Introduction

Retumbadero is that distinguishable mountain located in the heart of Cajón del Maipo, in what is the Volcán basin (affluent of the Maipo River), which receives the waters of Marmolejo´s and San José´s glaciers, among others. Before going deep into the high, cold and windy central cordillera, and after passing by the several cozy little villages which keep to the narrow margins of the Maipo river, one reaches a place that is considered by many the heart of the mountainous part of Cajón del maipo.

Separated by the Volcán river, both the hamlet of Baños Morales to the north, and the refuge of the German Andean Club at Lo Valdés, to the south, mark the limits between the green and the dry, between the urban and the wild, and the beginning of a huge playground, full of possible climbs in the nearby valley. At this place come together worlds so different as the worlds of arrieros, herdsmen, miners and mountaineers, all which, in a confusing and disordered manner, characterize the place. For the fatigued mountaineers who return from their wanderings, thirsty and beaten, the place is a small oasis, which offers the shadow of the last trees, refreshing beers and restoring empanadas. There, in the middle and from high above, Retumbadero takes part. Probably, the peak wouldn´t be as known as it is if it didn´t intrude as much as it does into this small Andean center. Besides, an extense yellow band called Las Amarillas, crosses it diagonally from the shoulder to its feet, giving evidence of the power of water, which reached a peak during the great aluvion of 1993, which covered great part of the plane at its base. Its lower slopes are crossed by the trails of dreaming miners who scratched the mountain to extract the mineral and make their own path.

Its name ("that rumbles") comes from the boulders which tumble down in the direction dictated by gravity, and from the high winds which develop above its rocky peaks. Some exaggerated poet from Baños Morales stretched the boundaries of what´s credible when he sang that the wind blows so strong on Retumbadero, that "the cows fly as sheets of paper". Stories like this one are common in the surroundings, and it wouldn´t be surprising to encounter local people who hold having met aliens.

Retumbadero must not be confused with its homonymoum, Retumbadero Alto. The latter is a higher peak, further south and which is not visible from the Volcán valley. Despite being very close to each other, they are not the same, but differente peaks.