Pisco - Peru
10/16/05
After having experienced a little bit of ice climbing in Pastoruri we left in the morning for Pisco, a mountain rated as easy for the experienced climbers but a challenge for us.
The first thing was to get back to Huascaran National Park, where the trail starts from, and that was again done through public transport. On the way we passed by a school parade that was about to start and saw many girls dressed in typical clothes.
They grouped while the last preparations were still being made for the parade to start.
Others were running to catch up ...
... while teachers took care of the smaller ones.
Well, we kept going following our way to Huascaran. The National Park charges a 20 US dollars entrance fee for foreigners but since we had paid for the Santa Cruz Trek we didn't have to pay it again.
We started to hike around 12 p.m. ...
... and the way was quite strenuous because it is a two and a half hour of steep trail to the camp site; although it is not long, it is hard. At one point we had to make a stop.
At the camp site there was just one more guy, an Italian, with its guide, so it was quiet and cool. It was cold but surprisingly our guide didn't take a tent for himself, just a sleeping bag. He has done this so many times that he finds the tent to be unnecessary, there is a cave nearby where he and some other guides are used to sleep.
Looking to the right from the same point where the picture above was taken, it is possible to see our goal, Pisco. It is possible to see also a lodge ran by Italians where you can have a warm and nice bed for 20 US dollars, ...
... but being in a room might make you miss some of the spectacles happening outside. At sunset, the sunlight lit the white snow covered wall of the mountain which was reflected through a sparse cloud between the mountain and us. The result was a lit giant cloud curtain backlit by the sunlight.
Before the night came, we prepared dinner and all the equipment. We went to bed around 6:30 p.m. to rest a little before tackling Pisco. The plan was to leave the camp site at 1 a.m.
10/17/05
After a little bit of sleep we woke up at 12:30 a.m. in a freezing temperature and absolute clear sky lit by millions of stars and a full moon.
We prepared breakfast with hot tea and coffee to help warm up, ate bread and cookies and started walking at 1:20 a.m.
The moon light was enough to see the way, which was much harder then I thought. From the campsite we had a steep climb to the beginning of the moraine. The rocks in this area are constantly carried around by the glacier as it advance and retreat, so it is the most irregular terrain you can imagine. It took us some two hours to cross it and there was not a single step in a flat area. At least there was one thing we could not complain about, the visibility was great, even in the dark the mountain around were all at sight lit by moonlight.
When we reached the glacier we made a stop to put the crampons on. When we removed our gloves (because it is impossible to put the crampons on wearing gloves) we noticed how much the temperature had dropped. We simply couldn't manage to stay without gloves. Then it was fun when we had to put the rope through the harnesses because our hands were completely frozen and it was impossible to make a knot. With the help of our guide, Pedro, everything was set and we started moving as soon as possible to avoid being completely frozen.
The march on ice finally started. The sight at night was fantastic, we were walking into an immense smooth grayish carpet from which we couldn't see the end. Unfortunately, because of the absence of light and the absurd low temperature, I didn't even try to make pictures.
Uphill we followed our guide; Angie was in the middle of the rope and I was the last one. As we walked up the sky was getting brighter on the east and the moon was disappearing on the west and all of that was watched from the middle of a sea of snow rounded by magnificent peaks.
Some time around 5 a.m. we had to do a harder move, fortunately there was enough light for pics. The guide climbed up half way the wall to set a base while we waited ...
... since Angie was in the middle of the rope she was the second one to ascend while the guide belayed her from up there.
When I arrived he had to remove the base and move up going around the corner and passing under the huge lethal ice stalactites.
Although it wasn't completely vertical it was damn scary, because we were really high and a fall could be fatal.
But everything was fine, Pedro set up the next base and belayed our way up.
From there we stopped a bit to look around.
We were marveled with the sight and kept going. The day had come, it wasn't so cold anymore and from what we saw, the hardest move had been done already.
The summit seemed close ...
... but the last hour lasted an eternity. The sensation was of a never ending last meters.
Just a bit before we reached the top a huge explosion noise broke the silence, we looked back and saw an avalanche. The noise was scary and other smaller avalanches happened in the sequence but I just managed to shoot a small one.
The avalanche also broke our feeling of an endless walk, when we noticed the summit was just a few meters away.
We reached the top exactly at 7:40 a.m. and the first thing Angie did was to lay down.
She was dead tired, but happy!
We were now looking the mountains from the same height.
All around was white under a stunning blue sky.
The chocolate at the top was doubtless the best chocolate I've ever had.
Click here for a panoramic 1
We were lucky with the weather, it was clear in every direction.
The huge smooth white face of the mountain you see now was climbed by our guide, he told us. It has 900 meters and it was mandatory to achieve certification by the Casa de Guias, where he learned much of what he know about climbing and mountaineering. He did all the way to the top and back down alone in 12 hours, using only two ice axes, no rope, and for food he carried a bottle of coke, quite amazing.
Here is Pedro, our guide.
Click here for a panoramic 2
Many other peaks can be seen with snow ready trigger avalanches.
We couldn't stay there for too long and although we would we had to start walking back down.
The way down was easier but far from being easy.
The great thing was to see what we didn't see when we came up because it was dark. Pedro drove us through a maze of crevasses.
You really must know the way, the more we walked down more we were amazed by the locations we had passed through not really seeing it.
With the sun getting higher we had to make a stop for some sunscreen.
Here you can see our steps when we walked uphill, but the crevasse I only saw when going down.
When we got back to the little corner with stalactites the route changed a little bit.
Instead of walking down we were going to rappel. While Pedro was setting the rappel station we just waited and enjoyed the wonder.
I was the first one to rappel, then Angie came down.
I ate quite a lot of snow and ice from down there looking up trying to photograph.
To reach the base where I was waiting for them wasn't exactly easy, the last step was a bit tricky.
Then up there Pedro was left alone, he pulled up the rope and came down just relaying on his ice axes and crampons. The little black dot you see is Pedro in the beginning of his descent.
And here on the tricky last step.
From the little base we still had a little more of rappelling before reaching the ground to resume walking.
Again I was the first one followed by Angie and then Pedro.
Once we resumed walking the crevasses didn't stop showing up, it was amazing, some were quite big.
The formations were beautiful.
And remember, Pisco might be rated easy but if you don't know how to avoid a crevasse it might be your end.
The place was wonderful though and we'll definitely come back to do more.
The ice forms what we can call small canyons, this one is really big and impressive too.
Around 09:45 a.m. we reached the end of the glacier and entered again the moraine.
We reached the campsite at 11:30 a.m. and were back in Huaraz around 3 p.m.
After having experienced a little bit of ice climbing in Pastoruri we left in the morning for Pisco, a mountain rated as easy for the experienced climbers but a challenge for us.
The first thing was to get back to Huascaran National Park, where the trail starts from, and that was again done through public transport. On the way we passed by a school parade that was about to start and saw many girls dressed in typical clothes.
They grouped while the last preparations were still being made for the parade to start.
Others were running to catch up ...
... while teachers took care of the smaller ones.
Well, we kept going following our way to Huascaran. The National Park charges a 20 US dollars entrance fee for foreigners but since we had paid for the Santa Cruz Trek we didn't have to pay it again.
We started to hike around 12 p.m. ...
... and the way was quite strenuous because it is a two and a half hour of steep trail to the camp site; although it is not long, it is hard. At one point we had to make a stop.
At the camp site there was just one more guy, an Italian, with its guide, so it was quiet and cool. It was cold but surprisingly our guide didn't take a tent for himself, just a sleeping bag. He has done this so many times that he finds the tent to be unnecessary, there is a cave nearby where he and some other guides are used to sleep.
Looking to the right from the same point where the picture above was taken, it is possible to see our goal, Pisco. It is possible to see also a lodge ran by Italians where you can have a warm and nice bed for 20 US dollars, ...
... but being in a room might make you miss some of the spectacles happening outside. At sunset, the sunlight lit the white snow covered wall of the mountain which was reflected through a sparse cloud between the mountain and us. The result was a lit giant cloud curtain backlit by the sunlight.
Before the night came, we prepared dinner and all the equipment. We went to bed around 6:30 p.m. to rest a little before tackling Pisco. The plan was to leave the camp site at 1 a.m.
10/17/05
After a little bit of sleep we woke up at 12:30 a.m. in a freezing temperature and absolute clear sky lit by millions of stars and a full moon.
We prepared breakfast with hot tea and coffee to help warm up, ate bread and cookies and started walking at 1:20 a.m.
The moon light was enough to see the way, which was much harder then I thought. From the campsite we had a steep climb to the beginning of the moraine. The rocks in this area are constantly carried around by the glacier as it advance and retreat, so it is the most irregular terrain you can imagine. It took us some two hours to cross it and there was not a single step in a flat area. At least there was one thing we could not complain about, the visibility was great, even in the dark the mountain around were all at sight lit by moonlight.
When we reached the glacier we made a stop to put the crampons on. When we removed our gloves (because it is impossible to put the crampons on wearing gloves) we noticed how much the temperature had dropped. We simply couldn't manage to stay without gloves. Then it was fun when we had to put the rope through the harnesses because our hands were completely frozen and it was impossible to make a knot. With the help of our guide, Pedro, everything was set and we started moving as soon as possible to avoid being completely frozen.
The march on ice finally started. The sight at night was fantastic, we were walking into an immense smooth grayish carpet from which we couldn't see the end. Unfortunately, because of the absence of light and the absurd low temperature, I didn't even try to make pictures.
Uphill we followed our guide; Angie was in the middle of the rope and I was the last one. As we walked up the sky was getting brighter on the east and the moon was disappearing on the west and all of that was watched from the middle of a sea of snow rounded by magnificent peaks.
Some time around 5 a.m. we had to do a harder move, fortunately there was enough light for pics. The guide climbed up half way the wall to set a base while we waited ...
... since Angie was in the middle of the rope she was the second one to ascend while the guide belayed her from up there.
When I arrived he had to remove the base and move up going around the corner and passing under the huge lethal ice stalactites.
Although it wasn't completely vertical it was damn scary, because we were really high and a fall could be fatal.
But everything was fine, Pedro set up the next base and belayed our way up.
From there we stopped a bit to look around.
We were marveled with the sight and kept going. The day had come, it wasn't so cold anymore and from what we saw, the hardest move had been done already.
The summit seemed close ...
... but the last hour lasted an eternity. The sensation was of a never ending last meters.
Just a bit before we reached the top a huge explosion noise broke the silence, we looked back and saw an avalanche. The noise was scary and other smaller avalanches happened in the sequence but I just managed to shoot a small one.
The avalanche also broke our feeling of an endless walk, when we noticed the summit was just a few meters away.
We reached the top exactly at 7:40 a.m. and the first thing Angie did was to lay down.
She was dead tired, but happy!
We were now looking the mountains from the same height.
All around was white under a stunning blue sky.
The chocolate at the top was doubtless the best chocolate I've ever had.
Click here for a panoramic 1
We were lucky with the weather, it was clear in every direction.
The huge smooth white face of the mountain you see now was climbed by our guide, he told us. It has 900 meters and it was mandatory to achieve certification by the Casa de Guias, where he learned much of what he know about climbing and mountaineering. He did all the way to the top and back down alone in 12 hours, using only two ice axes, no rope, and for food he carried a bottle of coke, quite amazing.
Here is Pedro, our guide.
Click here for a panoramic 2
Many other peaks can be seen with snow ready trigger avalanches.
We couldn't stay there for too long and although we would we had to start walking back down.
The way down was easier but far from being easy.
The great thing was to see what we didn't see when we came up because it was dark. Pedro drove us through a maze of crevasses.
You really must know the way, the more we walked down more we were amazed by the locations we had passed through not really seeing it.
With the sun getting higher we had to make a stop for some sunscreen.
Here you can see our steps when we walked uphill, but the crevasse I only saw when going down.
When we got back to the little corner with stalactites the route changed a little bit.
Instead of walking down we were going to rappel. While Pedro was setting the rappel station we just waited and enjoyed the wonder.
I was the first one to rappel, then Angie came down.
I ate quite a lot of snow and ice from down there looking up trying to photograph.
To reach the base where I was waiting for them wasn't exactly easy, the last step was a bit tricky.
Then up there Pedro was left alone, he pulled up the rope and came down just relaying on his ice axes and crampons. The little black dot you see is Pedro in the beginning of his descent.
And here on the tricky last step.
From the little base we still had a little more of rappelling before reaching the ground to resume walking.
Again I was the first one followed by Angie and then Pedro.
Once we resumed walking the crevasses didn't stop showing up, it was amazing, some were quite big.
The formations were beautiful.
And remember, Pisco might be rated easy but if you don't know how to avoid a crevasse it might be your end.
The place was wonderful though and we'll definitely come back to do more.
The ice forms what we can call small canyons, this one is really big and impressive too.
Around 09:45 a.m. we reached the end of the glacier and entered again the moraine.
We reached the campsite at 11:30 a.m. and were back in Huaraz around 3 p.m.
posted by Adriano and Angie | 3:43 PM
2 Comments:
O my goodness!!! I can not stop say "Wow"! It is so amazing!!!
The ice climbing the veiw!
Oops! I've to go now. Hope everything is well!
Puxa, agora tenho certeza que meu irmão é maluco...
:-)
Brincadeira, belas fotos, precisa marcar uma exposição também.
--
Junior
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