, with great views of the glaciers cascading down its western side.

After continuing upwards and upwards, we stopped for lunch just below the final summit pitch. At that point we were probably 300 meters below the summit. We ate and rested for 25 or 30 minutes before continuing on.

As I hiked upwards my paced continued to slow. I was taking longer rests between each step. Each time I looked around me, the afternoon clouds were larger than the time before. I climbed a bit more but realized my rate of ascent would deliver me to the top later than I wanted.

So, a little before 1500, and 100 meters below the summit, I turned around and started back to camp. It was a little disappointing to not make the top, but the mountain will still be there.

Descent

The rest of the descent went by fairly uneventfully. I started feeling a bit more energetic as I lost elevation – I don’t know if this was because I had digested enough of the food to gain some more energy, if it was the additional oxygen, or if it was just a phantom feeling because I was going downhill.

Along the way I caught up with Marko. We was suffering from some altitude sickness and not feeling well, so we walked back to camp together, eventually collecting the other folks as they caught up with us.

After a while we I caught up with Marko. We was suffering from some altitude sickness and not feeling well, so we walked back to camp together, eventually collecting the other folks as they caught up with us.

After a while, we returned to camp. The rest of the descent loomed over us, and we rested a bit before packing up and returning the rest of the way.

The was generally uneventful, though the final scree field was a somewhat unpleasant finish to the hike – like ball-bearings on top of hard dirt. It was a wonder I didn’t fall, but we eventually reached the top of the ski lift at La Parva.

After a bit of a wait and a slightly interesting off-roading experience on the ski slopes, we were on our way down the many-curve road to Santiago…

More photos from the trip are available in the Cerro Leonera photo set.