Huaraz......The Final Adventure

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August 3rd 2008

Published: August 9th 2008

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Dicki

Attacking the 7 metre boulder.....

erm Jorge, chuck us down a hand will ya!

After leaving La Paz, it was time for another day in Lima whilst waiting for my penultimate bus ride. I managed to get well and truly re-aquainted with black gold, as en-route I remembered they had Starbucks in Lima. Normally i'd rather lick my own arsehole than put money in the pocket of the man (ie global chains) but when you've been drinking instant coffee and some dubious black syrup crap they consider to be coffee for 8 months, little luxuries like this are forgiveable!

So anyhoo, I headed to the bus terminal for about 8ish to catch my 9pm bus. It's always good when you're about to get out of the taxi and the driver tells you to hurry inside as it's a very dangerous area! Well im not one to head advice easily and so I strutted in doing my very best Bee Gees cool walk. How overjoyed I was sat in the terminal, that the bus was running two hours late!

I ended up arriving in Huaraz about 8am and heading straight to the hostel, where I proceeded to pass out for a few hours. Feeling refreshed, I headed out to the local agencies to book

Line Up!!

As I was belaying Kit down, I was really starting to wish he hadnt eaten a whole chicken and a burger for dinner last night. The chunky monkey.

a rock climbing course. (my purpose for being here!) Huaraz is a beautiful city, set amongst a background of snowy peaks that make up the Cordillera Blanca. For you fact fans out there, not only does it have Alpamayo. widely considered to be the worlds most beautiful mountain, but the mountain range is also home to Artesonraju, AKA the mountain from Paramount pictures. Slighty more alarming though are the few signs in the city centre, advising locals not to assault tourists!

Well i spent the first couple of days here just chilling out and eating where the locals eat. You can get a starter, soup and a main meal for just 4 soles, which is less than a pound! I've pretty much been off the meat this last week though. The reason being just outside my hostel is a local food market. One wander down this street is tough on the senses. Now don't get me wrong, im fully aware of where we get our meat etc, but having to loock at whole pig heads is rank, not to mention the stench of dead chickens hanging in the air and y Of course who could forget the hordes of

You would be amazed what you can grip onto when you try!!

especially when you are shit your pants scared of falling.

locals selling live Guinea Pigs and Chickens from small black mesh bags. Seriously they even put dead ones in with the live ones, grim.

Stuffed full of fish and veggies the first day of climbing was upon me. The good news is that an English couple (Kit and Jenny)had also booked to do the same three day course, which was handy baring in mind Kit spoke Spanish! One thing I have'nt got tired of out here is people thinking that i've just finished uni, get in, nearly 30 with the youthful complexion of a 22 year old!

Firs tof all we learn a bit about the different knots and the equipment that over the next 3 days we'll be relying on. Then it's straight into the action. An 18 metre volcanic wall. The climb itself is pretty straight forward, however at the top our guide Jorge, secures us to the wall and explains how to put together a system to abseil back down, cant help but feel he could have shown us this on the ground first, that said when your 18 metres up a wall, hanging on by a strap, you are always going to have my

Our first challenge

If you spot the giant crack, we were climbing to the left of it.

full and undivided attention! After abseiling back down, we put away the equipment and head off to a boulder. Bouldering is a fairly new sport to the world of climbing. Originally introduced to aid climbers in learning techniques it has now become a sport in its own right. You find a boulder between 4-7 metres in height, and with no equipment, do your best to climb it. The others stand behind you to make sure if you fall you dont land on your head or your spine. It's really tough as you dont have the safety of the rope, but good fun and really rewarding when you make it to the top.

Day two sees us head to a 15 metre granite wall. This is a bit of a different prospect from yesterday as this time there are no bolts already in the wall that you can attach your gear to. We are here to learn about climbing whilst putting nuts in the cracks (it's not a peverse as it sounds people). Basically, you look for a crack and put a small metal nut on a metal cord into the wall, then attach your gear to it, so that

Wall number 1.......

if you look closely in the top right, you can just about make out Jenny.

if you fall you don't fall too far. It's what's known as lead climbing. Its really difficult to get started though as the wall only has one large crack in it, which means its difficult to find a foot hold....unless of course you're our guide Jorge, the human Gekko, who with a rucksack on practically walks up the wall!!

Im about half way up the wall when I lose my footing and fall, now there's no danger as im attached to a rope, so I only fall a metre at worst. Of course the harness snaps tight and wrenches up your crotch! Needless to say Sir Lancelot bore the brunt of the fall!

The second climb was in a chimnea, a larger crack shaped a bit like a chimney. The idea being you rest your back against one wall and walk up the opposite. This was a really good climb and the first real time
all of usgot to the top without feeling like the rope was aiding us. At the top, Jorge made us install our own system for abseiling. Now the worst part of abseiling as im sure most of you are aware is the initial

Time for a spot of bouldering!

lean back over the wall, it's even more unnerving when it's your own system and 2 of the nuts are the size of a smartie!

The third day saw us at a large 7metre boulder. It's a scorching day and we are fully under the beam of the sun as we climb. The morning sees us practicing belaying (roping for other people when they climb or abseil...their life is literally in your hands!) and rescue techniques. In the afternoon we put the equipment away and attempt to climb the boulder, whilst the others stand below and spot you. I went first and right at the very top of the boulder, attempted very unsuccessfully to reach for a final handgrip to pull myself up. I genuinely dont know who was more terrified as I fell, myself plummeting 7 metres (not very high, but I can assure you it feels high when you're falling backwards) or the four people seeing a 75kgs man speeding towards them from above!! No major harm was done,well not to me anyway, though I did land pretty badly on my right ankle. This could seriously damage my chances of playing for Spurs when I grow up!

Kit and I tried our best, but it was no use.......

Bouldering hide and seek just wasn't going to catch on!

I was enjoying the climbing so much that I booked a fourth day. It was to be our graduation day and Jorge had said we might try some lead climbing. We drove to a quiet spot about an hour from Huaraz. Where we were surrounded by the peaks and overlooked a stunning lake. Not that I enjoyed looking at any of these though. The only thing my eyes were focused on was the 180 metre rockface looming right in front of our taxi. We split into two groups, Kit and Jenny and Jorge and myself. Kit and Jenny had a top rope system. (where you have a rope pulling you from above so in the event of you slipping, you dont fall any distance at all)

I was feeling a bit nervy, looking at the huge walls surrrounding us, but Kit and Jenny managed to calm me somewhat, 'don't worry, Jorge will set up the rope and then if you slip 20 metres up, it will feel no different to slipping 3 metres up'. They were right of course and I started to feel much calmer, that is until Jorge started clipping alot of equipment to me.

Finally I had tamed the second route!!

My joy had turned to others sorrow though, when in a fit of excitement, I let rip with a 10 on the Richter scale size fart in Kits direction.

It very quickly became apparant, that Jorge expected me to climb this 30 metre section of wall, attaching the clips to the wall as I went. Jorge looked at me with supreme confidence, I looked back at him thinking you're fucking crazy. Not only was I to climb the 30 metres whilst attaching gear to the wall as I went, at the top I would have to rig up a system to then belay Jorge up the wall. As he kept reiterating, 'make sure you get the knots and the system right, my life is in your hands'. Told you he was fucking crazy.

You may be reading this and not at all understanding what im talking about. The difference between top rope and lead climbing is this; In top roping the rope is always above you so if you fall you dont go anywhere as there is somebody on the other end of the rope supporting your weight. When you lead climb, the rope is attached to your waist and always below you, ie. if you slip you fall as far as the last clip you put in the wall, in some cases this could be as much

The cracks were beginning to show......

The first climb of the second day, this time a granite wall and climbing using the small crevasse...tricky, very tricky.

as 6 metres!

Unaided by the additional weight of all the equipment I was carrying and the full contents of my underwear, I set off. It took a while to get going and my dodgy ankle wasn't making like any easier. There were places whilst climbing that were just sheer, with no toeholds to squeeze my gorgeous size 11 red climbing boots into (damned big feet!) But after what seemed like an eternity, I reached the top of the wall, much to my satisfaction! There I set about a rig to belay Jorge up the wall. After what seemed like only a matter of minutes he was standing next to me and I was ready to abseil back down. I felt relieved to be bouncing off the wall and heading back down, that was until I realised that half of the rope i'd thrown over the edge to lower myseld down on, was tangled up in a cactus! This meant halfway down I was forced to stop and clear the knots in the rope.....really annoying and also slightly painful as my harness started to once again ride up under the weight!! The only thing more painful was when I

For all you ladies hoping to be Mrs Coomber someday......

after climbing a few feet, the last thing you want to do is slip fully into the weight of your harness. Dont worry girls, im sure the left testicle will still work!

continued and lowered myself practically on top of another bloody cactus!!

After another climb that was it our 4 day course was over and we had passed with flying colours! In a jubilant mood and still buzzing from my lead climb (it was slightly easier for the others as they just used the clips I had attached to the wall. Also they probably knew the right route to take, all they had to do was follow the trail of cack i'd left on my way up!!) we headed out last night for a few celebratory beers!

Tomorrow I take my final bus journey back to Lima, where this adventure began 9 months ago.

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