Julia Fisher, Emery Tillman, Alex Shallhorn, Tracy d’Arbeloff, and Melina Coogan en route to the Tres Saltos.
Jason Craig, Isaac Holden, and I (David Hughes) decided to lead the group to slide off of one of Tres Saltos perfectly clean slides. Tres Saltos can bee seen around Pucon on billboards and is a paid to see sight attraction. If you drive past Pucon toward Lago Caburgua and make a right toward Argentina you will begin travel higher into the Andes Mountains. 
Stephen Forster slides the big one at Tres Saltos near our Pucon, Chile base.
The valley approaching Tres Saltos offered students a new view and angle on Chile’s most famous volcano, Volcan Villiarrica. Upon arrival Isaac gave the group an overview of what the activity would involve and what to expect. I spoke about safety and continuing leadership and support during the canyoneering activity. Isaac and Jason began leading the group up the steep hill, past the zip lines, and to the top where Volcan Villiarrica stood in all its glory.
Matt Tropea and Nelson Jones shimmy their way down the Tres Saltos canyon.
After hiking down into the creek bed we put on our helmets and discussed supporting each other on the steep stretch. Everyone was encouraged to begin sliding and exploring the playful creek bed. As we walked students soon realized they were also scouting a class V run. Waterfalls and slides were everywhere and students continued to slide down wet rocks into the pools.
Once we arrived at the first of the three saltos we set safety. A large rope to climb and a throw rope for belay were set. As students climbed the fat rope they were also hooked in and belayed on the rescue rope.
The slide is about 30 degree 15’ slick rock slide that drops 15’ into a pool below. Locals took pictures and cheered as we slid off of the attraction. Only kayakers would have such a unique perspective of this attraction as a playground. We would use two donut swimming pool floats to sit on and accelerate our speed. Zach did a 360 degree spin, Isaac and I went off at the same time, Tracy and Palmer gave a scream, and many slid the drop many times.
The water was cold and the canyon was not offering much of the mid-day sun. So, sunny spots were areas where we congregated together and cheered the next run. Soon, we were packing our supplies and walking down the trail to our van. It was another natural high. Palmer Miller stated, “Tress altos was my favorite activity yet.”
On the way home we stopped for ice cream, sodas, and candy. We returned at 2:00 pm and simply laid around the yard soaking up the sun. It was an exciting day off of the water.
By- David Hughes, Jason Craig, and Isaac Holden
