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Published: November 8th 2008
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Simple Incline
Warming up - the beginning of the hike from base camp You kick your crampon into the ice and take another swing with the climbing axe. Your arms begin to weaken as you fearfully look below while checking your harness and safety rope. You stop for a moment to catch you breath while getting instructions from the guide. Suddenly you slip, become disoriented and are left dangling by your life line. It takes a moment to register that you are hanging from the side of a glacier in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range. The views are spectacular but that's the last thing on your mind. You wonder for a moment what the hell you are doing, for this is the first day... There are two more to go!
I originally travelled to Huaraz to do the famous Santa Cruz trek. On arrival I walked into a local mountaineering office and was met with the most spectacular posters of climbers hanging from glaciers high up in the Cordillera Blanca. Any thought of doing the easy Santa Cruz trek went out of the window. I wanted to push my personal boundaries to the limit and do something slightly more extreme. For some reason the idea of going on my very first mountaineering expedition
Taking In The Views
Please carry my backpack - Its killing me! strangely appealed, but I was never truly prepared for the harsh reality of the adventure.
In Peru, with enough cash you can do anything you want. I sat with a guide from Galaxia Expeditions for twenty minutes negotiating a reasonable price to take a novice into the Cordillera Blanca for three days and two nights. I have some indoor climbing experience together with a basic knowledge of crampons and harnesses, but I have never done any Alpining or Mountaineering before.
The evening before the climb I met the expedition team. There was two experienced mountaineering guides, myself and an experienced climber from Switzerland (Sarah). After signing my life away, I was given a thorough introduction to the mountaineering equipment (harnesses, boots, crampons, ice axes, waterproofs, ice screws, and clips). I must admit it did look cool being dressed up in professional mountaineering gear, but unfortunately this was no fancy dress party - for this was the real thing!
We were given a talk on the dangers of mountaineering. Apparently we are at the end of the mountaineering season and most of the peaks are inaccessible because of avalanche warnings. Based on the weather conditions and my level
View Over The Cordillera Blanca
The photo does not do the view justice - Stunning! of experience, it was agreed that we should only climb Vallunaraju, one of the lowest snow covered summits in the Cordillera Blanca peaking just below 6400 metres!
During the evening we were taken through all of the safety protocols. We were shown maps of our route and told what to do if someone should fall. We had a safety talk on avalanches and what to do if you are buried alive. We were then taken through precautions against frost bite and hyperthermia and how to identify the potentially deadly symptoms of Acute Mountain Sickness.
Following the formalities we packed our specialist mountaineering backpacks with climbing gear, spare clothes and food. When I felt the weight of the backpack, I couldn't believe I was going climbing with an 8Kg backpack on my back. Only then did I realise I was in for a physically exhausting climb, possibly beyond my own personal fitness levels.
On the first day we drove into the Cordillera Blanca and began a hike. We hiked right into the heart of the Cordillera Blanca passing stunning mountain scenery and glacier lakes. The hike was extremely strenuous consisting of mostly up hill scrambling. The lose rocks
Me Looking Professional?
Vertical ice climb moments before falling, swinging from harness and crashing into ice wall...Ouch!! gave me a scare a couple of times, one slip and a broken ankle would put an end to the expedition and probably the rest of my travels.
Eventually we arrived at the base camp with stunning views of the glacier we would be climbing. We camped on a mountain ledge at roughly 4000 metres above sea level. I had a slight headache at the end of the day from the altitude and lack of oxygen, but it was nothing a good nights sleep couldn't cure.
Early the following morning we began the climb. We hiked up hill and along mountain passes until reaching the first rock incline that required ropes and harnesses. We each took it in turn to navigate the incline. When our guide called it a good warming up session I did begin to wonder what I had signed up for. Within an hour the glacier was in sight. As I looked high up into the Cordillera Blanca I suddenly began to feel extremely nervous.. Am I really going to climb that? I couldn't even see the top!
We spent some time going over basic ice climbing techniques before l geared up into the
Cordillera Blanca
A stunning view of the mountain summit mountaineering equipment. One of the guides lead the group up the first ice wall, followed by Sarah, myself and the final guide. I remember digging the ice axes in too deep together with struggling to balance on the crampon´s. It took a while to get into the swing of ice climbing, but luckily the first wall was at an easy 30 degree angle.
As we approached the second wall I felt sick with nerves. The glacier wall was completely vertical with a massive overhang. To be honest I was shitting myself. Climbing a vertical wall while looking straight up is difficult enough. When there are two climbers above you and lumps of ice land on your head, it gets slightly frustrating and uncomfortable. Sarah managed to lose an ice axe while I fell from the wall three times. Each time seemed to hurt more than the last! I remember my legs and arms shaking with fear and exhaustion, I was seriously high up on the glacier wall.
During the climb Sarah had an extremely close encounter. A massive rock weighing a couple of tones came crashing down the side of the glacier narrowly missing her. Luckily one of
Touching The Void!
Just a few more swings of the ice axe! the guides managed to shout and get our attention giving us moments to get out of the way. If it had fallen 5 minutes earlier we could have easily been pulled from the wall. Sarah escaped with a few minor cuts and bruises from stumbling during the panic. It came crashing past like something out of an Indiana Jones movie. It gave everyone, including the guides a real good scare.
We continued the climb eventually reaching the top of the glacier. We stopped for a while before continuing to hike for another couple of hours before reaching the second camp. As we approached the campsite the clouds began to engulf the entire mountain. On a couple of occasions it was like hiking in thick fog. We harnessed ourselves to one another and took our time knowing there were sheer drops all around us. Then it began to snow!
We had to quickly make camp and dig a small moat around the tent to divert any water running down the mountain. The sleet turned into larger and larger snow flakes. It was only 4:00pm and there was nothing we could do except sit inside the tents and watch the
The Weather Begins To Turn!
Snow clouds begin to engulf the mountain range snow come down.
The snow just didn't stop throughout the night. The wind picked up turning the small snow flakes into a full on blizzard. The temperature plummeted as we dug in for the night. Every hour we took it in turns to go outside and shake down the tent. It was a long cold night that managed to turn my water bottle into ice inside the tent!
The following morning we woke up at 2:00am and begin our climb to the summit. We were told to hike to the summit before sunrise to reduce the chance of getting caught up in an avalanche. 4 hours later, as we approached the summit the sun began to rise. It became clear that the blizzard had caused the snow to become too deep around the summit.
Eventually we got a radio message from base camp, the climb had to be cancelled because of serious avalanche warnings in the region. We were only 300 metres from the summit!
Even though we didnt make it to the summit, the entire experience was incredibly rewarding. The Cordillera Blanca is stunning. No photos can do it justice!
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Sarah Brummer
non-member comment
Hay
Hay Amigo, one less I have to write! My arm still hurts from the near miss. You did really well for your first attempt.. Shame we didnt get to the top. Hope to see you soon! x