Atacama · Chile · 6,800 m
Guided mountaineering, technical training, and bespoke expeditions on Ojos del Salado, Incahuasi and the iconic peaks of the Chilean Andes. Small teams. Local guides. A real shot at the summit.
The peaks
The Atacama is the driest, highest range outside the Himalaya — a moonscape of red rock, salt flats and ice. We guide climbers of all levels onto three of its most storied volcanoes.
Highest volcano on Earth
Slow, methodical acclimatization across four camps. A non-technical but unforgiving climb through volcanic scree, glaciated upper slopes and a short rock scramble to the summit crater.
Itinerary & dates
2nd highest in Chile
A wild, remote massif of three summits set above Laguna Santa Rosa. The ideal acclimatization peak — or a stand-alone objective for climbers building toward 7,000 m.
Itinerary & dates
House of the Inca
A sacred peak on the Argentine border, named for the high-altitude Inca shrines on its flanks. Spectacular acclimatization through ancient salt flats and pre-Columbian trail networks.
Itinerary & datesWhere we climb
Every expedition starts in Copiapó and stages east through the altiplano — Laguna Santa Rosa, then Laguna Verde — before the move to base camp. Click a peak to see its itinerary.
Why climb with us
Led by Chilean mountain guides certified by ANENA, FEACH, ENISSCHAG and the UIAA, with operations run by a founder with forty years of expedition experience on four continents.
Every expedition runs to a written risk plan: oxygen, satellite comms, weather windows, and turn-around times that we actually keep. We bring you down before we get you up.
We cap groups at six climbers per expedition and never run more than three climbers per guide above 5,500 m. Personal pace. Real attention. Honest feedback.
We base out of Copiapó with local logistics, local food, local drivers. A portion of every trip supports community projects in the Atacama and Andes.
What we offer
Flagship
Full-service ascents of Ojos del Salado, Tres Cruces and Incahuasi. Permits, logistics, food, oxygen, guides, transport — handled.
Plan a tripRock, ice, glacier travel, crevasse rescue and high-altitude survival. Skills built on real terrain, not the parking lot.
Open Training PortalYour peak, your pace, your team. We build the itinerary, you bring the goal.
Design your tripMulti-day treks across altiplano, salt flats and red-rock canyons — for climbers acclimatizing, or hikers who simply want the view.
Trek optionsCurated outdoor challenges for leadership teams. Stronger teams, made in thinner air.
Talk to us
Our history
Steve Birchfield came to the Atacama for one mountain. He left with a company.
A commercial pilot of forty-plus years, Steve had climbed on four continents before he set foot on Ojos del Salado — the highest volcano on Earth. That first ascent changed him. It wasn’t just the altitude, or the strange beauty of a moonscape stretched between salt flats and glaciers. It was the place itself, and the people in it.
He fell for the Atacama the way climbers fall for ranges they don’t plan to leave — the red rock and ice, the long silences, the Inca trails carved across passes nobody remembers. He fell for Copiapó and the people who’d been living and climbing in that high desert for generations. He fell for the food, the asado, the music, and the Inca culture that still shapes life in northern Chile.
Pan American Adventures was built out of that. Steve wanted to bring climbers into the Atacama the way he’d been brought in — led by people who actually live there. A company guided by locals, run by locals, anchored in the place itself. Not a brand parachuted in from somewhere else. A company of Chileans, working their own mountains, with a pilot from Texas keeping the logistics in the air.
Meet the teamThe team
Operations Director · Lead guide
Thirty years on the rope
Fena leads every Pan American Adventures expedition. With thirty years of mountaineering behind him — and more than twenty as a professional instructor and guide — he’s worked the high peaks of Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Patagonia and the Atacama, across mountaineering, ski mountaineering, rock and ice. A veteran of the Chilean Mountaineering Federation and the Chilean Olympic Committee, and a UIAA-affiliated instructor since 2009, Fena is the climber making the calls on the mountain — and the reason our teams come home.
Founder
“The Skinny Gringo”
Founder of Pan American Adventures. Commercial pilot of forty-plus years, entrepreneur, and adventure enthusiast who has lived and worked on four continents. His first high-altitude climb — Ojos del Salado — turned into a company. Steve runs operations from the ground and still climbs alongside the guides on select expeditions.
Guide · High-altitude specialist
Atacama native
A highly trained mountaineering guide and instructor, certified by ANENA (National Association for the Study of Snow and Avalanche). Member of the Chilean Association of Mountain and Climbing Guides and of FEACH (Chilean Federation of Climbing), trained at ENISSCHAG (National School for Ski Instructors). Ismael brings extensive experience across the Atacama and the wider Andes — a world-class guide and instructor we’re proud to have on the rope.
From the field
Trip reports, season recaps, and field notes from the Atacama. Honest writing on the peaks we climb and what we've learned.
A first-person account of climbing the world's highest volcano — what surprised us, and how to know if you're ready.
Read reportWhy 'walk high, sleep low' actually works — and what's happening in your body above 4,000 meters.
Read reportSix expeditions, eleven summits, one near-record weather window — and the lessons we're carrying into 2026.
Read reportWhat climbers say
“Fena and the team ran the cleanest, calmest expedition I've ever been on. Honest weather calls, honest pacing, and a summit day I'll remember the rest of my life.”
“I came to climb a mountain and left with friends in Copiapó. The local connection makes Pan American different — you feel like a guest, not a customer.”
“As a first-time high-altitude climber I was nervous. Their acclimatization plan was patient and conservative, and it got me to 22,000 ft on my own legs.”
Get in touch
Tell us your goal, your experience level, and roughly when you'd like to go. We'll get back within two business days with a tailored proposal.