Exploring the Condoriri mountains
- Kate
- Jul 27, 2015
- 7 min read
Pico Austria Grade P 5100m
Pyramid Blanca Grade 1/PD 5230m
Pico Mirador Grade P 4900m
Pequeno Alpamayo Grade AD 5337m
Had breakfast on the rooftop of the hotel in Copacabana, with stunning views of the Lake. Our driver, Roberto, came to pick us up at 9am to take us to the next stage of our trip – in the Condoriri area of the Cordillera Real. At around 1.30pm we met our Bolivian guides, Rolando and Eulogio, and our cook, Ana, in a little town near the Condoriri and shared a beef stew lunch. Our heavy kit bags were loaded onto mules as we trekked on with day sacks to the campsite. The base camp was only 1hr20 away and by a beautiful lake called Laguna Chiar Khota (Black Lake) surrounded by elegant snow-capped peaks (13 over 5,000m) at 4,630m. It was busy by the lake with other groups, so we planted our camp a little further up. We set up our 3-man (/woman) tents but just as we finished, a spring popped up at the back of our tent! Luckily it didn’t take too long to move it over by a few feet to avoid the stream. Spent the evening playing cards and drinking cocoa tea with the others. Amazingly Ana prepared hamburgers and chips for dinner (still not sure how she manages such a feast in her little tent!). I’m luckily not feeling any effects still of altitude apart from a bit of a blocked and bloody nose, and not being able to eat soup (although I think the latter might be partly psychological after getting ill on noodle soup on the Inca trail 10 years ago). A couple of the team have very bad headaches and loss of appetite. Went to sleep around 10pm in our tents, cosy in my thermals and down sleeping bag, not to mention the heat of two large Scottish men next to me! Looking forward to our first peak tomorrow.
Up at 7.40 after an ok night’s sleep – kept waking up sporadically and had a bit of a headache. Thankfully felt better after breakfast (bread, jam, and more cocoa tea).We packed up our rucksacks and set off shortly after 9am for our first Bolivian peak, Pico Austria at 5100m. It’s a trekking peak so I just had approach boots on rather than needing crampons etc. Still, at that altitude it was tough enough and traversing up the scree was hard going in the heat (note don’t wear sallopettes next time!). We reached the peak 4 hours later after a leisurely pace, and took in the beautiful view over the lake and surrounding peaks. The descent was much easier – great fun sliding down the scree and then a short trek back to camp within 1.5 hrs. Rolando checked our gear in the afternoon ready for the attempt on Pyramid Blanca tomorrow; making sure our crampons fitted and we had the right kit needed for the ascent. Relaxed in the tents and then an early dinner at 7pm (chicken and rice).
Awoke at 5am for breakfast then set off along a rocky path towards the glacier at 6.30am. A couple of the team were still suffering altitude sickness and after 30 minutes one unfortunately had to turn back. We put our crampons, harness and ropes on at the base of the glacier and started to ascend in two teams of three. Although we started with headtorches it soon became light and it was eerily beautiful with the sun rising above and eventually spreading across the white peaks. It was fun getting back into crampons and I love the sound and feel of the crunch of ice between my points again! A few hours later we reached the base of the final peak and had to scramble up the last few metres followed by a steep plod to the summit. The hardest yet most interesting 50m of the day! At 12.30 we reached the top at 5230m and had a well-deserved rest and packed lunch. I had started to feel quite weak after around 5000m which was likely due to the altitude and lack of time we’d had to acclimatise. Glad to have summited which should help with acclimatisation on the next few peaks. We walked back down over the glacier which felt never ending as my energy started to fade further. Finally we reached base camp around 3pm and had a siesta, which seemed to do the trick (or maybe the copious amounts of sweet cocoa tea!). Chicken and quinoa for dinner – so not just for London yuppies but actually a traditional Bolivian dish. Played a few rounds of cards then an early night at 8pm.
Lie in the next day and an enforced ‘rest day’ from Rolando to prepare for Pequeno Alpamayo the following day. But of course in the mountain (and, as we were learning, with Rolando) there is no such thing as a true rest day. Instead we went for an easy trek up the nearby Pico Mirador at 4,900m. We departed at 9.30am and enjoyed a leisurely walk up in the sun. The last stretch however became more difficult (and a lot more fun!) as we scrambled up to the summit. Reached the top at 1pm and enjoyed our packed lunches and then a long walk along the ridge top. We seemed to slide most of the way down along scree (not sure how much longer my approach shoes will last in this stuff!) and back to the base camp within only an hour, all feeling jubilant after a good hike. Next highlight of the day was being taught yahtze by the Scots and winning a couple of games! Great fun and very addictive. For dinner we had fresh trout caught in the lake with Amazonian sweet potato, which was delicious. We are all settling into camping/mountain life now and I’m so happy and thankful to be surrounded by such beautiful scenery, fresh air, simple living and good company. Going to be tough going back to the city!
An American group has pitched up next to us – 10 guys and their two American guides. They are friendly and appear to be on the same itinerary as us. Rolando puts them down though for wanting to set up fixed lines on the mountain, calling it too risk adverse. He was qualified under the French system, arguably the best in the world, and I feel in safe hands.
Due to illnesses in the camp another rest day in camp followed and we started the ‘holiday’ with pancakes for breakfast (Ana fast becoming my new favourite person). The day was spent airing the tents and our clothes and cleaning ourselves as best we could – wet wipes are a lifesaver on the mountains! I can’t wash my hair however so it’s always put in a plait under my beanie for the duration of such trips, not that anyone really cares how greasy your hair looks but really to stop it itching and getting dirtier. I’m regretting bringing only two pairs of hiking socks – both of which are sweaty and dusty already, but at least I can air them out today and should be dry and fresh(er) for the next climb. Looking after feet is a priority and I’m annoyed that I have a big blister on my left toe and grazes round my shins from doing my new boots up too tight. Luckily salvageable! Did some sketching of the surrounding mountains in the afternoon, some more yahtze (Ana brought us popcorn as a snack, legend!), and an early dinner to prepare us for the next day.
At 3.15am I awoke, excited to get going on Pequeno Alpamayo. Breakfast of coconut cake and cocoa tea (yum) to fuel us for the hike. Two of the team have come down with severe stomach bugs so couldn’t join us, but the rest of us trekked through the moraine to the glacier for 45mins then I roped up with Rolando and one of the others. The hard ice crunched under our crampons and as I looked around I spotted a number of other group’s headtorches blinking as they made their way slowly up the glacier. At the top of the glacier (around 3 hours later) we went up a steep traverse to the minor summit of Tarija. Rolando had decided to take a ‘short cut’ around the side which had resulted in us front pointing and gripping ice axes to get to the top! At the top though we got the most awesome view of Pequeno Alpamayo, its ridges and its perfect summit pyramid. The next section was a climb down rocks to meet the main West-Southwest ridge.
The ridges looked steep from afar but weren’t too bad once on them (plus we got a bit of a kick by bypassing the Americans on their fixed lines!). Around an hour later we were on the summit at 5337m and gave Rolando a big hug! It was 10.30 so almost 6 hours of climbing but well worth it. The view from the top was breath-taking and we sat on a ledge just down from the summit and enjoyed our lunches and took in the surroundings. Rolando named peaks and pointed out the clouds over the Amazonian basin. We set off back down, and the rock scramble that had been fun going down was much harder work going back up – especially in crampons at 5000m! We carried on at a good pace though across the glacier and were back at the bottom by 1.15pm and in camp around 45 mins later. I was struggling in the heat by this point and glad to be back, as well as elated to have made the journey. Rested for the afternoon with the others followed by dinner. Back to La Paz tomorrow for the next phase...
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