Mountain Biking and Ice Climbing

I am begining to really like Peru. After a little too much partying we decided to head off into the mountains for some adventure activities. So another sleepless overnight bus was the way to get there. The city is called Huaraz and it’s about 3500m above sea level so this took a little getting use to. Everything you do is a struggle. When we arrived there was a huge flight of stairs to climb to the hostel and because the air is so thin, there was three fit guys puffing and panting over a flight of stairs.

The first full day there was spent mountain biking. This was a great day; we hired the bikes and paid for a little van to take us to the mountain. It is like travelling back in time here, the local people pretty much live in huts with their whole family and all there animals. They look totally different to everyone else in South America; they are the original indigenous people, who were there thousands of years before the Spanish arrived. The bike ride itself was not too hard but just because of the lack of air it took it out of us. After an hour or so of riding up hill and taking in all the sights it was time to go down, which to be honest is what we were looking forward to the most. Within a minute of setting off I was flying down, dodging rocks, cliffs, pigs and locals just to turn around and see Pete in a heap of body and bike on the floor. His back brake had decided to stop working on a really steep part so he just tapped his front and over he went. He summer salted straight over his handlebars and landed head/shoulder first. Putting his shoulder out and covering his body with cuts and bruises. He had to walk/roll the rest of the way down. I had no problems with falling off, my main problem was dogs. We had been warned before setting off that they WOULD attack us and sure enough they did. Trying to out speed them is a no go and dangerous, we were told to take a knife with us or pelt them in the head with rocks. As I didn't have a knife and really didn't want to stop to pick rocks up with this foaming at the mouth hound chancing me I decided to try and kick it in the head whilst riding. This was quite successful and after a few good blows to the head the first one left me. After this I kept a few good sized stones in my pocket for the rest of them. Some of the bikes we saw even came equiped with a knife and holder attatched to the side.

We had started off the trip with a guide and another girl but they were far to slow for us and we had left them hours earlier. A stupid idea really when you think about it...We were half way up a mountain with no idea which way to go or how to get back to our hostel. We decided to just keep heading down as it was easiest. This great directional decision came off and after a 'Inca Cola' in a local cafe we were back in the hostel tierd but just about alive. Pete made his way to a hospital for some x-rays and the like, whilst I had a little nap.

The plan was for the three of us to go Ice Climbing the next day. Unfortunitely due to Petes accident, only Rob and I could go. We were up early and made our way to the bus station where we would be picked up. The drive up to the starting point was hell. They crambed about 15 people in a 10 person van, a van that was not made to scale mountains. It was a two hour drive up these rocky tracks, the scenery was beautiful but by the end of the journey I had had enough. On arrival at our drop off point there was another group of tourists, about 15 young girls, who by the looks of things had never seen a Westerner before. Rob and I had queues of high pitched screamy girls wanting photos with us and just to hear us speak. So after an awkward 15 minutes of photos we were actually allowed to set off.

Now I know Aussies are famous for flip-flops and board shorts but this is because Australia is hot and sunny. A snow capped mountain and glacier is not the place for them. This though did not deter Rob, we had about an hour or so hike, where we would be in freezing conditions, have to scale boulders, make our way along cliff tops and carry loads of equipment. Some how he made it to the glacier where we sat around freezing waiting for our guide to set up the ropes and stuff. Whilst waiting we witnessed a few landslides, one which nearly wipped out two guys. It was like something from a flim, they just managed to drive out the way at the last second from these huge boulders falling from the top of the glacier.

The area we were in was just amazing and I doubt I will ever see anything as varied or as beautful again. I didn't get tired of seeing it. There was a big lake, huge steep cliffs, a glacier and as far as you could see into the clouds a huge snow capped mountain. Every time you forgot about it and saw it there agian, it just took your breath away. As for the actual Ice Climbing itself it was great. We got kitted out with the huge boots with the spikes on and two axe like piks and after a brief lesson we allowed to climb this glacier. It was hard work and with the air being so thin, even harder work. There was a couple of times when my feet would slip out and I would be hanging just from an axe (and the rope of course.) We got two climbs each, the first being a pretty easy one and the second a little bit more challenging with an over-hand to tackle. There was a Peruvian couple there too, who to be fare, were pretty crap at it and even gave up on the easy one. We however, managed to go both in a record time I feel! When you were climbing the cold wasn't too bad but when sitting around waiting it was freezing. After we had finished Rob and I set off back to the van, leaving the guide with the others. Somehow we made it back to the start but a totally different route than we had originally taken. There was one problem when we arrived there....There was no van. It was starting to get dark and very cold, our guide made the decision to set off down the mountain on foot until he got phone reception. After about 45 minutes a taxi picked us up, we still have no idea what happened to the van.

So that was my time in Huaraz. Scaling a glacier in the Andian mountains is something I'm pretty sure I'll never get the chance to do again and was well worth it. I enjoyed to whole thing and am so glad we did it.
That night we made our way to Lima on the bus.

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