This information is a contribution from Juan Carlos Carmona.

Inca Route Volcán Licancabur First Ascent : 1884 Severo Titichoca (en solitario) Valley : Face : Northeast Altitude Gain : 4330 ft. From Licancabur village to summit Rated by 2 people Physical 5.5 Technique 3 Exposure 2

It is possible to climb Licancabur all year round. Beware during the summer months with possible storms caused by the "Bolivian Winter". Between May and August it is very cold and days pretty short.

Access to Licancabur is most straightforward from Laguna Verde, by the Paso del Cajón (Cajón Pass), on the Chile-Bolivia border.

From San Pedro de Atacama, take the road to Paso Jama. It´s about 30 kilometers of well paved road until reaching a detour indicated by a sign to the left which takes to Paso del Cajón. The road, now rubble, steadily climbs up the altiplanic desert, allowing for a fantastic view of the Atacama Salt Flat and the San Pedro Oasis, and reaches after some 10 kilometers the Paso del Cajón, 4480 meters above sea level. From here, it is another 10 kilometers to the southwestern shore of Laguna Verde (4350m), just beneath the eastern slopes of Volcán Juriques, neighbor to Licancabur.

A small hut at the shore offers food and shelter. An entrance fee of around $3000 chilean pesos to "Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina" (National Andean Wildlife Reservation) must be payed.

From the hut one must continue North along the western shore of the Lagunas, following a 4x4 trail. The ascent route is clearly visible from here (See Foto7 ). Then the trail turns to the West and finally to the South, climbing up a sandy creek until reaching the "Pueblo de Licancabur" (Licancabur Village); it is about 8 kilometers from Laguna Verde that will leave us right beneath the volcano´s cone, and very near Volcán Juriques. Base Camp should be set up here (4600m); it is recommended to pitch up the tents inside the inca buildings See Foto5 .

A well marked trail starts at the village(it probably was part of the "Camino del Inca") which heads directly towards the Licancabur´s Northeast slope, where the first ruins are found, right at the cone´s base See Foto6 . The trail then follows up a long zig-zag directly to the summit, facing west and up scree with around 40º of inclination. The zig-zag section is overcome after 3 to 4 hours. At the end of the zig-zag, some big rocks are reached: the trail dissapears here at times (head Southwest), and some scrambling over rocks is required to reach a false summit. From here, it is some meters along the summit until reaching the Northeast border of the crater, highest point of the volcano. Several ruins exist at the crater´s border, and much firewood has been found in the surroundings See Foto4 . There is also a beautiful frozen pond at the bottom of the crater See Foto2 . From the summit there is a superb view of the Salar de Atacama as well as of other mountains in Chile, Bolivia and Argentina See Foto3 .