Mountaineering / Summits in March

Musala is the roof of the entire Balkan Peninsula at 2,925 meters, and while summer makes it a walk-up, the flagship experience is the guided winter ascent: crampons and poles along an icy northeast ridge from the Borovets gondola, a hut night at Ledenoto Ezero at 2,700 meters beside the frozen lake, and a summit that on clear winter mornings sees from the Aegean haze to the Carpathian line. It is the most accessible real winter summit in southeastern Europe, guided novices welcome with solid fitness, equipment included by the operators. Summer offers the same summit at a fraction of the drama.

Villarrica is real mountaineering compressed into one guided day: 1,600 meters of ascent on snow, scree, and glacier with crampons and ice axe, ending at the rim of an active crater that often holds a visible lava lake, gas masks issued at the trailhead. Few places on earth put a beginner on a glaciated, breathing volcano with this little logistics, and Pucon below has the deep guide bench, including UIAGM-certified operators, to do it properly. The volcano chain behind it, Quetrupillan, Lanin, Llaima, extends the trip for those who want more summits, and in winter the same mountain becomes a ski-mountaineering objective.

Tajumulco is the roof of Central America. At 4,220 meters it is the highest point between Mexico and Colombia, and reaching it is a walk rather than a climb, which makes the highest summit in the region attainable for a fit hiker with no technical skills. The standard trip is done over two days from Quetzaltenango, hiking up through pine forest and open paramo to a high camp, then rising in the dark for the final push to stand on the crater rim as the sun comes up. On a clear morning the view runs across the whole volcanic chain, with the cones of the Guatemalan and Mexican highlands rising out of the cloud and the shadow of Tajumulco thrown across the land to the west. The altitude is the real challenge, so it works best after a few days acclimatising in the highlands around Xela.

Kathmandu is the staging point for most Himalayan mountaineering. For those stepping into high-altitude climbing for the first time, Island Peak (6,189m) above the Khumbu is one of the most logical first objectives in the world: it requires crampon and fixed-rope technique but is achievable for fit, well-prepared climbers without prior summit experience. Mera Peak (6,476m) is less technical and slightly higher. Both sit above the Everest Base Camp trail, so the approach combines a trekking peak summit with one of the great Himalayan walks. Kathmandu itself rewards extra days: Boudhanath, Pashupatinath, the Durbar Squares.

Orizaba is the best first 5,000-meter-plus summit in the Americas: 5,636 meters, the highest peak in Mexico and third-highest in North America, with the Jamapa Glacier delivering a genuine crampon-and-rope climb above a hut you can drive to at 4,260 meters. The classic itinerary acclimatizes across Mexico's volcano trilogy, La Malinche and Iztaccihuatl first, then the summit push, all in six to nine days at a cost no Andean or Alaskan equivalent approaches. Local operations in the base town of Tlachichuca handle permits, 4x4s, and gear, and AMGA-accredited international outfitters run the same mountain for those who want the full-service version.

Kinabalu is the summit that anyone reasonably fit can stand on top of, and it delivers a real high-mountain experience without ropes or technical skill. The standard climb is a two-day trip: a long uphill first day through changing forest to the huts at Panalaban around 3,270 meters, then a pre-dawn start on day two, head-torch on, up bare granite slabs fixed with ropes to reach Low's Peak for sunrise above a sea of cloud. The mountain is a botanical marvel on the way up, its slopes home to pitcher plants, wild orchids and the giant Rafflesia nearby, and the granite plateau at the top feels otherworldly. Sabah Parks caps the number of climbers and requires every party to take a licensed mountain guide, so this is a permitted, well-run ascent rather than a free-for-all. For an extra day and a head for heights, Mountain Torq's via ferrata, the highest in the world, threads iron rungs and cable bridges across the Panalaban rock face on the descent. It is the standout summit of South-East Asia and a fine introduction to high-altitude walking.

Ojos del Salado is the highest volcano on earth and the second-highest summit in the Americas, and the Atacama's hyper-arid climate gives it something no 6,900-meter peak elsewhere can offer: unusually reliable summit windows. The route is non-technical but the altitude is entirely real, and the acclimatization circuit across the Atacama's 5,000 and 6,000-meter peaks, Siete Hermanas, San Francisco, is a world-class high-desert expedition in its own right. Vehicle access reaches refugios near 5,200 meters, the highest drive-to-base approach anywhere, which is why altitude record attempts of every kind gravitate here.