Good evening from Moraine Camp!
Yes, we reached the summit of Huascaran today. We stood on top of the most heavily glaciated peak between the tropics. What a day! This is an incredibly challenging mountain, and the terrain was no joke. But we knew what we were after, and the previous climbs of Yanapacha and Chopicalqui were the right acclimatizing/preparation stages.
We left at midnight, and shortly after 8 am we were on top. Super steep terrain, massive crevasses and some seracs kept the guides on task non stop. But sure it was rewarding; the views from the top are this guide's new favorite!
After an efficient and no less involved descent, upon arrival to high camp, it was obvious we had gas in the tank to continue to lose elevation. So we packed camp up, and with the invaluable help of our porters (the real heroes) we started down. Bypassing Camp 1 on the way, we continued to Moraine Camp in an arduous 19 hour day. We are still higher than our beloved Rainier, but sure this air will feel thick tonight.
Now, time to turn to the stoves and cook some diner! Our team kicked butt today.
RMI Guide Elías de Andres Martos and team
Hello, this is the Huascaran team. We are back at High Camp after summitting the tallest peak outside of the Himalaya. We reached the summit at 8:30 AM local time. It's been a hard day, this mountain is no joke. We are at High Camp and will plan on heading down as far as we can today.
Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos calls from High Camp after summit bid.
Good morning everyone.
Guess what? We're at high camp! We traveled at night today to take advantage of the colder temps and to avoid the thawing ice that, when hit by the sun, might naturally shed some pieces.
Climbing the "Canaleta" (gully) at night, with a heavy pack is no joke. We're talking steeper and harder terrain than the standard route on Denali, with no fixed lines and at Aconcagua height!!! Our team is kicking butt.
We're now camped and settled in for the day, in hopes of good weather tonight to go for the 900 meters that separate us from the top of the Highest Glaciated Peak in the western Hemisphere.
Follow along!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Hello! Huascaran team checking from Camp 1. We left Moraine Camp this morning, and after an hour of steep climbing over the naked granite slabs that the receding ice is leaving uncovered, we ventured another 1,000ft of elevation up glacier.
Seeking camp was tricky, as there's no flat areas, and there's not much snow either to make them at will; digging into the glacial ice at 17,200ft is no fun.
We're cooking dinner now, and soon we will be horizontal, as we're planning on going up early to Camp 2.
Stay tuned for more,
RMI Guide Elías de Andres Martos and team
Buenas tardes from Refugio Huascarán.
We are back on the move, and we left town again this morning fully psyched for our last objective. Huascarán was in view all day from the early morning drive to our 4-hour hike, and it never got any smaller! We are perched at 4,675m, on a beautiful rocky terrace next to the refugio on the edge of the glacial moraine. Our porters are currently helping out with dinner, and we're all hoping to go to bed pretty soon here.
Stay tuned for more,
RMI Guide Elías de Andres Martos and team
Good evening from Huaraz. The team is spending a couple rest days in town after our acclimatization phase on Yannapacha and Chopicalqui. This phase was, on its own, a legit climbing objective with high and technical peaks where our team stepped it up and proved to be a very fit, mentally tough and a determined one. We sure are now acclimatized and ready for the highest peak on Earth located in between the tropics, Huascaran. Follow along for the second half of our expedition starting tomorrow.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Greetings from Chopicalqui High camp! What a day... This mountain is no joke: five 60-degree pitches at 20'000ft, no visibility for the upper half of the mountain on ascent, and no visibility on the entire descent! But we did it! We reached the summit of Chopicalqui! The team needed to put up a fight and they did. Everyone stood on top shortly after 8:00 AM on a seven hour uphill strenuous push. We rolled into our sleeping bags after an early dinner that our porters had ready upon arrival. Tomorrow we're looking forward to town and well earned rest.
RMI Guide Elías de Andres Martos and team
Hello from high camp on Chopicalqui! We're perched up here at 17,716' (5400m) after an early start this morning. The early start allowed us to arrive at high camp with enough time so we can give our bodies the rest they need before our summit push tonight. We're currently making dinner and we're shooting to be in bed way before sunset. The weather has changed a bit on us, but we how to have a good window for tonight. Keep your fingers crossed for an update from the summit!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos and team
Good afternoon from Chopicalqui Camp 1. We waved goodbye to our cook and base camp infrastructure this morning, and with the help of our invaluable porters, we ventured uphill. Four hours of straight climbing brought us to 16,075'. Now we are perched on an incredible terrace with a view of what will be our route the next couple of days. Chopicalqui sure is a more intimidating peak but we're bringing our A game in anticipation of Huascaran. We're keeping our fingers crossed for good weather as we venture above the 20,000' mark here soon.
Stay tuned for more!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos and team
Greetings from base camp!
We have enjoyed our time off from climbing today, after our quick and uneventful descent (aside from the astonishing views) from Yanapacha high camp yesterday.
We're ready to go for Chopicalqui now, and so, we have spent some time repacking for our move to Camp 1 tomorrow. Everyone's excited, doing well and ready for the next objective!
RMI Guide Elías de Andres Martos and team
Congratulations on a successful summit!
Posted by: Holly on 7/22/2019 at 2:40 am
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