Last updated October 14, 2026

Person byline (Travis Ludlow) + Dawson (safety) review. Parent pillar: /expedition-updates/. Breadcrumb depth 4. Units: METRES-primary (feet parens) – Andes/international. MAP + WEATHER: OSM + Windy. Schema 4 (Article + BreadcrumbList[depth 4] + FAQPage + ItemList). Revenue = AdSense + ONE disclosed Expedia link (Copiapo/Santiago travel) + operator internal links. Prefix oju. SQUARE corners. No filler, no em/en dashes. ASCII body (Copiapo/Region, no degree glyph). ANGLE (why this page is built the way it is): – THE HOOK / PARADOX: highest volcano on earth + 2nd-highest peak in the Americas (6,893 m, 68 m below Aconcagua), yet 4x4s reach ~5,900 m (Refugio Tejos) and a car set a 6,688 m world record in 2015 – a vehicle within ~1,000 vertical m of the top. Technically one of the EASIEST ways to nearly 6,900 m (scree walk + short scramble) – which is exactly the danger: the fast drive-up gain is an ACCLIMATIZATION TRAP, and altitude + cold (-25 C summit) + remoteness make it serious. – ADMIN ANGLE: the free DIFROL border permit (Chilean foreign-ministry authorization) + a modest local Copiapo area permit. Verified current. Season Nov 1 – Mar 31. – HONEST ACONCAGUA COMPARISON: 2nd-highest in the Americas, quieter and cheaper, but ~HALF the cost of a comparable guided Aconcagua trip, NOT a fifth (correcting a common myth); trade-off = remoteness/rescue. ANTI-CANNIBALIZATION: routes evergreen how-to/history/route detail to the master guide; this page owns CURRENT STATUS + THE DRIVE-UP PARADOX + PERMITS + THE ACONCAGUA COMPARISON. CLUSTER MESH: pillar backlink + 4 Andes siblings. *** FLAG: sibling slugs (aconcagua, monte-pissis, llullaillaco, chimborazo) must match the pillar’s Andes cluster children – verify. *** ACONCAGUA spoke (flat, built) + Aconcagua master (confirmed live) linked (the neighbour/comparison). MASTER Ojos guide forward-linked *** FLAG: verify /mountains-ojos-del-salado-chile-argentina/ exists; swap. *** 2 ORPHAN LINKS (real live slugs, flag for GSC swap): ams-altitude-sickness-risk-calculator; expedition-budget-calculator. IMAGE (real AdobeStock, owner-provided): – Hero (og:image): AdobeStock_1182438134-scaled.jpeg (Single real image supplied; OSM + Windy embeds provide the mid-page visual breaks. Owner can send 1-2 more REAL AdobeStock URLs for inline images – e.g. Refugio Tejos, the summit crater, or the Atacama approach.) SEO TITLE: Ojos del Salado Expedition Update 2026: Permit, Season, Routes & the Drive-Up Paradox META: Ojos del Salado (6,893 m) is the highest volcano on earth and the second-highest peak in the Americas – and you can drive a 4×4 to nearly 5,900 m. The free DIFROL permit, the acclimatization trap, cost vs Aconcagua, and a go/no-go checklist. CATEGORY: Expedition Updates TAGS: Ojos del Salado, Andes, Chile, Atacama, Copiapo, highest volcano, DIFROL permit, expedition updates, high altitude ============================================================ –> { “@context”: “https://schema.org”, “@type”: “Article”, “headline”: “Ojos del Salado Expedition Update: Permit, Season, Routes and the Drive-Up Paradox”, “description”: “A grounded Ojos del Salado update: the world’s highest volcano and second-highest peak in the Americas, the free DIFROL permit, the 4×4 access that doubles as an acclimatization trap, the route, cost versus Aconcagua, and a go or no-go checklist.”, “author”: { “@type”: “Person”, “name”: “Travis Ludlow”, “jobTitle”: “Founder & Head of Research”, “url”: “https://globalsummitguide.com/about/” }, “reviewedBy”: [ { “@type”: “Person”, “name”: “Dawson Ludlow”, “jobTitle”: “Climbing & Mountaineering Lead” } ], “publisher”: { “@type”: “Organization”, “name”: “Global Summit Guide”, “url”: “https://globalsummitguide.com/”, “logo”: { “@type”: “ImageObject”, “url”: “https://globalsummitguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/global-logo-new-2.png” } }, “datePublished”: “2026-07-27”, “dateModified”: “2026-10-14T15:44:11+00:00”, “mainEntityOfPage”: “https://globalsummitguide.com/expedition-updates-ojos-del-salado/”, “articleSection”: “Expedition Updates”, “image”: [ “https://globalsummitguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/AdobeStock_1182438134-scaled.jpeg” ], “keywords”: [ “Ojos del Salado expedition update”, “Ojos del Salado permit”, “DIFROL permit”, “highest volcano in the world”, “Ojos del Salado vs Aconcagua”, “Atacama climbing” ] } { “@context”: “https://schema.org”, “@type”: “BreadcrumbList”, “itemListElement”: [ { “@type”: “ListItem”, “position”: 1, “name”: “Home”, “item”: “https://globalsummitguide.com/” }, { “@type”: “ListItem”, “position”: 2, “name”: “Trip Planning”, “item”: “https://globalsummitguide.com/trip-planning/” }, { “@type”: “ListItem”, “position”: 3, “name”: “Expedition Updates”, “item”: “https://globalsummitguide.com/expedition-updates/” }, { “@type”: “ListItem”, “position”: 4, “name”: “Ojos del Salado” } ] } { “@context”: “https://schema.org”, “@type”: “ItemList”, “name”: “Ojos del Salado expedition update – what this page tracks”, “itemListElement”: [ { “@type”: “ListItem”, “position”: 1, “name”: “Season and status” }, { “@type”: “ListItem”, “position”: 2, “name”: “The drive-up paradox” }, { “@type”: “ListItem”, “position”: 3, “name”: “Permits and the DIFROL authorization” }, { “@type”: “ListItem”, “position”: 4, “name”: “The route and difficulty” }, { “@type”: “ListItem”, “position”: 5, “name”: “Altitude, cold and remoteness” }, { “@type”: “ListItem”, “position”: 6, “name”: “Cost and the Aconcagua comparison” }, { “@type”: “ListItem”, “position”: 7, “name”: “A go or no-go checklist” } ] } { “@context”: “https://schema.org”, “@type”: “FAQPage”, “mainEntity”: [ { “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “Do you need a permit to climb Ojos del Salado?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “On the standard Chilean side, yes, two of them. You need a free DIFROL permit, the Chilean foreign-ministry authorization required for peaks on the international border, which you apply for online at difrol.cl about 20 business days ahead. You also need a local area permit obtained in Copiapo for the Nevado Tres Cruces zone, whose fee varies and has been reported around $150 to $200, so confirm the current cost. The Argentine side needs no permit but is far more remote.” } }, { “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “Can you really drive most of the way up Ojos del Salado?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “Almost. On the Chilean side, 4×4 vehicles routinely reach around 5,900 m at Refugio Tejos, which sits within roughly 1,000 vertical metres of the summit, and in 2015 a modified car set a world record by reaching 6,688 m on the mountain. That vehicle access is the appeal, because it removes days of walking, and it is also the central danger, because it lets climbers gain altitude far faster than their bodies can adjust.” } }, { “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “How hard is Ojos del Salado?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “Technically it is easy: gentle scree slopes with occasional snow, and a short rock scramble near the summit, graded around UIAA I to II, sometimes with a fixed rope. There is no sustained technical climbing. The real difficulty is everything else, the altitude near 6,893 m, summit-day cold that can reach -25 C, high wind, and serious remoteness. It demands previous high-altitude experience and, above all, careful acclimatization.” } }, { “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “Is Ojos del Salado a good alternative to Aconcagua?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “It is a strong one. Ojos is the second-highest peak in the Americas, just 68 m below Aconcagua, far less crowded, and cheaper. But it is honestly around half the cost of a comparable guided Aconcagua trip, not the one-fifth some articles claim, and the savings come mainly from the free DIFROL permit and lower operator prices. The real trade-off is remoteness and thinner rescue infrastructure, so it is not simply an easier, cheaper Aconcagua.” } }, { “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “When is the Ojos del Salado climbing season?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “The official season runs from November 1 to March 31, the Southern Hemisphere summer, with December to February the prime window. Climbing outside those dates requires a special permit. The season matches Aconcagua and the rest of the high Andes, and summit success still hinges on catching a calm, clear weather window.” } }, { “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “How much does it cost to climb Ojos del Salado?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “A guided expedition typically runs from about $2,500 to $4,200 or more, depending on length and level of support, with most trips lasting 12 to 14 days to allow for acclimatization and 4×4 logistics from Copiapo. The permit costs are minor: the DIFROL authorization is free and the local area fee is modest. The bulk of the cost is guiding, vehicles, and time in the desert.” } }, { “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “What is the Ojos del Salado acclimatization trap?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “Because vehicles carry climbers to around 5,800 m quickly, many people arrive high without having acclimatized properly, and altitude sickness becomes the main reason expeditions fail or climbers get hurt. A sound itinerary spends days lower down at the Atacama lakes, around 3,000 to 4,300 m, and climbs a warm-up peak near 5,500 m before moving up for the summit. Rushing the altitude because the road makes it possible is the classic mistake here.” } }, { “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “How high is Ojos del Salado and where is it?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “It is 6,893 m (22,615 ft), the highest volcano in the world and the second-highest peak in the Americas, on the border of Chile and Argentina in the Atacama Desert east of Copiapo. It is an active volcano in the driest desert on earth, in a region that holds the highest concentration of 6,000 m peaks anywhere. 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What We Don't Know Yet

Mountain information changes quickly. This box explains the limits of what this page can responsibly promise.

• Permit availability, reservation windows, quotas, and official fee rules may change after this page is updated.
• Guide-company prices, departure dates, guide ratios, included services, and cancellation rules can change without notice.
• Weather, snowpack, avalanche risk, road access, and route conditions can change quickly and may be different on your climbing dates.
• Route conditions, trailhead access, crevasse exposure, stream crossings, and rescue access may vary from published planning guidance.
• Total trip cost can change with flights, lodging, guide pricing, permits, gear rentals, transportation, and exchange rates.

Confidence: Medium

Verify current conditions with official land managers, guide services, local forecasts, and current route reports before booking or climbing.

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Use current permit, weather, route, and operator information before booking or climbing.