Appropriate season

Cerro Mirador del Morado is a springtime mountain. It is recommended to climb at the end of spring and the beginning of summer, when the snow conditions are optimum. The peak is also an excellent place to practice randonee skiing.

At the beginning of spring, the snow is deep, heavy, and very loose (with a danger of avalanches). In summer, the peak practically has no snow, and the route becomes a continuum of scree and sectors of poor quality rock.

Access

From Las Vizcachas, it is approximately 43 kilometers to San Gabriel (and the Carabineros control point), following the main road that winds along the Cajón del Maipo. From San Gabriel, it is another 18.2 km to Baños Morales, following the dirt road that runs up the valley of the Volcán river. Baños Morales is a small village located at the confluence of the Morales and Volcán rivers, on the east and north banks respectively (you must cross a bridge from the road you've been following until this point). Baños Morales has arrieros (horsemen of the Andes), goatherds, camping, innkeepers, and mountaineers. It's the final point towards the east with a minimum of provisions and with shade trees that allow a break from the sun (as well as Lo Valdés, which you find right in front, on the opposite bank of the Volcán river).

From Baños Morales, head for the entrance of the valley, which is an area protected by CONAF (Reserva Natural del Morado). To enter, one must tell the CONAF office about your excursion (time, number of persons, objective, return) and pay a fixed price per person per day of stay.

Approach

From the CONAF control point, one should follow the trail that winds to the end of the valley. In about one hour (3 km), you will reach Aguas Panimávida, an open area with wells of mineral water. In another two or three hours, you will reach Morado Lake (2,430m), after walking some 5 km. This is a natural place for camping: you are at just about the end of the valley, and the area has available abundant water and places to camp. Nevertheless, others prefer to continue to a plateau located at about 2,880m, walking towards the summit. From the lake, it requires more than two hours to reach this point, if you go with camping equipment. Without camping equipment, the time is reduced about in half.

The climb

From Morado Lake, continue to the end of the valley and take the farthest east snow-filled ramp that allows you to climb over the moraine of the glacier (VerFoto1) until reaching a large plateau, under a cirque of peaks formed between Cerro Union and Mirador (between one hour and an hour and a half. From here you should go around the base of the peak to the west first, then north, until reaching the north face of the peak.

The grade of the route is shallow, and passes through areas that accumulate a lot of snow. This is relatively heavy and slow. On the other side is an area very exposed to avalanches. It is wise to stay a bit away from the peak. The other difficulty that you have to take into account is that the route on the eastern margin of glacier San Francisco, VerFoto4, can have areas of hidden and open crevasses.

When you arrive at the end of the glacier traverse, continuing toward the north (+/-2 hours from the plateau), you arrive at the foot of a colouir that goes to the north side of the peak. Right at the base of this colouir there is a complex system of hidden and open crevasses and bergshcrunds that are in put in front of the couloir like natural barriers. Aside from being fairly steep, the colouir is constantly bombarded with projectiles of rock that fall at great speed. (VerFoto2; the colouir described is just above the black arrow, which in the photo appears illuminated) VerFoto4. Although the colouir seems a good option, we don't recommend that you follow it, for the warning given above. The route continues to the north, bordering the glacier, until the next part, via a shallow hill covered with snow that allows you to reach the ice plateau between Mirador and Morado in less than one hour. VerFoto4. At this point, you will be at approximately 3,670 meters (VerFoto3).

From the high plateau, you reach the summit in less than one hour, climbing via the wide and safe north slope.

The summit is small and very exposed to the wind, although it is the best place to contemplate the impressive Morado South Face and the glaciers which are in all directions.

Gear

Schedule

Schedule 1

1. Santiago – Laguna
2. Laguna – Summit - Stgo