joblo7 Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 (edited) i met john p. in huaraz in jan and we had talked about going out to climb . john is a very good irish mountaineer.i wanted to go do a simple nice ridge climb to get to know each other before doing hard climbs together. we picked sanjuan , a cool climb that has become harder with the changing snow conditions.from huaraz we taxied to pitec and started walking the 4-5hrs to the valley end where you start going up towards base camp a.john had partied all nite on good whiskey until i picked him up so he was a litlle slow.that upset me a bit.we had to set up camp before the rise to the base camp.next day was better. i went ahead but john was always in sight and arrived an hour later.that nite we set off at3-4 am and started up the ridge . we had scoped out the beginning .later when the sun came up it revealed a fantastc view of huantsan,cayesh,ranra etc. the conditions were great. we made good time and protected little. we were roped and alternated ridge sides.as we got hgher the conditions got steeper and softer,not a great combination. we could see we probably should traverse onto the face and gain the summit plateau but elected to stay on the ridge. at about 5600m and 2-3pm, we encountered a 50m skinny snow cone that blocked the route .no way! from there we 'could' have downclimbed/rapped onto the face , traverse 100m and then go up 200m to the summit .it was late and that we did not want to return at nite, so we turned around. the sun was out and quite warm.at about 5000m i was ahead, rope extended 50m, and had to downclimb a steep 4m snow step. i yelled to john to keep it tight as it did looked melted out. sure enough as i downclimbed, suddently my feet disappeared and my tools popped out of the snow.i thought ,fine. i'll fall 2m on my back in the snow....i did that but the rope was at an angle so as i hit the deck,the rope tensed and yanked me into the abyss......my first 2m fall yanked john off his tool placements and his weight reloaded the rope, yanked me sideways and now i am tumblng down a 70% snow/ice slope and dragging him along at high speed. he is about to fly over the ridge onto the same slope im on when he gets slammed into a snow crevasse! just a lateral crack in the snow. at the other end i am closing my eyes and awaiting death.i prayed. the instant i did, things got smoother until the rope tensed and i stopped. an inventory of body parts revealed i was ok . i tweaked my knee and groin in the initial tumbling.i did not know if john was dead, maimed,caught on the rope or what.i anchored the end of the rope with a screw, got out and started climbing the rope with a mini jumar and tooling it.yelled but no answer. climbed 20m when i heard him screaming at the of the ridge."what the fuck did you do! you broke my shoulder you fuck! there is no excuse for this you fucking moron!... but physically,.. are you ok.." i reassured him i was.i downclimbed to release the rope and he belayed me up screaming everytime his shoulder would move.once on the ridge , more swearing abuse and we set down. it got dark soon after , then foggy,then snow.we had to rap more then we had thought due to conditions,injuries and shock.all our tracks were gone so we had to be very carefull and deliberate.. we got to our tent at 11pm, 18hours after we set out. nice little easy clmb.. the whole night john would scream everytime he moved. next day we carefully wrapped him up and walked down.halfway down wet met a kid who reset his shoulder in.. now i know how.. 3 hours later we are back in town. the rope held, but the friendship...." sanjuan rdge on left with huantsan in horizon. john on the ridge me at the exact spot i would take a 40m fall, later.. john climbing marshmellows?!? ranaranpalca in background me , close to the end huantsan!! cayesh! Edited October 14, 2008 by joblo7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joblo7 Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 john... that IS the spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denalidave Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Great shots, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpark42 Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 I heard about you guys when I was down there this season. We ended up trying the route in early July, I think your group and ours where the only attempts on it, but got turned back when got to the snow ramp to access the ridge and found a 40ft section had melted out and was now rock. Also cutting across the face to gain the summit wouldn't have worked when we were there because it had melted out as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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