So with having just under a week in Huaraz, I had to make some decisions. The first decision I made was that I will be definately be returning to this incredible well kept secret!! The second decision was to leave the exploration of the Huayhuash park, where you really need at least a week, until my return. With that being decided, I easily chose to do some more climbing.
As I was gathering information from the umpteem million different tour companies, I made the decision to climb the mountain, Chopicalqui, 6345 m. I wanted to climb above 20,000 feet and practice my ice ax and crampons skills. What a convoluted adventure it turned out to be!!
I chose Chopicalqui, "Chopi", because was right next to Huascaran, the second highest peak in South America. There were 3 different camp options: camp basico, camp moreno and campimento uno. Camp basico was only 30 minutes off the road, camp moreno was up on dry ground where the rocks meet the snow and campimento uno was up on the snow. The plan was to camp at camp basico the first night, climb up to campimento uno the second day, summit that night/next morning and then camp at either camp moreno or camp basico the third night.
So our adventure began with 3 problems right off the bat. The first one was easy and quick to resolve. Heath had forgotten his pass to the Nacional Park. He went back to the hostal and retrieved it without us having to wait too long. The second one was more time consuming. While we were in the micro heading towards Yungay, I realized I did not receive any crampons. We called the office when we arrived in the town and had to wait for the manager to bring us my crampons. Not too bad but it cost us about 2 hours of waiting. Luckily I remembered before we started hiking. The third problem was also minor with our guide leaving his cell phone in the taxi. We were all hoping that since we had three problems that we were all set to start and things would improve from here on out. But.....
We had some additional setbacks. One was weather - a snowstorm at higher elevations which led to snow and rain each day and night. Luckily there were breaks in the weather for some spectacular views of the mountains! But a bigger problem is that we did not have enough fuel to cook with for more than a day. So we had to stay an extra night at campo basico where one of our guides went back into town to get more fuel and some more food. In the meanwhile, we went for a dayhike and read a lot inside our tents when the weather was not cooperating.
Finally we were ready to go on the third day. We started trekking up and when we reached the snow, we got our crampons, ropes and ice axes out. HUGE problem - I was given two right feet crampons. I tried climbing with them and needed the guides to help tighten them 3 times. If that were not enough, the crampons were crappy and were shifting and moving beneath my feet. We all made it up to our camp amidst a snow storm. We set up camp and hunkered down until the storm broke and we saw one of the best sunsets of my life!!!
We decided to start climbing at 1:30 in the morning. It was slow going with all the fresh snow. As we started climbing steeper parts, my crampons were slipping and sliding. The guides tightened them but to no avail. After about 4 or 5 hours, I decided to stop. It was a hard decision but I was too preoccupied on my gear (or lack of good gear) to really be able to focus. I did not want anyone to get hurt or stressed out due to me. So one guide and I turned back. We got a little lost on our way back but found our trail within 10 minutes or so. We stopped and watched an incredible sunrise in two different spots. The rest of the group did actually summit but it took them 15 hours for both summitting and the return. Impressive!
Although a little disappointed that I did not summit or surpass 20,000 feet, I feel good about my decision. I feel wiser for not letting the testosterone and the ego drive me perhaps to a very unsafe place. My last hurrah was a laugh on me but a good healthy one. I at least have my life, and my fellow climbers lives, so I can try again some other day.
Our first camp with Huayscaran in the background:
Huascaran:
Our second camp
One of the most impressive sunsets I have ever seen!
The sunrise was also damn spectacular:
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