Bolivia Trip Report

[mneagle]

I got back from Bolivia a few weeks ago and finally found time to give a not so brief trip report for all those with Condoriri dreams. This was my second time to Bolivia, the first time being 4 years ago, and not a thing has changed except for an abundance of internet cafés in La Paz and a decent coffee shop on the corner just below the Torino Hotel. Although our trip was somewhat mired by some unseasonal weather and a peasant uprising, it mostly went well. To acclimatize, I’d recommend going to Lake Titicaca. Copacabana is at 12,000 feet, the lake and ruins are beautiful and the smog of La Paz is a distant memory. On Isla del Sol, there are a few hills to 13,000 feet that can give you a workout. After returning to La Paz, two guys from Aspen and I headed to Condoriri basecamp. You can arrange transport from any travel agent or guiding agency in La Paz. Prices range from $50-70; the best price was quoted to me by the owner of the guiding agency located in the Hotel Continental on Illampu, near the market and El Lobo, the best Isreali cafeteria in South America. Once in Tuni, you can rent mules one way to camp for 40 Bolivianos (currently 6.5 Bolivianos to the dollar). We traded an old MSR stove and an old ice axe for 4 mules on the way out. We then traded a harness for lunch. The trail takes about 2 hours and gets you to 15,100 feet. The camp guard will locate you promptly and charge you 5 Bolivianos per person per day, explaining it’s for watching your stuff, building the toilets, etc… The amenities of the camp include a faucet that constantly pours out relatively clean water, pit toilets and numerous camp sites rich with artistic and architectural rock work. We filtered or boiled the water, although I heard some in camp were drinking it directly. From the number of llamas wandering the hillsides, I’d air on the side of caution. Most all the staples you need can be bought in the market in La Paz fairly cheap; 1 lb of pasta for 1.5 Bolivianos for example. There are some climbing stores where you can buy gas canisters and rent pickets, screw etc along Sagarnaga. Oh yeah and there’s climbing too. From camp you can see most of the climbs in the area. Straight above you is Condoriri and up the valley 30 min is the glacier that leads to the remainder of the climbs. We headed up the glacier and climbed Ilusioncita. It’s the smallest of the mountains but has an interesting glacier route and a short section of 5.3 rock to reach the ridge walk to the summit. The conditions when we first arrived were what the books all promise, nothing but sun and solid neve snow everywhere that takes pickets and screws well and doesn’t even require gaitors. On our way down, we stopped and did some ice climbing on the left hand side of the glacier where a 40 foot wide, 50 foot tall cascade of WI 4 green ice had formed in the shade. Conditions continued to be great for our climb up Pyramide Blanca the next day. We did the Southwest Face. The south facing aspect of the face left it with 100 feet of 8-10 inch deep unconsolidated snow at the base, but after that it was solid neve again. It was moderately steep, requiring a second ice tool. I tried to lead straight up over the cornice, but with one swing, the glacial segment I was on sank several inches. We then traversed right across a 60 degree slope and gained the ridge that was an easy walk to the summit, which is the best place to snap photos of Alpamyo. After a rest day, we set off for Condoriri. We left camp at 1:00 AM and made it to the high camp in 2 hours. The “scree slope from hell” had a lot of ice on the right and was only mildly painful. No one had done any of the other varitaions to bypass the scree. From there it’s a straight forward ridge walk to the 6 foot wide ‘shrund and up around to the right to reach the rock gully. It was great neve and we made it to the ridge in no time. The ridge is a total classic. Narrow, exposed and a bit steep in places. We had 4 pickets between the 3 of us and ran a running belay to the summit. It took us 5 ½ hours from camp to the summit in the most perfect conditions. We had about 5 minutes of views, however, until the clouds appeared from nowhere and gave us a brief snow shower, foreshadowing the 6 inches that would come down once we were back at camp. Although it’s supposed to be a virtual desert during the winter, I had 4 days with significant snowfall during the 14 days I ended up spending in Condoriri basecamp. The first 2 guys I was climbing with left and 4 more friends from Seattle showed up and we headed back to Condoriri. I had really hoped to get to other areas in Bolivia, but both groups of partners had their eyes on Condoriri and as it turned out, every other area ended up being cut off by a peasant uprising, which involved the tearing down of every retaining wall in the country and the stones being thrown into the road. It turned out to be no sacrifice, as the quantity and quality of routes at Condoriri are more than can be exhausted in 2 weeks. I learned later that my other partners were stuck in Sorata for 10 days with no hope in site of getting out. With the new group, I climbed a variation of the regular route on Pyramide Blanca, heading up the rock band just below the summit (low 5th class). The next day we headed up and over the glacier, summiting a minor peak, and then climbing the ridge route on Pequeno Alpamyo. Another true classic with a rolling and moderately steep ridge and amazing views. The new snowfall had made the glacier a 12-18 inch deep quagmire of sticky snow, but the high winds had swept the ridge down to the solid stuff. After a rest day we headed up Condoriri with the intention of doing a left sided variation up the steep section of the ridge and through the rock band to join the ridge at the notch near the top of the rock gully. We also brought up gear for a high camp, so 2 of us could make an attempt on Ala Izquirda the next day. The climb up Condoriri went well. We broke through a crevasse low down, but were able to climb past it. My buddy and I settled down for a few hours of sleep while the others headed back to camp. We had heard the ice high up in the rocks off to the right of the South Face was great and intended to climb up a snow ramp and head right into the rocks. The recent storms had been harsh on the South Face, leaving us swimming through waist to neck deep powder making rather slow progress as it was, until we found that the snow ramp was nothing more than a thinly coated sea of seracs. We downclimbed and went further left going up the South Face proper, again through waist deep snow. There was a little solid glacial ice along the right but that petered out and we were left wading up again for a few hundred more feet of profound hardship. Once finally in the rock bands the climbing was made up of brief sections of steep, thin and technical ice on relatively poor pro (half drive screws and screamers), excellent neve and the ubiquitous waist deep powder. I didn’t think snow could be that deep on that steep of an angle. We made better time further up with a few decent mixed leads through rock bands up to the corniced summit that was protected by a barrier of steep rock dusted by loose snow. Getting over it required a shaky ice tool placement and a committing heel hook 80 feet over the belay with no pro. Very exciting. Almost as exciting as the decent down the East Ridge, through the storm, without headlights, water or food, through a precarious crevasse field. Our exhaustion and the new snow nixed our plans to climb Ilusion. We left the Condoriri area heading for the West Face of Huayna Potosi but were denied by the snow clogged road and poor conditions of the route. I’d climbed the regular route 4 years ago and was really impressed by the views of the West Face from the summit. That was a little disappointing, but we tried to get to the regular route as a consolation. An unruly mob of stone wielding youths and an unpleasant attempt to go overland led us back to La Paz. With no big mountains to climb, what is one to do in La Paz except rent climbing shoes and go sport climbing. Much to our surprise, there is a cool sport climbing area in La Florida at the edge of La Paz. I copied a guidebook from Andino Guide Agency and off we went. The climbs bear european ratings and are mostly 6 or higher. A beautiful day of bolt clipping was a relaxing way to end things before heading back to Seattle smelly, bearded and 15 pounds lighter.

A few more bits of advise:

Air Travel:

American Airlines is the only American company flying directly to Bolivia. I paid $1200 through a web based travel agency, Exito. My friends flew roundtrip to Lima for $600 and went overland to Cuzco so they could do the Inca Trail to Machu Pichu before going over land to La Paz. They flew back to Lima for $200 and then back to Seattle. They also paid a departure tax of 25 dollars in both La Paz and Lima.

Hotel:

The Hotel Torino is a basic place with rooms with hot showers for $6 per person per night. The rooms with shared bathrooms are much older, colder and loud but for half the price. They will safely keep as much gear as you want to leave for up to 3 months.

La Lingua:

Other than a few guiding agencies in La Paz, nobody, I repeat, NOBODY speaks English. If you don’t know at least basic Spanish you are in for a trial. Do something to learn at least a little before you get there.

Gear:

I climbed in powerstretch tights, Marmot bibs, polypro long-sleeve shirt and Mt. Hardwear FTX shell. I wore a fleece at the beginning of the 1:00 AM start. Once the sun goes down, I wore Moonstone insulated pants and a Feathered Friend's Frontpoint Jacket around camp. OR Ice Mitts w/ single liners were plenty warm. Koflach Arctis Expe's were sweet. I'm now convinced that there's no tent like a Stephenson Warmlite; incredibly light and super strong in the wind. My Marmot 0 degree down bag kept me toasty without any silly vapor barrier nonesense.

[snowleopard_x]

Thanks Mneagle. It truly is beautiful down there. I enjoyed reading your report.

[Billy]

mneagle-

great report! What are the best seasons to climb in Bolivia?

[mneagle]

The dry season is the winter in Bolivia, from late May to early september. The time to go depends on which routes you want to do in what conditions. As the season moves on, all the snow turns to ice, crevasses open up, etc. The weather has been somewhat variable in Bolivia the last few years. According to a guide I talked with in Condoriri, 3 years ago the snow was so light that the Cabeza looked like a big black slab of rock. This year we had unseasonal snowfall that fouled up some of our plans but also endowed Ala Derecha with more snow than it has seen in years and allowed a few parties to tackle some of the most difficult and rarely done routes in Bolivia.