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Located in the heart of the Central Andes, Nevado Piuquenes, or Mesón de San Juan as it is known in Argentina, is one of the six
highest mountains in the Central Chilean Andes range. It is on the border with Argentina and is well-known amongst the uleteers
of the area around the Museo River as they frequently use the border pass of the same name.
In terms of its origins, it is a strata volcano with a caldera structure, whose eruptive centre is roughly 13 km to the south of the
Tupungatitio Volcano.
70 percent of the mountain is covered with glaciers whose ice flows into the valleys of the Tunuyán River on the Argentine side and
the Yeso and Museo rivers on the Chilean side. |
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From Santiago, head towards the Cajón del Maipo on Ruta G-25
and continue until the San Gabriel border post, where you should
register your expedition.
From San Gabriel continue towards Baños del Plomo in the area of
Embalse del Yeso where generally you will have to leave your vehicle.
Start the walk with the crossing of the El Yeso River. This river
normally has quite a high water level and a strong current and it is
therefore recommended to take sufficient time to study the best
point for crossing. Continue east until coming to a path that leads
south-east. After a stretch the path starts to ascend towards the
Piuquenes border marker at 4,020 m. From here it is possible to see
the Nevado Piuquenes summit to the north-east.
Continue on the south-east slope, descending about 300 metres
into Argentine territory where you can set up ApC1 (3,710 m). As
the weather is quite unpredictable, it is recommended to move on
quickly from the border marker. |
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From the ApC1 continue north-east towards a small valley that runs
north to south. Once at its head, continue up its eastern slope until
arriving at a ridge that separates it from another parallel, larger
valley where it is sometimes possible to see guanacos. Advance
along the ridge in a northerly direction until the head of this second
valley, where there is a very steep and loose scree slope that you
have to climb to reach a small pass at 3,900 m.
Following this route, you enter a small gully that runs west to east.
It is necessary to descend to the base of this gully to start climbing
the west slope of the main valley of the south face of Nevado
Piuquenes. This can be done following an easily-distinguished path
that the guanacos use. After approximately three hours of descent
on gentle slopes you reach the base of the frontal moraine of the
south glacier. Here you can set up ApC2 (3,540 m).
From ApC2 cross the river that comes from the glacier in order to
then ascend the moraine in a north-easterly direction. After an hour’s
walk it is necessary to turn east to cross a small field of penitentes
that has a gradient of nearly 40º and which leads to a rocky pinnacle
to the north that is ideal for establishing AdvancedBC (4,560m).
From this camp continue in an easterly direction through another
field of penitentes that has a gradient that varies between 40º and
60º. This field takes you to a small rocky ridge from where you can
enter the San Juan Glacier. To set up the last camp it is necessary
to re-climb the glacier, advancing towards the north-east on a
gradient of 35º, until reaching a place that is good for setting up
camp. On our expedition HC was installed at 5,290 m.
The final part of the ascent begins from the HC in a northerly
direction. You advance on the San Juan Glacier on a gradient close
to 30º towards the edge of the north flank of the glacier, which falls
sharply towards a wide deep valley. From this point, turn towards
the west and advance until a small break in the glacier that has
some small penitentes and many crevasses that are difficult to detect.
From this point the route to the summit is quite clear and takes
around two hours.
The descent from the HC is carried out on the extreme south-east
of the glacier. After this, follow the same route used for the ascent.
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• No special permits are required to climb Nevado Piuquenes but
you should inform the police in the San Gabriel station of your
expedition, giving them a letter showing participants, nationalities,
passport or ID numbers, details of activities and specific itineraries,
dates, route and a map of the area. As the mountain is on the
border, foreigners require permission from DIFROL (www.difrol.cl).
• The best transport option is to take a 4x4 vehicle. See appendix
for recommendations.
• It is recommended to take equipment and clothing suitable for
high mountains. As part of the equipment it is recommended to
take snow and ice anchors and equipment, wands, harness, ice
axe and crampons.
• It is recommended to take mules to transport the equipment
during the approach and the return journey. The Martínez family,
in San Gabriel, offers this service.
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