Introduction

Leonera: realm of leones. The arrieros (horsemen of the mountains) refer to the puma as “el león”, and they surely named the place because it was frequented by “leones”. The Leonera is a strategic place for pumas, since it overlooks several feeding spots of the area: Piedra Numerada in the Molina valley, Villa Paulina, and the sector of Piuquenes and Barros Negros at La Parva. In other times, the ridge that ends at the Leonera must have been used by flocks of guanacos to cross from one valley to the other in their search for feeding grounds. Today, neither pumas nor guanacos visit the place, although condors can regularly be seen .

From Santiago and its surroundings, the summit of the Leonera can't be distinguished clearly, since it is just in front of cerro Plomo, thus losing its contour against the bigger peak's background. If we do not consider ascents realized during the inca empire, the Leonera was first climbed 40 years later than its neighbor Plomo, even though it requires much less time, strength and skill. The starring role of the Plomo in the area makes the Leonera seem just another minor summit. In spite of this, the Leonera has some characteristics that demand the attention of mountaineers.

Considering variables as distance, time and technical difficulty, the Leonera must be one of the most easily reachable five thousand meter peaks from urban centers with the size and population of Santiago. In less than two hours one can get to the starting point, and the summit can be bagged in a day, not requiring technical skills. High altitude runners reach the summit in less than 4 hours from Piuquenes (the record is 3 hours 45 min).

The Leonera is a very dry mountain, severely windswept by the north wind, and because of its ordered rows of cliffs, which come down in an orderly manner from the summit to the base, looks like a Mayan temple.