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cordillera blanca

Chopicalqui

sid – November 25, 2006 – 2:49pm

 

Mountain Quickie

  • Height: 20,840 feet (6,350 meters)
  • Normal route: Southwest Ridge
  • Grade: AD-
  • Elevation gain: 1,550 meters from moraine camp
  • Time: 1-2 days from moraine camp to summit and back
  • Equipment: crampons, 2 axes, rope, pickets

Overview

The mammoth Chopicalqui is one of the Cordillera's most striking peaks. It offers a challenging ascent requiring intermediate level alpine skills, and an excellent opportunity for climbers who want to make an ascent to high altitude. Chopicalqui is the fourth highest mountain in the Cordillera Blanca.

It is located immediately northeast of Peru's highest mountain, Huascaran. It offers superb views of the two Huascaran peaks, the Huandoy group, and Chacraraju, all of which are close at hand. The southwest ridge is a moderate snow climb, but deep snow or bad weather could spoil chances of success.


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Pisco

sid – November 21, 2006 – 11:00pm

 

Mountain Quickie

  • Height: 18,897 feet (5,760 meters)
  • Normal route: Southwest Ridge
  • Grade: AD- since 2004
  • Elevation gain: 1,150 meters from base camp; 850 meters from moraine camp
  • Time: 3-5 hours from moraine camp
  • Equipment: crampons, axe (with at least 1 person in the party with 2), 50m ropes, pickets

Overview

The name Pisco is possibly derived from the great amounts of pisco (a Peruvian liquor) consumed to celebrate the first ascent. It is a strong foul drink, but well worth a try. Nowadays Pisco is a very popular peak for climbers to acclimatize for a 6000er as well as for guided trekking groups at the end of their tour. The normal route typically takes 3 days roundtrip from Huaraz to the summit. The mountain is set right in the heart of the Cordillera Blanca, so the views are great, and the mountain itself has a nice pyramid shape.


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Peru climbing timeline - 17 day trip

sid – November 21, 2006 – 10:50pm

When we originally started planning our trip to Peru, we were planning to only go for 17 days. This was our "everything goes extremely well" plan. I think it is very unrealistic, but wanted to post it for comments and also so we can continue to learn.

Day Activity Elevation Gain/Loss Notes "Formula"
1 Flight to Lima 0 ft      
2 Bus from Lima to Huaraz 9,500 ft 9,500 ft   8,000 ft
3 Rest day in Huaraz 9,500 ft 0 ft   9,000 ft
4 Bus/trek to Pisco base camp 15,100 ft 5,600 ft very aggressive in terms of altitude gain 10,000 ft
5 Pisco base camp 15,100 ft 0 ft probably need more days here or lower! 11,000 ft
6 Pisco moraine camp 16,075 ft 975 ft   12,000 ft
7 Summit Pisco 18,867 ft 2,792 ft   13,000 ft
  Return to Pisco base camp 15,100 ft -3,767 ft    
8 Go to Chopicalqui base camp 13,800 ft -1,300 ft   14,000 ft
9 Chopicalqui moraine camp 15,100 ft 1,300 ft   15,000 ft
10 Rest day 15,100 ft 0 ft   16,000 ft
11 Summit Chopicalqui 20,841 ft 5,741 ft whew - workout day! 17,000 ft
  Descend to base camp 13,800 ft -7,041 ft    
12 Return to Huaraz 9,500 ft -4,300 ft   18,000 ft
13 Drive/trek to Huascaran base camp 14,000 ft 4,500 ft   19,000 ft
14 Huascaran camp 1 17,000 ft 3,000 ft   20,000 ft
15 Summit Huascaran 22,200 ft 5,200 ft   21,000 ft
  Descend to base camp 14,000 ft -8,200 ft another huge day  
16 Return to Huaraz 9,500 ft -4,500 ft    
17 Bus from Huaraz to Lima, flight out 0 ft -9,500 ft    


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Cordillera Blanca

sid – November 21, 2006 – 10:34pm

Within this range, there are 25 peaks above 6,000 meters, 15 of which are above 20,000 ft (6,096 m). The highest mountain in the range is Nevado Huascaran, at 22,205 ft (6,768 m), the tallest in Peru and the 4 highest in South America. The range is 180 kilometers long and 20 kilometers wide, and runs roughly parallel to the Pacific coastline.

The main climbing season is May to early September during Peru's dry season and winter.

Found this real nice trip report: 6 weeks in Cordillera Blanca and Huayhuash (LOTS of pictures)

 


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Alpamayo routes

sid – October 19, 2006 – 9:46am

Alpamayo is definitely a dream climb for me. Brad is talking about another Peru trip for next summer, so I'm going to start collecting planning material in my blog. Here is a beautiful pictures of Alpamayo with the 'normal' routes overlaid:

Alpamayo routes


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