joblo7 Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 stew from the trek and i decided to go to vallunaraju. it is rainy season here so it was imperative to get to 5k meters quickly. better snowed on than rained on!! we left huaraz at 4am and after a 20 min cab ride started walking. is was cloudy but rainless... we moved well and got from 3000m to 5000m in 6hrs... we set up camp next to the glacier.went to bed early and the next day woke at 5am to find clear skies!! we got out a little late ..6h30. we started up the iced up slopes with no problems. stew was doing excellent for his first time on crampons.years of sailing will teach you balance i guess...we moved well and got to the summit cone in about 3-4 hrs.we took great pics on a great day!! we could see huaraz all clouded up but up here it was sun and fun!! the summit ridge has changed a lot since 4years ago and is now much more difficult.deep snow on a 40% slope way up above the valley floor.!stew wisely declined...i carefully made my way up the delicate first part. an avalanche block test revealed a potential layer so i stayed right on the ridge , where it was icier..after about 100m i got to the summit ridge and followed it to the top.i returned quickly as stew was waiting at the beach.(well, close to it.) i eyed the second summit and asked stew if he would wait. i raced up/down in 20 min!! we started down and encountered the dreaded conditions i feared our late start would garantee only in the last 1/2 hr!! we started sinking to our knees on every step. i used a sidesliding four legged technique perfected on deep NE snow... a great climb in great company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joblo7 Posted January 31, 2008 Author Share Posted January 31, 2008 ranrapalca!! ocshapalca!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 nice shots. it doesn't look like that last face gets climbed or ski'd very often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joblo7 Posted February 4, 2008 Author Share Posted February 4, 2008 in season it will be climbed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrgo Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Do people ski Oschapalca? If so, that seems ridiculous... don't catch an edge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.