I arrived in Huaraz with three climbing friends three weeks ago. Huaraz sits at the edge of the Cordillera Blanca (white mountain range), the highest tropical mountain range in the world - only the Himalayas are bigger. With some Alpine experience, we have signed a disclaimer and are climbing without guides, being careful to progress gradually.
Having all just arrived from the UK, my friends needed some days to acclimatise before attempting to climb and big mountains. We also had to wait for 3 bags to arrive which the airlines had lost, one of which ended up getting sent all round Peru. Unfortunately, two of them got sick just as we preparing to head out our our first expedition; their stomachs not yet accustomed to Peruvian food.
So two of us headed out for our first peak, Ishinca. We enjoyed the novelty of having donkeys carry our heavy packs into our base camp. Despite being an "easy" acclimatisation peak at "only" 5530m, we both found ourselves stopping for breath every 20 steps as we neared the top. Everything is slow and difficult here, even in comparison to the Alps. There can be no rushing of the acclimatisation process.
Still, the views were incredible, and once again reminded me of one of the reasons we climb - if you think the views from the valley are good, they are nothing compared to when you get up high. In the valley you can only ever see the two or three mountains closest to you, but up high you get a vista of the entire range.
By the time we got back from the first trip, our friends were recovered and ready to climb. We headed out for a week to climb Yanapaccha and Pisco . For Yanapaccha, we first headed to a high camp next to the glacier. But our arrerio (donkey driver) had mislead us about far the donkeys could take our gear. So the next day we struggled to ascend 400m to the camp with full camping packs.
As we finally neared our destination, we saw a group coming up behind. Two guys were gaining on us whilst carrying enormous packs. We soon realised they were Peruvian porters. One overtook us, just before we arrived at the campsite and nabbed all the best camping spots. An hour or so later, their clients arrived - a guided group doing a 6 day mountai
neering course. In comparison to us they were living in luxury, with mess tents, gas cookers and heaters and a cook producing gourmet dishes. Despite the competition for tent spots, we made friends with the guide and he complemented us on our choice of campsite and route away from the hoards.
Yanapaccha was more technically difficult than Ishinca and the cold wind didn't make it any easier. Having made it to the summit our views were spoilt by seemingly the only hour of cloud of the day. But there were plenty of views on the descent, and we returned to our camp pleased to have completed our first tricky route at altitude.
Pisco was a different proposition - higher at 5752m, but one of the easiest and most popular peaks. It has a refuge at the bottom, where we enjoyed eating a proper meal. We shared the amazing summit views with lots of Italians and other assorted Europeans.
Tomorrow we head out to climb our first 6000er, Tocallraju. After Pisco, we should be acclimatised, but the route will be the hardest yet. The MPS website has a more detailed diary of our activities.
Having all just arrived from the UK, my friends needed some days to acclimatise before attempting to climb and big mountains. We also had to wait for 3 bags to arrive which the airlines had lost, one of which ended up getting sent all round Peru. Unfortunately, two of them got sick just as we preparing to head out our our first expedition; their stomachs not yet accustomed to Peruvian food.
So two of us headed out for our first peak, Ishinca. We enjoyed the novelty of having donkeys carry our heavy packs into our base camp. Despite being an "easy" acclimatisation peak at "only" 5530m, we both found ourselves stopping for breath every 20 steps as we neared the top. Everything is slow and difficult here, even in comparison to the Alps. There can be no rushing of the acclimatisation process.
Still, the views were incredible, and once again reminded me of one of the reasons we climb - if you think the views from the valley are good, they are nothing compared to when you get up high. In the valley you can only ever see the two or three mountains closest to you, but up high you get a vista of the entire range.
By the time we got back from the first trip, our friends were recovered and ready to climb. We headed out for a week to climb Yanapaccha and Pisco . For Yanapaccha, we first headed to a high camp next to the glacier. But our arrerio (donkey driver) had mislead us about far the donkeys could take our gear. So the next day we struggled to ascend 400m to the camp with full camping packs.
As we finally neared our destination, we saw a group coming up behind. Two guys were gaining on us whilst carrying enormous packs. We soon realised they were Peruvian porters. One overtook us, just before we arrived at the campsite and nabbed all the best camping spots. An hour or so later, their clients arrived - a guided group doing a 6 day mountai
neering course. In comparison to us they were living in luxury, with mess tents, gas cookers and heaters and a cook producing gourmet dishes. Despite the competition for tent spots, we made friends with the guide and he complemented us on our choice of campsite and route away from the hoards.Yanapaccha was more technically difficult than Ishinca and the cold wind didn't make it any easier. Having made it to the summit our views were spoilt by seemingly the only hour of cloud of the day. But there were plenty of views on the descent, and we returned to our camp pleased to have completed our first tricky route at altitude.
Pisco was a different proposition - higher at 5752m, but one of the easiest and most popular peaks. It has a refuge at the bottom, where we enjoyed eating a proper meal. We shared the amazing summit views with lots of Italians and other assorted Europeans.
Tomorrow we head out to climb our first 6000er, Tocallraju. After Pisco, we should be acclimatised, but the route will be the hardest yet. The MPS website has a more detailed diary of our activities.
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