Penultimate Post

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Rock climbing was great, even though I wasn´t terribly enthusiastic about going - early start after not sleeping well, and just a want to sit and drink tea for the next few days.

We went to visit Whalter at QuechuaAndes (the guy who took us ice climbing) to see if he´d teach us the basics of trad (placing your own protection) climbing and find out more about a place called Hadu Machay as reccomended by Tony from La Luna. Hadu Machay turned out top be a bit too far away for only one days climbing, and the only sport route (bolted, but you still have to protect yourself) ´belonged´ to another tour company. Ah well, what about Antacocha Whalter says, bringing up the photos on his computer. Wow, it looked good. Unfortunately Whalter couldn´t join us as he was off up Pisco but he assured us his brother would do a great job.

So we arrive at Antacocha the next morning after about half an hour on tarmaced road and an hour of lifting the Corolla out of potholes and ruts in the mud track up to it. The wall was BIG. 180m doesn´t sound too bad in the tour office, but in reality, we were beginning to wonder if we were a little out of our depth. Still, 4 pitches (lengths of 60m rope, minus the stuff you´re tied into) at 4000masl, grade 5a, maybe 5b (American 5.10) which is pretty tough, especially for beginners. Well, we´ll se what we can do.



After 3 and a half hours we made it to the top!!!! It was fantastic. I never thought I could climb for that long, just a couple of attempts at an indoor route is enough for me to have to surrender my poor fingers to the easier task of belaying. This was different though - limestone, although necely worn smooth (as is the nature of the rock) in the most annoying of places is the most unforgiving of razor sharp edges when it flakes off (typing has never been so painful!). And it was so cold, your fingers and toes are numb in seconds, redering it difficult to know if you´re actually gripping your hold at all!!!

Unfortunately I had to have a bit of haulage to help me past a couple of difficult sections that I just couldn´t do (no way was I rapelling back down, I WANTED to do this) But other than that we both did fantastically well.

We had to walk back down but didn´t take the walking boots up - or the bag of water and the camera for that matter - simply because they were too heavy so down we went with our feet scrunched up in the climbing shoes, arms outstretched for balance every time we slipped (the shoes will grip to a sheer vertical wall, but aren´t so good when it comes to walking over loose mud and stones) looking like we were performing some perverse form of ballet.

The numerous cuts, grazes and swollen fingers we were comparing in the back of the taxi have, the next day, been accompanied by large bruises and an inability to move ANY part of the body any slower than a little bit at a time to the screams of protesting muscles.

So why do we do this then? Shoving our feet into shoes several sizes too small and putting our bodies into the most unnatural amount of strain and pressure in such circumstances.
Well, Martin says ´it´s not the same when you get to the top of the wall as it is when you summit a mountain´ - which, incidentally he prefers. But he´s right in a way. It´s not the same but for me it´s not getting to the top that I like, it´s the feeling of total focus and commitment, the headiest of adrenaline rushes when you have the next few moves sussed and you just flowup between them. You could be 180m up a wall or 18, it just feels like you´re flying and the power you feel your body exerting is just intoxicating.

For mountains it IS different. Matt said a poignant and true thing on Pisco, ´Man was never meant to see these places´ - let along temporarily live in them.
Above 18,000feet (approx 5500m) is what mountaineers call the ´death zone´. The human body is not designed to cope with such limited amounts of oxygen - it begins to, quite literally, waste away, it processes food etc differently and, the further up you go, is unable to generate its own heat.
Our journey into the ´death zone´ we made to learn things: to push ourselves higher and further than we have ever been, and see how our bodies perform. And yes, ultimately to get to the top, and see those things that man was never meant to see. Because when you´re up there, you realise just how small you are, and just how trivial everything is. Up there nothing matters except the mountain (and usually the weather).

Call it belief, enlightenment, love, what you will. But up there, I find an inner peace I´ve found nowhere else. The adrenaline rush is when you´re getting up there, but on top it´s total calm.

And that is why I do it.

We might do some more ice climbing tomorrow before we settle up and say goodbye to all the great people we´ve met and bus back to Lima

Cheers

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Comments

[Martin]

God it sound awful
I don´t know why you bother...

[Pippyn]

:P
You of all people should know!!