Bolivia

[mneagle]

Just got back from a month in Bolivia and I thought I'd serve up a little beta.

 

There was a decent amount of snow during the wet season and most of the higher mountains are well covered. Although we didn't go to Condoriri, from the air it looked like most of the rock bands on Ala Izquierda and the Cabeza are well covered. Could be a good year for Ala Derecha and Huallomen. A week before we left a team of 2 climbed Huayna Potosi's West Face in a day.

 

The road to Quimza Cruz totally sucks. It was totally rutted out/eroding with 2,000-3,000 foot drops and no guard rail. You know it's bad when the Aymarans start crying from fear. You can get to Caxata by bus and trek in to the San Luis base camp in a day (that's how we got out) or rent a Jeep, which would be much safer and allow you to get out and walk if things got too wierd. Glacial retreat has been pretty bad here and even with a decent snowfall most of the routes have a whole lot of loose rock to negotiate. Sickness, storms and team dynamics limited us to only one attempt on San Luis, where we got turned around 200 feet from the top due to weather. Overall, I'd say only go to Quimza Cruz if you want to do rock or hard mixed climbing (e.g. 3rd ascent of Gigante Grande).

 

After a break to get well, check out Titicaca and do some trekking, we got back on track and climbed Mururata, Illimani and Sajama.

 

Mururata is a long (5 km) low angle glacier climb to 19,280 feet which is aesthetically stunning, acclimatizing and virtually un-visited. It cost us $170 for round-trip Jeep transport from Adolfo Andino on Sagarnaga. The snow never got deeper than mid-calf and only 2 or 3 open crevasses in sight. It won't get you in a magazine but it's a nice climb.

 

The normal route on Illimani's pico sur turned out to be much harder than we expected. The climb to Nido de Condores is on some loose, exposed rock that is much worse on the way down. High camp is on rock/dirt. We left about 2:30 AM which was good as it took us 5 1/2 hours to summit.

Most of the route was very firm neve which required a running belay protected by pickets and a screw on the steep upper section just below the ridge. My second tool made it feel a lot more secure. Two weeks after we did the route, 2 Frenchmen slipped and fell to their deaths from the same section. The details were just coming in as we left but there's a possibility they were only using ski poles and left their axes in camp. We went round-trip in 3 days, but 4 is probably better.

 

We went to Sajama by public transport. The best way is to take a 7:00 AM bus from the terminal in La Paz to Oruro and get off in Patacamaya. Then find a bus waiting to go to Sajama Village. It will take a few hours, but by 11 or so enough people will have signed up to get the bus on the road. We made it to Sajama Village by 3:30 PM. Find a guy who lives there named Abel Mollo who can arrange porters, mules and Jeep rides if you need them. High camp is still on snow and be sure to park your tent on the leeward side of the rock. As snow conditions were good, we took the 1st gully in which all of the infamous loose rock was completely covered by steep neve. The ridge walk is exposed but didn't require protection. The upper glacier was easy but freezing with no open crevasses. We made it from high camp to the summit in 4 1/2 hours. Don't leave too early, it's fucking cold until the sun comes up.

 

Hope that was helpful.