Politur started in 1986 as a subcontractor — running the rafting and the volcano for Los Chonos, the outfit that brought rafting to Chile — and has been on Avenida O'Higgins in Pucón ever since. Forty years in one town is the kind of history you want behind you when you are roped to somebody on an active volcano.
The Villarrica ascent is five hours and costs from CLP 155,000 with guides, crampons, ice axe and the gas mask you will want near the crater rim. It is not technical, but it is 1,500 metres of ascent on snow and scree and it is turned back often by wind. If the volcano is closed — and SERNAGEOMIN closes it regularly — their fallbacks are honest ones: snowshoeing on the lower slopes at CLP 65,000, the lava tubes at Cuevas Volcánicas at CLP 55,000, or the Lagunas Andinas walk in the national park at the same price.
Off the mountain they run the Trancura rafting, canyoning, and shuttles to the Huife hot springs at CLP 45,000. Everything is priced on the website, which in Chilean adventure tourism is less common than it should be.