Huascaran Sur (right) and Norte (left) from the road near Yungay.
Entering the National Park Huascaran at the Llanganuco laguna. The canyon walls on either side exceed 1000m vertical!
Laguna Llanganuco in a canyon between Huascaran and Huandoy.
Beginning of the hiking trail up to base camp; up to here (3900m) we could drive on a gravel road.
Hiking up to base camp on Day 1; Huascaran is to the right in clouds.
Refugio Peru with Nevado Pisco.
Refugio Peru at 4680m; This hut looks like it could be in Switzerland or Italy; it was built by the Italian Clup Alpino.
Leaving base camp at 2am heading for Pisco.
Another party of 3 climbers on the glacier climbing towards Pisco around 6am.
View from summit ridge of Pisco to the North with Artesonraju on the right.
First sun hits Nevado Huandoy (6395m)
Large crevasses on the summit ridge of Nevado Pisco.
High on the Pisco summit ridge around 7am, looking down to clouds in the NE.
On the summit of Nevado Pisco, 5760m, on June 1st, 2010. Huascaran Sur is behind me, Huascaran Norte to the right, Chopicalqui to the left.
Last pitch to the summit of Nevado Pisco; note the trail along the summit ridge and the glacier below.
Another summit shot; the mountain below my ice-axe is Alpamayo.
Client Ignacio, myself, guide Darwin, client Emilio posing on the summit of Nevado Pisco, June 1st, 2010, 8:30am.
Chopicalqui (center) and Huascaran Sur (right) as seen from Pisco summit.
Intense glaciation and steep snow - trademark signs of the Cordillera Blanca
View to NW from Pisco summit, with the two Chacray summits.
On the descent, view of Nevado Huandoy.
Heavily glaciated and crevassed summit ridge of Pisco.
Resting just below the glacier on the descent; the sun and reflecting snow make it extremely hot on the glacier, so most climbers make it a priority to get off the ice on the way down...
Descending the blocks below the glacier.
The path continues on the ridge in the middle, to the right of the lake.
We had to cross this huge moraine, which was at times tricky terrain and not easy to navigate.
Guide Darwin after having crossed the moraine; now it's just 200m down to base camp.
Back to base camp after 11 hours round-trip.
Refugio Peru in the afternoon with Chopicalqui in the background.
Morning sun at base camp with Nevado Huandoy towering above.
Starting to hike down from base camp in the morning; Huascaran is appearing on the right.
Huascaran Sur from NE; this is a massive mountain.
Laguna Llanganuco
Driving down to Yungay from the Laguna Llanganuco.
Loading the minibus with all our gear in Huaraz; that's Enrique who runs an excellent expedition service: http://www.enriqueexpedition.com/
Starting our hike up to base camp from Musho.
Our two teams (from left): Guides Christian and Darwin, clients Ignacio and Emilio.
Ignacio, Emilio and Darwin taking a rest on a boulder with a nice view over the Eucalyptus forest above Musho.
Mules carrying our gear on a ridgeline above us with Huascaran Sur in the background.
Arriving at base camp (4200m) and setting up camp.
Lazy and sunny afternoon at base camp. Definitely a room with a view (2000m down to the Rio Santa valley); that view was tremendous, both during day and at night.
At Base Camp prior to sunset.
Base camp and View SW to Rio Santa valley and Huaraz in the distance.
Sunset at base camp; first night on the mountain.
With cook and porters in the mess tent at dinner; we only had this luxury of a dedicated tent for cooking and eating at base camp. Up high cook and porters were preparing hot water and meals outside in the freezing wind!
Warning sign for the potentially slippery granite slabs ahead.
All this rock was once under the glacier, which polished it flat with its massive weight of ice and grinding motion.
Looks flat and easy on the photo, but there were sections which I thought were pretty dicey and at the limit of friction climbing with the stiff plastic boots.
Arriving at the large Refugio Don Bosco Huascaran (4760m). This is one of the few (European style) huts they have in Peru.
View of Huascaran Sur from Refugio Don Bosco.
Hiking up from Refugio Don Bosco to beginning of glacier. On dry rock this was borderline safe. I wonder what would happen with rain or snowfall?
Resting at the beginning of the glacier (with too much sunscreen apparently).
With soft snow in the afternoon we could hike up to Camp 1 without crampons on the bottom of the glacier.
Heading up to Camp 1. The line up into the dangerous Canaleta continues in center left of photo.
At Camp 1 (5300m), at safe distance below the Canaleta.
Early start from Camp 1 (5300m) up to Camp 2 (5900m) to minimize avalanche risk in the Canaleta and traverse above.
Steep ice in Canaleta around dawn. This was one of the most technical sections of ice climbing I had ever done. Guide Christian climbed first and secured via top rope.
Two porters on the same rope with me and guide Christian. The other party with guide Darwin just below.
Huascaran casts its shadow to the West at sunrise. We are now at 5500m more than 3000m above the Rio Santa valley floor.
Short break after exiting the Canaleta, before the traverse to Camp 2. The crater-like missing hilltop in the distance (center) is a gold mine above Huaraz. An ugly sight, both during the day and at night.
Guide Christian approaching Camp 2 below some large crevasses just under the Col de Garganta between Huascaran Norte and Sur.
Site for Camp 2, Col on the right. Note that there are no tracks above Camp 2 yet, as we are at the beginning of the Huascaran climbing season early June.
Camp 2 with Huascaran Norte in the background.
I spent 2 full days and 3 nights at Camp 2. We arrived early Saturday 9am. On Sunday the guides broke trail above. On Monday we left at 1am for the summit. Those were 40 hrs nearly nonstop in this tent. Sometimes it takes a lot of patience to climb high mountains. (Good thing there is an iPod and audiobooks!)
2nd evening at high camp; behind an unrelated group of 6 Austrian climbers with their guides and porters.
At Camp 2 (5900m) you are sometimes above the clouds. It's a glorious, but harsh world up there.
Evening at Camp 2. I had a chat with the Austrian group; our cook and porters are fixing tea and dinner out in the cold.
Ever seen a bigger crevasse than this? No surprise that on the highest mountain in the tropics there is both a lot of precipitation and at near 6000m enough cold for lots of ice!
Full of enthusiasm with guide Christian at 1:30am on summit day (Monday, June 7), about to leave Camp 2 with clear sky and initially only moderate wind.
Short rest after 1.5 hrs of climbing under a large ice bulge; we are now above the Col at perhaps 6200m. With the cold it's not a place to sit and relax, though. We continued after less than 10 mins to stay warm.
High on Huascaran Sur, looking back down to the Col and across to Huascaran Norte (6655m) which gets the first rays of sun. Other summits of the Cordillera Blanca (all lower) still in the shade. Darwin's group a bit behind us gives you a sense of scale. Near the top Huascaran Sur is flat and easy (but windy and cold).
The characteristic sunrise shadow of high mountains to the West; we are now more than 4000m above the valley floor. With very clear air you should be able to see the Pacific Ocean further West from here.
Around 6600m high on Huascaran Sur, almost 1000m higher than Nevado Pisco (where we stood a week earlier). Huascaran Norte in the sun.
The terrain leveling off near the top of Huascaran Sur. Unfortunately there were some clouds forming from the East, so we ended up with zero visibility on the actual summit.
On the flat summit of Huascaran Sur (6768m). I struggled most with the cold due to my less-than-optimal rental equipment. Wind chill was probably -25C or lower. All told (altitude, technical difficulty, dangerous approach, effort, etc.) I can say that this was probably the most extreme mountain scenery of my life. Don't go there without sufficient acclimatization, good equipment and enough experience!
Starting to descend towards the Col. What a view down to the Rio Santa valley!
Steep section during descent to Col.
Another look down to the Rio Santa valley. The scale is enormous. It took us 3 days to descend all the way down to Musho.
Back from the summit at Camp 2. Two porters greeting me and guide Christian enthusiastically.
Crashing in the tent after a 9hr round trip to the summit (6 hrs up, 3 hrs down).
Packing away our tents early on Tuesday to get down to Camp 1 and base camp. We left before 6:30am to pass the traverse and Canaleta before the sun would hit the upper slopes and increase avalanche risk.
Just before sunrise on the descent in the traverse towards the Canaleta.
Nearing the Canaleta on the descent. We are around 5700m and still need to get down some 300m through the avalanche-prone Canaleta.
Guide Christian with the traverse to the Col and Huascaran Norte in the background.
The by now familiar shadow of the two Huascaran summits. Again, on the photo this looks quite flat, but it isn't!
Securing the porters down a steep section of ice in the Canaleta. Camp 1 is on the flatter slopes of the glacier some 200-300m below.
Another view of guide Christian (top) securing down a porter in the most difficult section (steep ice in the middle, crevasse at the bottom).
Guide Christian on the rocks below the glacier. Glad to have made it down the Canaleta and be off the glacier and in the sun!
The lower bounds of Glaciar Raymondi. Around 9am the sun climbs high enough to reach the Western slopes of Huascaran during our descent.
View of Huascaran Norte from the Refugio Don Bosco; they had laid out all their mattresses to air them out. I guess this refugio sleeps 80-100 people.
At Refugio Don Bosco, drying up our tents and sleeping bags and soaking up some sun and warmth. After 3 cold nights at 5900m it felt pretty good down here at 4760m.
View back up to Refugio Don Bosco (center) with the first tree - a Quenal tree.
Between Refugio Don Bosco (4760m) and base camp (4200m) on the descent; reaching the first green is always a welcome sight after 4 nights on the glacier.
Back at base camp (4200m). It felt comfy warm and relatively luxurious here after the 4 nights on the glacier!
Sunny evening from the balcony at base camp.
Base Camp just prior to sunset. Our last night on the mountain was the most comfortable one - and with the tension of the dangers up high now gone, plus the satisfaction of the summit all lifted our spirits.
After breakfast ready to leave Base Camp heading down to Musho. One of the mules which had come up that morning to carry down our gear.
Section of Quenales trees just below Base Camp on the final descent.
Guide Christian in the small stretch of Quenales forest. What a different world compared to the last week up high...
The two guides Darwin (left) and Christian, both highly recommended for anyone considering a Huascaran climb. Contact them through http://www.enriqueexpedition.com/
Back down in Musho (3050m), looking up the massive West face of Huascaran with the Col center left.
The mules brought down all our gear, so we are now ready to ...
... load it all into our mini-bus for the drive back to Huaraz.
All smiles with the expedition crew in the mini-bus during the drive back to Huaraz.
Celebratory dinner at Pizzeria Monte Rosa in Huaraz with Ignacio (left) and Emilio. Our joint expedition was a 100% success - and our appetite was back (with a vengance)!
Dinner with guide Christian on my last evening in Huaraz
SPOT track (all individual signals) of the Huascaran climb as seen with Google Terrain Map.
SPOT track of upper section of climb (with OK messages from Camp 1 (left), Camp 2 (top left) and the summit (right) against sattelite image view of Google map.
