Alpamayo (11.07.2006)
Written by hmsv1 (Hannah Vickers)
| Start point | Cashapampa |
|---|---|
| Endpoint | same |
| Characteristic | Expedition |
| Duration | 168h 00min |
| Map |
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| Ascents | Alpamayo (5,947m) |
11.07.2006 11:00  |
|---|
A shortened version of my diary from the second part of a 4-week trip to Peru (final week of the trip was spent making an ascent of Chopicalqui)
11th July 2006: Huaraz to Cashapampa/Llamacoral
We left Huaraz along the same road north-westwards that we’d used to get to the Ishinca valley, but this time the journey took us much further to the north-west to reach Cashapampa. It was quite an exciting journey and the road weaved round some ridiculously tight corners, which were situated close to some steep cliffs - but there were no safety barriers to prevent vehicles going over the edge! The countryside was spectacularly green though, lots of lush trees despite being surrounded by dry, steep and rocky gorges as well as the glaciated peaks. We arrived into Cashapampa at about 11am, where it was baking hot when we stepped out of the minibus and definitely time to slap on some high factor sun cream straight away. I had brought factor 60 with me which had seemed to be effective enough in preventing my skin from turning an unhealthy shade of pink and red.
So after a while, it was finally time to get started on our trek to the campsite which was supposed to be somewhere along the Quebrada Santa Cruz. It was more or less halfway camp to our base camp for climbing Alpamayo. The walk in to base camp could have been done in one day, but it would have been fairly long and hot. My legs felt unusually stiff during the initial hour of walking, so I walked slowly with Jan behind the lads who had predictably marched off ahead of us at a storming pace. The heat was giving me a pounding headache (even with a sunhat on) and Jan’s watch recorded the temperature to be 32°. We took our own lunch/break stop at around midday when we spotted a small shaded patch along the trail to shelter from the sunshine. She was not too keen on walking in this heat either.
The four other lads – Andy, Rich (Richard), Simon and Matt waited for us to catch up with them every now and then, which was thoughtful, but I don’t think we were really all that bothered whether they did or not. The footpath was well trodden and dead easy to follow anyway, so it wasn’t as if we would have gotten lost! The whole valley was a very beautiful place to walk along but it was just too hot!
Fortunately, as we approached the camp, the sun disappeared behind the tops and made it comfortably cooler. The campsite itself was located at Llamacoral and close to the river at approximately 3760m. Jan and I arrived at 3.15pm and started pitching the tents straight away so that we could spend the rest of the afternoon in the mess tent and playing card games, consuming vast amounts of tea/coffee and eating crackers with pate and jam! The campsite was in a very picturesque location and we had fantastic views of a peak named Taullaraju above a lake and there seemed to be a lot of farmyard action too, with our mules, sheep, pigs and chickens all grazing in the same field as we were camping! For dinner we ate soup, fish with rice and a couple of slices of potato.
12th July 2006: Llamacoral camp to Alpamayo base camp
I got out of my sleeping bag at 7.20am, and made a start on packing away my kit again before breakfast for the final part of the trek into Alpamayo base camp. After some breakfast and packing away tents and loading up the mules, and we were all set to go by 9am. The wind was immense today, and streamed straight down the valley towards us which made it quite difficult to walk against. Apart from that though, it was fine, dry and sunny, as it had been for the past 2 weeks we’d been in the Peru.
The route in towards Alpamayo BC continued along the valley bottom beside the river but we gained a little more height today. The wind was constant and as usual myself and Jan lagged behind the guys and only really caught up with them when they stopped for a break. After a short stop, the route went off from the main Santa Cruz valley and headed up in a north-westerly direction on the left hand side (from where we were facing). We started to gain height now in a long series of gently-sloping zigzags. Jan, however, wasn’t feeling too good and she decided to go a bit slower. As we continued further along the path, we were rewarded with our first spectacular views of Alpamayo – not the face we were actually going to climb, but still highly impressive and very imposing! There were surprisingly few tents around when we arrived in at the site of base camp; I’d expected the place to be bustling full of ambitious climbers or something like that but there weren’t many tents scattered around at all.
During the afternoon the skies clouded over quite a lot, but we were hopeful that it would clear overnight and not be the start of bad weather to come. Our afternoon activities seemed to follow the usual routine of drinking tea and coffee with biscuits. Matt, Simon and Andy made a start on sorting out a bit of kit to take up with them to moraine camp before dinner, as they would be going up one day ahead of Rich, Jan and I. The plan was that the day we moved up to high camp, they would be going for the summit and returning to base camp, so there would already be a tent up and stocked at high camp for us and all we had to do was clear it on our way back down. We played several rounds of card games after dinner, before going to bed at about 9pm.
13th July 2006: Acclimatisation day around base camp
The clouds had, fortunately, cleared overnight and the wind had also died down significantly but there was still some high clouds starting to return by breakfast time. The day kicked off pretty leisurely but by 10.00am Jan and I had decided to go for a walk and left the campsite with the lads. We weren’t intending to go all the way to the moraine camp at 4900m though, as it probably wouldn’t serve us any useful purpose if we’d already been higher on Ishinca.
The guys seemed to be feeling the difference today, carrying a rucksack full of gear compared to the small daysacks we’d been carrying each day up until now. For most of the way I followed closely behind Simon, carrying my small daysack and enjoying the views, while Jan seemed to fall behind early on and I only saw her once or twice quite far down the moraine ridge. The guys took a break at around 11.30, when we’d reached about 4700m but I wandered on up a bit further to take some pictures. The sky was clouded over now so there wasn’t a lot more to see from further up that I hadn’t already seen. I returned to where Andy, Simon and Matt were sitting, then wished them good luck and said goodbye as I started making my way back down to base camp. By the time I’d reached BC again at 12.15pm, there wasn’t much sign of any sun. I found Jan and Rich in the mess tent. Rich was playing a game of Solitaire with the cards and Jan was having a mug of tea and generally looked bored. Although the weather appeared to be deteriorating rapidly during the afternoon, there was no sign of any rain or snow yet. It was just very overcast and gloomy.
14th July 2006: Alpamayo base camp to moraine camp
Like the previous day, there was no hurry to leave BC and we casually packed up our rucksacks with the kit we’d need for the next 3 days. The three of us ended up leaving the campsite at various times, not altogether like Andy, Simon and Matt had done. The sun was quite strong for the first half of the ascent to the moraine camp but gusts of wind further up the ridge soon had us cooled down a lot. Jan and I spotted Rich huddled in his jacket waiting for us a short distance away as we approached the 4700m level on Jan’s altimeter, about 200m below the site of moraine camp. It was only 10.45am, so we expected to be there within the next hour! There was the odd boulder here and there that we had to scramble up, and the surface was usually quite polished which made it more slippery and not the easiest to climb with huge and heavy rucksacks on either. The route wasn’t very obvious, but there were one or two cairns placed along the way quite strategically to define the path.
We came across some Spanish-speaking guys who were on their way down, and they tried their best to tell us that a French climber had hurt his leg in a rockfall close to the moraine camp. Soon after we reached the camp, Rich scooted off to see if he could help this French guy out while I got the task of filling a bin bag up with snow. My first problem was to actually find some snow. It took about 10 minutes of boulder hopping over the moraine in the direction of the glacier before I came across any patches of snow lying on the rock. It took a while as I was overcome with the odd dizzy spell from bending over and really needing a drink, but while on my way back I saw Rich and a few other climbers trying to stretcher the injured French guy down.
Apparently he hadn’t broken his leg, he’d fractured his pelvis instead - but funnily enough didn’t appear to be in much agony though. It turned out he was actually a guide from Chamonix, and had about 5 clients with him. They had been on their way up to high camp when some of the boulders in the moraine field had obviously given way and injured him. Rich lent the party one of his long slings to use as a support for one of his legs he was able to use, and two other French climbers returned to BC with him, offering him support on each side as he tried his best to hop down.
Finally the three of us got round to rummaging through our own rucksacks to retrieve sleeping gear and throw them into the tent. It was only about 1pm though, and we began the long process of melting down snow over the stove and boiling the water for hot drinks. I hadn’t realised just how long it was going to take, and we had the stove fired up for the best part of the afternoon. Unfortunately I had an excruciating stomach ache and did not manage to eat much of dinner before we got our heads down for some sleep at about 8pm, hoping for good weather the next day on the move up to high camp. Rich had been radioing Andy in the afternoon to find out how they’d been getting on and heard that the route up to high camp was well-defined and the climbing pitches that led to the col were also well hacked out by previous climbers. Apparently it was about 3 pitches of Scottish Grade II ground, parts of it quite icy but otherwise in good condition. The three of them had arrived at the high camp at 2.40pm that afternoon.
15th July 2006: Moraine camp to high camp
I had a very snug, warm night’s sleep, having been sandwiched between Rich and Jan inside the tent. I got up at about 6.30am while Rich and Jan stayed asleep for a bit longer. The snow, as usual, took a long time to melt and eventually boil, so we only had a mug of drink each to start off with. Andres and Pelayo (our base camp cooks) had arranged to make a trip up with us to high camp when we’d last seen them on Friday afternoon, and plodded in towards our tent at about 8.30am. We probably left at about 9.15am, and began the tedious task of picking our way through the jumble of the boulders of the moraine, in order to find the safest route through to access the glacier. I got the impression that Rich was trying to push the pace a bit up to the glacier because although there wasn’t a lot of height to gain to get to top camp (5400m) from the moraine camp at 4900m, the climbing pitches would take quite a lot of time.
Anyway, we eventually put on crampons and helmets and harnesses at the glacier and then roped up. I took up the back end and took in some coils, Jan was in the middle and Rich at the front to lead the way. We followed the trail of footprints in the snow left by previous climbers. I was feeling strong and well-acclimatised in the initial ½ hour or so of moving up the glacier. However, as time passed and we were still lingering pretty low down the route to high camp, I started to experience a lot of aching in my shoulders and was getting very thirsty. Anyway, we kept going until we’d passed a particular serac and moved into a safer zone before taking a drink. Jan and Rich were still feeling fine so we kept going and by about 11.30am/midday sort of time we had arrived at the foot of the first part of the climb to the col.
After both Jan and I had clipped into the snow anchor – presumably a snow stake, I threaded my belay device with the rope to belay Rich as he led up this first pitch. Most of the rope length was run out before he’d given the call that he was safe, then Jan and I got ourselves off belay and started climbing, Jan on the rope a few metres ahead of me. Unfortunately I got showered with all the shards and pieces of ice that she was kicking and hacking out above me! It was straightforward Scottish Grade II ground with a good mix of ice and snow to get my axes into. I found I no longer had the shoulder ache I’d been complaining of earlier, and although it was strenuous work, we both gained the top of the pitch in good spirits – ready for the next pitch which was over a slightly less steep slope. It took Rich marginally less time than the first pitch as he didn’t want me to bother belaying him.
There were some pretty fascinating seracs that overlooked the route from the left hand side, their character only enhanced by the murky cloud that had engulfed us by the time we’d climbed up to the belay at the start of the third pitch. By this time it was about 1.30pm, and having had only a couple of sweets to eat since breakfast, both Jan and I were feeling quite ravenous – but since Pelayo and Andres had offered to carry the food, and gone ahead, neither of us had anything else to eat!
Rich had also admitted to feeling wrecked and swore he would be taking several paracetamol and Diamox again when we reached the high camp. We continued to climb the next 10m or so on a short rope, over easy ground, and then Rich led the last pitch to the col, which was over mostly unconsolidated snow slopes followed by a longer but gentle traverse protected by only one or two snow stakes. Jan was visibly struggling with the climbing by the time we reached the traverse, and began to pause more frequently the further up the pitch we climbed. To our relief, the col was close by, and we plodded on, slightly short of breath to the top before cutting round the corner and spotting two single tents in the distance about 100m away – high camp! One of them could easily be identified as one of the Hyperspace tents set up by Andy, Matt and Simon the previous day, and a small orange backpacking tent belonging to a pair of climbers we saw pitched up near to us at moraine camp.
We arrived, quite weary at 2.45pm to meet up with an equally (if not more) shattered Simon and Matt (Andy still looked bright and cheery as usual!). All three had successfully summited Alpamayo after an apparently epic 6 pitches of sustained ice climbing of Scottish Grade III up the south-west face and were now getting ready to descend all the way back down to base camp. It was at least 1000m below and involved a series of abseils back down the climbing pitches we’d done earlier, as well as the uneven ground of the moraine.
Rich had a chat with Andy about the route before he bundled into the tent sharpish and collapsed inside his sleeping bag. Jan and I went about filling up a bin bag with snow for melting down over the stove, and as soon as we’d done that, put a load into the pan to make some hot drinks. The visibility was awful during the rest of the afternoon and evening. We hadn’t had a view of even half the south-west face yet, let alone the complete route! Once we’d finally boiled up enough water for a drink, we chucked in a couple of Wayfarer boil-in-the-bag meals for dinner. We kept the stove going to boil up more water whilst huddled away inside the sleeping bags after dinner. Rich was still grumbling about his banging headache and nausea after we’d eaten, and with the weather not looking like it was clearing any time soon, it became increasingly likely that our summit day was off. However, we set our alarms for 1.30am anyway to see what conditions were like later on and settled down to sleep at about 8pm.
16th July 2006: High camp to base camp
I heard Rich rustling about and having a look outside the tent at 1.30am. After peering out of the tent door for 5 seconds, he reversed back in to report that it was snowing and had decided that we would should go back down to base camp later in the morning. I was sceptical about why we could not just stay at the camp one more night and try again the next morning. But neither Jan nor I were really awake enough to discuss it and didn’t wake up again till 6am. Frustratingly, the skies were crystal clear and bright blue when I got out of the tent and I spotted the Chilean climbers approaching the bergschrund who had camped next to us. They’d obviously set off after the snow had cleared.
Andres and Pelayo turned up at midday to help carry remaining kit back down to base camp with us. The descent was incredibly warm, even with some cloud cover. Once we’d reached the col where we were supposed to start abseiling, Rich went first, followed by Jan and then me. It was still heavy work getting down the initial half of the rope length as there was the weight of two full ropes to pull through my belay device. Fortunately it got progressively easier towards the end of the pitch. The second climbing pitch was faster to descend but the snow was in places, very unconsolidated and at one point close to the next stance, Jan took a slip. Fortunately I managed to hold the fall and she didn’t go too far before coming to a stop. By 1.30pm we were down at the foot of the climb and re-roped up to make our way back down the glacier to the moraine.
We followed the same trail around the numerous crevasses and seracs that we’d used on the way up. The moraine seemed a lot further away than I’d first thought, but it was actually a relatively efficient and speedy descent with one stop for a quick drink. It only took about 40 minutes to complete the travel down the glacier from the foot of the climbing pitches to the moraine, where we sat down to have a snack, take off the rope and all our climbing kit. The walk down the moraine ridge in my plastic boots was not much fun and both Jan and I took it slowly, eventually arriving back in our tents at base camp at 4pm. A long evening was spent in the mess tent celebrating Simon and Matt’s successful summit of Alpamayo even though both Jan and I were personally still feeling irritated.
17-18th July 2006: Walk out from base camp to Cashapampa via Llamacoral
We ate a late and large breakfast at around 9am. Matt was on a mission to reclaim his crown as the pig of the team again by consuming an unbelievable quantity of food, unrivalled by even Andy – about 3 omelettes and 5 bread rolls smothered either maple syrup or peanut butter and jam! After breakfast there was the usual routine of packing away althought we didn’t leave camp until the afternoon.
The walk back down to the Santa Cruz valley and then along the valley bottom past Laguna Jahuncocha and Laguna Ichiccocha (the two lakes) down to the Llamacorral campsite was pleasant enough; the weather was sunny, dry and warm but fortunately was not overwhelmingly hot, and it took roughly 3 ½ hours including a couple of stops. We continued the walk out to Cashapampa the following day, starting relatively early at 8.30am and using the same path back. By 11.15am, we were back at the park gates in Cashapampa and awaiting our minibus back to Huaraz.
User comments
B e a u t i f u l
Written by mortenh 09.07.2013 23:52Me want to go too :) I am not sure I would have anything to do with the summit itself, but just being close by and enjoying this scenery would be something! Thanks for sharing.
Re: B e a u t i f u l
Written by hmsv1 10.07.2013 07:22I think you would change your mind if you got so close to Alpamayo. It would be difficult to be there and not want to climb it :-) There are some mountains I have not summitted and not bothered about, but Alpamayo is one I would definitely like to try again.....