geordie Posted July 10, 2004 Posted July 10, 2004 (edited) Bolivia Part II – The Long Version When we last left our heroes (?) they had been trounced by altitude, high wind, and poor diet in the Cord. Occidental. Back in La Paz we were determined to rest up and stock up on better food for the next section of our trip. We arranged transport to the Condoriri region of the Cord. Real and after a few hours found ourselves haggling over the number of mules needed for our massive kit. We had stocked up on canned veggies and sweetened condensed milk and brought along a considerable library and the ever present Scrabble board. Finally it was agreed that we needed 7 mules. However there weren't 7 mules in town, so we ended up with 9 llamas and 4 mules. It was quite a parade. Most of the other parties we saw coming in only had a few mules, but they weren't staying two weeks. Looking at the guidebook there were some obvious objectives. Pequeno Alpamayo, Piramide Blanca, and Gully #3 on Ala Derecha. There had been discussion earlier in the trip about how best to travel – as groups of 2 or a group of 4. We were split on this issue and I definitely was strongly in favor of 2 person teams. Our first climb was the classic ridge climb of Peq. Alpamayo. (17,600', AD 50 degrees) The guidebook said 4 hours from camp so we got a leisurely start at around 8am. We found ourselves behind 3 other parties in what looked like it might be a classic cluster. Yet we soon saw two of the parties turning around due to acclimatization issues. Soon it was only us and two Andorrans. I figured we were sharing the route with a large percentage of the Andorran climbing community. The climbing was on good snow with some great exposure. Eldorado on roids. The climb took us 6 hrs, but the 5th class rock on the approach was really class 3, so that was a gift. After a rest day of eating, Scrabble, eat, read, repeat we split up into two teams. Sean and I tackled Piramide Blanca (17,159) via the SW face/ west ridge (AD/ AD+). The route is really a variation of the route in the Brain guidebook. The direct route wasn't in, but we took a more direct route than the SWF/WR route shown. We found 4 pitches of moderate ice up to 70 degrees. At lower elevation we probably would have simuled it, but the exertion at altitude was causing us to climb pitches in 1.5 hours per lead. We weren't hiking fast, so why did we expect to climb fast? The ridge was easy, with awesome exposure. It took us 10 hrs RT and was one of my favorite routes ever. (Dan and Dave climbed it later in the week.) Dan and Dave picked the Direct route on Illusion (17,487) (AD+). They found the rock to be loose and nasty. They had hoped to descend the Normal route, but couldn't find it, though wasted lots of time looking. Finally, they sucked it up and went back the way the came. It was dark when their 14 hour day ended. Our success ratio was finally starting to become respectable again, so Sean and I scouted out gully #3 on Ala Derecha. (17,985) It was rated “D” and would certainly be our hardest climb. At the base we saw a party of 3, starting the TD gully #4. I guess we weren't THAT hard. We started the climb simuling, with me in the lead. Steep snow was interspersed with 10-20 foot steps of ice. I placed one useless screw, but mostly just clipped rap anchors or fixed pins as we passed them. There was a little rockfall, but pretty tame by alpine standards. Tired of rope drag I brought Sean up for a conference. We decided the rope was causing a bit of rockfall on his end so we decided to solo. The ice steps seemed to get a little harder, and we questioned the lack of rope. The climbing might have been AI 4, but the steps were so short. Ice bouldering really. After 4 hours we had to deal with a nasty exit from the gully. I rate the section as 5.4 R, loose, 25 feet. It sucked. Sean soloed it, while I hung from a piton and dodged missiles. He then threw down the rope. We wondered why anyone would rap instead of traversing to the summit and down the glacier. We soon found out. Mostly the traverse was class 3 / 4 on the loosest blocks on earth. Climbing one tower we decided to belay and I actually placed a decent nut. Soon I was sketching 20 feet above it on loose 5.4. I tested a hold and dislodged and dodged a tv sized block. It was heading down gully #4 and the party of 3. I turned white as I heard their screams. I had hit them with rockfall. My thoughts were racing. How bad were they hurt? Did I kill someone? The only way was up. I screamed at Sean that I was freaking out and then finished the pitch. He followed cleanly without rockfall. We couldn't help them. It was too dangerous. Our best bet was to descend and send up our partners who were resting to meet them with medical supplies. I was terrified, but we continued on. What had been a great climb turned nightmarish. 4 hours later we looked towards the summit and saw climbers' silhouettes. 1....2....3....4. They were all traveling under their own power. Any injuries must be minor. I began to breath again. Later they caught up to us, a French guide teaching Bolivian and Chilean guides. The Frenchman was upset, but understanding. “You missed us. Twenty feet and we would be dead. But we're not” The Bolivians only had a select English vocabulary which sounded like it was learned from Dick Cheney. No amount of apologies in Spanish or English could convey our regrets. Back at camp I was glad to be done. I had aged 5-10 years and wondered if this climbing thing is worth it. It's certainly not worth dying or killing for. I've had some rough days in the mountains. This was the worse. Dan and Dave tried the D- South Face route on Ala Izquierda. After seeing it closer up, it's certainly on my list. They tried simuling as much as possible, but found themselves running out of time and scared of a night descent down an unknown rocky ridge. Short of the summit, they bailed down the way they came. They built v-threads until the threader got dropped and then left screws. 7 double rope raps and they were back at high camp after a 13 hour day (from high camp.) Sean and I scouted out the west ridge route on Ala Izquierda, but couldn't see anything worth the trouble. Maybe it was the lack of snow. We finished the trip as a group of 4 on Cabeza de Condor (18,530') AD+, 55 degrees. It was a fun snow and ice climb with some amazing exposure. The top was a long icy traverse to a corniced summit. We stopped a little short, knowing the record books would only notice if we died riding the cornice down. Near the summit , Sean said “hey look” and a condor was flying nearby. That huge bird was a treat especially from the summit named after him. The group had summited 5 peaks and attempted some more. No one got hurt and we all pushed ourselves on technical terrain at altitude. The second half was a real success. ....... Pictures to follow at some point. (Dave has the CD and is off NOLSing around..) Though if a slide scanner appeared in L-town I could get some slides on here. Edited July 11, 2004 by geordie Quote
geordie Posted September 5, 2004 Author Posted September 5, 2004 some pictures here ... http://www.geordieromer.com/index.php?page_id=38 Quote
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