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Published: December 20th 2009
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Now that all of my fingers have completely thawed (bar left hand ring finger which still has no feeling in the tip..hmm.) I thought it was time to recount one of, if not the, best experiences of my life. This time last week Kath, Benny (fellow volunteer from Switzerland) and I were couped in the back of a small toyota, winding our way through rocky fields towards the Andes mountain ranges. Our sights were set on the peak of one mountain in particular, Hyuana Potosi. At 6088m, Hyuana Potosi is not only one of the tallest in the Andes, but in the world. To give some perspective; Mt Cook is 3753m; the highest mountain in Europe, Mt Erebus, is 5,642m; Mt Kilmanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, is 5,895 m. So, in short, it´s a big mountain; and one that we were determined to conquer.
We arrived at the first base camp at around midday on Friday, and after a bite to eat headed off with our guide, Felix, to try our hands at mountain climbing on a nearby Glacier. We had an awesome time using crampons and ice picks for the first time, and after a couple of hours
A hard slog
Winding our way up to Base Camp 2 on the Glacier I was itching to get into some actual climbing. I would have to wait as that was it for the day. We headed back to base camp for some coca tea (great for combating the effects of altitude, which had given us all minor headaches), some chin wagging with some of the other teams who were also climbing (around 15 of us in total) and a good nights rest. The next morning we headed off for the climb up to the 2nd base camp. After a couple of hours of lugging heavy packs up some fairly steep rock faces, we were relieved to reach the little brick home which sat perched at 5130m with a beautiful view over the nearby mountains. We had the afternoon off but I had trouble sitting still so while others wisely rested, I explored the rock faces around the base camp and found a perch to watch the amazing vista as the clouds rose, fell and swirled around the rocky peaks around us.
At 7pm that night we all headed off to bed as we were going to have to wake up at midnight to start the climb, in order to
Looking out the front door
The amazing view from the front door of Base Camp 2 reach the peak at sunrise. The ascent had to be done in the middle of the night, we were informed, as that was when the snow was still hard and therefore safest to climb. After 5 hours of absolute no sleep, midnight had arrived and our guide came up to ´wake´us. After donning our gear, and turning on our head lamps, we headed off into the darkness to start the ascent.
Fortunately there were 2 guides with the 3 of us, as after about 15 minutes of climbing the glacier above the base camp, Benny, our Swiss friend, decided to call it quits as he was having problems with both his Asthma and his knees. As one guide took him back to the base camp, Kath and I continued into the darkness with guide 2. Kath, who was still recovering from a cold, was also having difficulty with the altitude and after another hour or so of climbing was starting to falter. At this point the other teams had vanished into the distance and I was starting to get anxious. The guide said that if we kept going at this rate, we would not reach the summit. Luckily, our
Success
Coming down from the top other guide finally came back and after some reshuffling we each had a guide so we could go at our own pace. There was not way I was not getting the top, and for motivation I told my guide that not only did I want to get to the top, but I wanted to be the first to arrive.
We headed off at a quick pace, ranging over wide snow fields, climbing up steep ice ´walls´ and jumping over crevasses. Within around 2 1/2 hours we had reached the final stretch and the peak was in our sights. At this point I was wondering if it was such a good idea to tell my guide I wanted to arrive first, he was taking it very seriously. The final part was grueling, a steep 300 m ice wall. The guide was in front and although I was aching I founding counting my steps and just focusing on the guides path in front kept me going. About 20m from the top, we were just behind the first team and my guide started running. Running! We quickly manouevered our way around the team, and collapsed at the top. We had made it!
Vista
Taking a moment to enjoy the beautiful sunrise It was an amazing feeling. We had actually gone a little too quick as it was only 5am and the sun had not quite risen, but the view was still spectacular. The lights of El Alto were glowing in the distance, and an orange shadow was spreading on the cloud cover which was only interrupted by the peaks of other mountains.
After borrowing some gloves off a fellow climber who had an extra pair (mine were not waterproof and my hands were literally black), we started the descent. I had to stop the guide atleast a few times though to take photos as the sun was rising and it was a spectacular view.The descent was much quicker, and after 2 hours of maintaining what I would describe as a quick trot down the mountain, we had reached base camp. Kath and Benny were upstairs asleep, both exhausted. Kath had made it to 5660m, just before the first steep ice wall, which was a good effort considering the trouble she was having breathing. She obviously had pushed hard as threw up upon arriving back at the base camp!
Overall, it was an absolutely phenomenal experience. I have definitely found
Good people
A moment in the sun with Julie (France) and Marco (Germany) a new passion and cannot wait to try my hand at some of the other mountains that are scattered around La Paz, although i´m pretty sure Kath won´t be joining me! Either way, we both felt extremely blessed to be able to take Hyuana Potosi on, and truly have a new appreciation for this beautiful country.
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Kate
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WOW
Andrew - this is incredible. It sounds amazing although I suspect it would have made it almost as far as Benny if I had been there. I hope your hands have recovered from being black! By the way, GREAT writing. So much for not wanting any pressure in writing a descriptive blog. This is brilliant, please write more.