Blogs from Huayna Potosí, La Paz Department, Bolivia, South America

About This Entry This is my longest ever blog entry, which is a little mad considering the actual events documented only cover three days. I have my reasons though, in the run up to the mountain attempt I was unwell in La Paz; not massively so and I don't know why exactly. I was incredibly lethargic and hard a brutal phlegm riddled cough as well as a bit of travellers sickness. Perhaps it was the altitude, perhaps it was something I ate, perhaps it was the foul dust in the air in Adventure Brew's new building - it doesn't matter. The easiest thing to do when you're not feeling well in this sort of situation is to just relax until you regain energy, this can lead to a situation of watching endless television or one where ... read more

When we trekked to Annapurna Base camp (November 2009) we had ascended 3,500 metres over 5 days bringing us to the lofty altitude of 4,300m. At the time this was the highest point on earth either of us had been, and as we stood there awed, gazing at the snowy mountain peaks all around us Lewi declared that he had a huge urge to continue higher. Obviously at that time it wasnt possible (no gear, no guide), but i think it was this lingering curious urge and promise of other-worldly sights that brought us to the door of 'Huayna Potosi Refugio Tours'. Like many of the countless agencies in La Paz, 'H.P.R.T' offered guided excursions to the summit of the collosal and beautiful Huayna Potosi. One of the many stunning snowy monsters in the Cordillera Real ... read more

Na nejblizsi 2 dny jsme se rozhodli pro vystup na horu huyana Potosi - kousek od La Pazu vysokou 6.088metru. Jedna z nejjednodussich sestitisicovek na svete. Rano jsme se zastavili v agenture, zkontrolovali potrebnou vystroj - i prestoze je 1 z nejjednodussich musite mit cepin, macky, helmu atd., protoze vetsinu vystupu jdete po ledovci. Pak jsme sedli do dzipu a vyrazili. Jelo se do zakladniho tabore ve 4.700 m, jen asi o 1000 vic nez La Paz a odtud s veskerou vystroji a dvema pruvodci se vyskravat do dalsiho tabore v 5.130 metrech. My jsme uz aklimatizovani, tak jsme sli jen na 2dny, vetsina lidi jde na 3 dny, ale i tak nekteri z nich nepremohou vyskovou nemoc a vrati se. Muzete mit svaly jako Schwarzenegger za mlada, ale nevite jak budete reagovat ve vyskach...Vystup byl ... read more

procházka po městě... read more

After having spent 5 days in La Paz to accclimatise myself, I was ready to try and climb Huayna Potosí, billed as the easiest mountain in the world over 6000m to climb. Most of the trek to the summit is not technical, and as it is so close to La Paz, it is easy for novices like myself to get used to the altitude there before ascending. Although not the tallest mountain in the Cordillera Real (Royal Range) in the Andes near La Paz, Huayna Potosí is nevertheless 6088m tall (just shy of 20,000 feet), making it the 114th tallest mountain in the world (so I’m told). According to our agency, roughly 10 to 15% of people who try to ascend don’t make it, normally because of altitude sickness. The ascent and descent only took ... read more