6,088m - Huayna Potosi

Sun October 28- La Paz, Bolivia. We slept in, had a surprisingly good breakfast at Hotel Estrella Andina (nice hotel by the way - beautiful murals) and explored La Paz. We wanted to get some more information on Bolivian treks and climbs, but since it was Sunday most tour-operators were closed. Luckily there was one (recommended) company called Travel-Tracks open for business. Like 100+ other tour-operators in La Paz, they offered a 3 day 'expedition' to climb a nearby mountain Huayna Potosi at 6,088 meters (19,974 feet) above sea-level. We had heard about his mountain and thought it would be 'pretty cool' (and quite an achievement) to break the 6 kilometer barrier. The rainy season was about to arrive, but the weather forecast looked good for the coming days. No time to lose; we signed on!

A little over 6 years ago we were in Ecuador and tried to climb Cotopaxi (5,897m). Maurits got very altitude-sick and 200 meters below the summit we had to go back, while LB's younger brother Adam made it to the summit! Climbing Huayna Potosi would be sweet revenge for the failed Cotopaxi attempt! :-)

Great ice-climbing technique! Use those legs!

Made it to the top!

 

Mon October 29-Huayna Potosi day 1- With 3 guides and 6 tourists (Kelly & Matt from Denver, Rachel from Montreal, Rita from Haifa and us) we left La Paz in the morning and arrived at 'base-camp' (a basic hut at 4,700m) around noon. After lunch we went ice-climbing! We hiked about 45 minutes to the base of a glacier and strapped on our crampons. Ice-climbing is definitely harder than it seems.. The safety-rope, and the guide managing the rope, came in very handy. With some help we both made it to the top! A lot of fun! Back at the refugio we had dinner and played cards. We played a card-game called 'spoons' with knives - 10 people tried to grab 9 knives! The mountain-guides thought this was too dangerous and supplied us with some spoons..

LB made it too!!

 

Tue October 30- Huayna Potosi day 2- After breakfast we hiked with all our gear in a big heavy backpack to the 'high-camp' at 5,200m (an even more basic hut). It was a beautiful day, excellent views and lots of sun. Around noon we got to the hut and rested the remainder of the day. We were both feeling fine; no headache and no loss of appetite. There were quite a few other groups in the hut (about 35 people total) and some people were pretty sick. The month at high altitude in Peru really helped us! We hung out in the warm afternoon sun, played some more cards, had dinner and went to bed around 6:30pm. It had gotten cold and our warm sleeping bags were the best place to be!

Huayna Potosi with the high-camp in the foreground

Nice sunset from the high-camp

 

Wed October 31- Huayna Potosi day 3- We got up at midnight (no real sleep), got dressed and had some coffee, bread and cookies. We were worried that today might be another failed attempt as thunder and lightning accompanied our breakfast (never good to be on top of a high mountain in a lightning storm!) But by 1am the weather seemed to have cleared a bit so we strapped on our crampons, securely roped ourselves to our guide Silverio, and set off for the final ascent of Huayna Potosi! However, as we were making our way up the first steep slope, it started snowing heavily! Thick winter snow, but luckily no lightning. With Silverio in the lead the snow-trail was easy to follow. There were some steep, narrow and icy parts, but since it was dark, snowing and we only had our headlamps, we could not see the big drop-offs that well anyway! Our headlamps actually created a useful tunnel-vision, that helped us focus on the trail and the next step. Around 3am, we were about halfway up the mountain, the snow stopped and the (almost) full moon came out. Beautiful moon-lit views with the lightning still in the distance! We continued to focus on keeping a steady rhythm on our upward climb and were feeling quite OK. The last two hours to the summit were a little bit more technical and at one point we had to climb a very steep (almost vertical) ice-wall of about 10 meters high. We were both thinking: "how the #%^* do we ever get down here?!?" A little scared we kicked our crampons into the ice and made our way up the wall. Around 5:30am, after a finale of rock and ice scrambling, we made it to the summit at 6,088 meters! Unfortunately we arrived well before the sunrise, so it was still a little dark for good pictures. The view was incredible though, especially with the moon being so bright. About 20 people in total made it to the summit and it got pretty crowded on the little peak. We stayed on the summit for 15 minutes; by then we were getting cold and the thunder and lightning was getting too close for comfort. Our guide (and us) got a little nervous, so we went down. The sunrise was spectacular and the descent was actually easier than we thought it would be! Our guide and our crampons did a great job! The steep ice-wall had some pretty good foot-steps, the narrow ridges were not bad and we could easily step over some deep crevasses. By 8am we were back in the high-camp enjoying some salty soup. We both got an altitude headache on the way down, but ibuprofen took care of that. Of our group Matt & Kelly made it to the top as well, but unfortunately Rachel & Rita had to turn around halfway. All of us walked down to the base-camp, waited for the bus and by 2pm we were back in La Paz. Shower, beer, food and by 6pm we were in bed.

It is 5:27am and we are on the summit!

LB on the summit in the moonlight

Thu November 1- Rest day in La Paz. We slept for 12 hours straight, had breakfast and did some research on a next trek. We wanted to hike the Illampu Circuit (8 days - similar to Huayhuash in Peru), but the road to the trail-head town of Sorata was/is blocked by protesters. This happens frequently in South America: upset people blocking the road for all traffic. We enquired with two tour-operators and they both had to disappoint us. We could wait, maybe next week the road is open, but it could also be a month.. So instead we signed up for the 4 day Condoriri trek close to La Paz, leaving this Saturday.

Sunrise on the descent

LB and Silverio with the summit in the background (notice the people descending)

Fri November 2- "All Souls' Day" today and therefore a holiday in Bolivia. We decided to have another slow day. We walked around La Paz for a little bit, went to a cafe, had a nice lunch and made plans for when we get back from our trek. We booked a trip to Copacobana (Lake Titicaca) and Salar de Uyuni (salt flats). Afterwards we will go to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile and then to Salta in Argentina.

Maurits loves his mountain-man pictures!

We made it!!!

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