Blogs from Huayna Potosí, La Paz Department, Bolivia, South America - page 3

Last Sat there was a giant festival in all of La Paz that started at about 9am and went till about 3am. The streets were packed with people and there was a huge on-going parade. It was pretty fun to watch. It was also the day of the Bolivia vs. Venezuela soccer match. We spent the day walking through the festival and then went to the soccer game, which was pretty exciting, but Bolivia lost.. On Monday I started the H.P. climb. The first day we tried on gear and then headed to our first refuge camp, which was really really nice. We then had a few hours of practice on a glacier so we could get used to the crampons and using our ice picks. Day two we were able to sleep in, had lunch, ... read more

Huayna Potosi is a mountain located in Bolivia, not far and north-west of La Paz. The idea to summit this mountain was initiated by our Dutch friend Jerome who had recently tackled it successfully. He showed Steve some photos and that was all it took - he was hooked. The summit sits at 6088 metres above sea level and although it is a mixed climb with some technical difficulty, not a lot of experience is necessary making it the ideal mountain for us to try. We did some investigating once we arrived in La Paz and found an agency which offers a 3 day trip for reaching the summit. All equipment required is provided and they work with a ratio of one guide for two people. This agency also owns the refugios (hut accommodations on the ... read more

Hauyna Potosi Hauyana Potosi is a mountain an hour or so to the north of La Paz standing at a whopping 6,088m or near enough 20,000ft! I thought oh it would be cool to climb that then i will have beaten dad before he even gets to the top of Mont Blanc! So i me and the only willing volunteer Joe set off to climb a very big mountain and this is what went on; Day One & Two We set off from La Paz in a taxi with our guide Phillipe for two hours up dirt roads to the lodge at base camp (4,700m) which was already surrounded in cloud (Camera died here so all these photos were donated by Joe). We had some lunch at base before getting our ice boots and thermals on ... read more

Lordag 13. sept dro vi til Refugio Huanyna Potosi paa en tre dagers tur for aa bestige Huayna Potosi. Et fjell paa 6088 moh. Foerste dag var det klatretrening paa isbre med stegjern og isoeks anfoert av lege og mountaineer Dr. Hugo Martin. Lege i regntiden og mountaineer i hoysesongen... Hovedgrunnene til at vi hadde valgt dette firma var at Senior Doctor virket svaert serioes og at det var overnatting i hytter begge nettene. Teltlivet virket ikke saa fristende der oppe i kulden. I tillegg til oss to var ogsaa Petra fra Sveits med. Doktoren (svarte kun paa tiltale naar tittel ble benyttet) var en svaert ivrig laerer og vi holdt paa i isbreen til krampa tok oss og solen forlengst var gaatt ned. I det vi pakket sammen sluttet det aa snoe, og en vakker ... read more

Samstag, 29.03.2008. So - da bin ich wieder. Gestern wieder mal frueh, das heisst um 06.30 h aufgestanden und im Dunkeln alles zusammengepackt. In der Nacht hatte es geregnet, so dass das Zelt noch nass war. Nach 2 Stunden Fahrt durch das einsame, noerdliche, wolkenverhangene Argentinien treffen wir an der bolivianischen Grenze ein. Das Wetter hatte sich zwischenzeitlich etwas gebessert. In Bolivien veraendert sich einiges schlagartig. 90 % der Bevoelkerung ist indigenen Ursprungs und mit ihrer Kultur stark verwurzelt. Die meisten Leute sind noch sehr urspruenglich gekleidet. Auch die Strassen verandern sich drastisch. Meistens fahren wir nur noch auf schlecht unterhaltenen Schotterstrassen. Unser Gefaehrt verwandelt sich in einen veritablen Schuettelbecher! Auch unsere Uhren mussten wir eine Stunde nachstellen - der Zeitunterschied zur Schweiz betraegt nun (-) 5 Stunden. Wir fahren bis ... read more