Bound for Bolivia, we were greeted by the Cordillera Real, or Royal Mountain Range. A string of snow covered peaks, 125 km in length with 600 peaks over 5000m and a few giants, 6 of which are over 6000m. The Cordillera Real is truly a mountain climber’s and trekker’s dream as the access to the range is within close proximity to La Paz, the highest capital city in the world. Despite being fairly close to the equator and the jungle, the Cordillera Real is pretty heavily glaciated making the peaks look incredible. Melissa and I had left Cusco with intentions to get to La Paz with a couple of days to spare before returning to Cusco and visiting Melissa’s mom. If the weather cooperated, we would inquire about climbing one of these beauties. We arrived at the edge of La Paz after passing through El Alto, which involved dodging busses, cars, and unaware pedestrians. We rode through a totally clustered mess of traffic and noise after 5 and half days of the peaceful open altiplano. We made our way to a cafe owned by Christian and Lucia, Casa de Cyclistas hosts- a website that is similar to Couchsurfing for cyclists in South America. We were happy to have a place where we could relax and store our bicycles for the duration of our trip back to Cusco.
We took a day to cruise the colonial part of the city and do some shopping down the artesians alleys. We decided to climb a beautiful 6088m peak, Huayna Potosi and booked our guide and transportation. We also met up with our cycling companions Yannick, Shirley,and Steve, who would join us at the cyclists house.
The next morning, we woke up early as the excitement of mountain climbing had our adrenaline pumping. We met our guide and awaited our ride for the short 2 hour ride to the base of the mountain; Huayna Potosi is the most easily accessible 6000m peak in the world. Nearing the mountain, the temperatures dropped and we got a better idea of the magnitude. We arrived at the lower (4900m) refugio (small shelter) around 11:45am. We were joined by other climbers, some who had done a trek to arrive at the base, and others who would spend their first night there on the 3-day expedition. We decided since we had been cycling for almost two months at high altitude, we’d attempt the climb in two days instead of 3.
We ate a quick lunch and packed our bags with our warm weather clothing we were issued including our plastic boots, crampons, ice axe, and helmet. We were grateful to borrow packs from Yannick and Shirley. Mine was mostly filled with food, in case our meals were sub-par (lets just say we consumed most of what we brought!). We arrived at the high-camp or upper refugio (5210m/almost 17,000ft) in an one and a half hours. The walking was straightforward with only a few tough rock sections. At this point, I was hiking in my velcro cycling shoes since the choice was between that and my Chaco sandals. My size 13 shoes took up a lot of room in the panniers so I left them in Huaraz at the beginning of our journey. The remaining hours at high camp were spent sipping some hot drinks, snacking, chatting with 5 others who were climbing, awaiting dinner, and packing a few things for our early morning departure before we would lie down for bed.
At midnight, the guides shined their headlamps on us and told us to gear up as we would head out shortly. We ate some of the 2 pound banana bread loaf I carried up and drank a cup of cocoa before exiting into the mild winds that swept over the frozen landscape. The upper refugio sits at the edge of the glacier so it was just a short walk to the point where we roped up to our guide and put on the heavy boots and crampons for the duration of the climb. Our headlamps glowed on the snow and we slowly began to make our way up and up, stopping infrequently to maintain a steady pace. We moved quickly the first two hours or so, only stopping for a short period to grab a drink, as the wind quickly chilled us if we took too long. An early alpine start means that we walked in the darkness not being able to tell what we were really climbing. As we neared the top we slowed down a little, waiting for the others in front of us to scale a couple of technical steep sections. At this altiutude, it is so easy to spike your heartrate, causing you to stop and take a moment to catch your breath, so you literally just walk so sloooooooowwwwwlllllyyy, putting one foot in front of the other, embracing the silence and stillness of the mountain beneath you.
The final 150 meters or so is up a knife edge ridgeline, with one side of the ridgeline being the longest drop and steepest face of any mountain in Bolivia. This was most definitely the hairiest thing I have ever done. I had complete confidence in our guide and his skills, the equipment and rope we were one, but being on an edge no wider than a sheet of paper and looking down 3000 ft, made my legs do a bit of Elvis moves. Fortunately the sketchiest part was short, the top was in sight, and the thought of being near 20,000 ft, just 350 feet below the highest mountain in North America was surreal. With a blanket of clouds below and the sun rising in the distance,we found ourselves standing a top Huayna Potosi looking at the length of the Cordillera Real, and taking a few photos as the wind penetrated our techincal outdoor clothing. The lack of oxygen got to me as I thought I was making a video until I returned to La Paz only to find out it was on the wrong setting. However, the feeling and elation of our accomplishment was so magical. Within moments, our mentality changed as the sun revealed what was ahead of us on the descent.
Our confidence was strong as our bodies thanked us for every step on the descent. Our guide anchored himself as we navigated the knife edge and we found ourselves on comfortable snow to walk on as the heat of the sun made us break into heavy sweats. We returned to the high refugio around 7:45am after just over 6 hours on the glacier. The hour and half descent proved to be the most difficult part as my legs were screaming, my feet wet from sweat, and Melissa complained of a sore toe. We were exhausted and sipped down some soup before gathering our stuff and dreading the remaining trail to the lower refugio. During the climb Melissa´s boots had pinched her big toe and her toenail jammed into the nailbed causing it to raise up and fill with blood beneath. Extrutiatingly painful I am sure, she put on her shoes and we carried our heavy boots as we slowly trekked on the frozen icy rocks, passing some happy hikers on their way up to high camp for the next day’s summit. We returned to La Paz and hobbled around, ate some food, and shared our story with our relaxed cycling friends. Sore legs would persist another day, and the regrowth of a toenail may take until 2012, but the experience of summitting a 6000m peak will last forever.
-Justin
Melissa’s nailbed at high camp.
Melissa’s nail bed after Justin heated up a needle and poked a hole in the nail, allowing all the blood and good to release from under the nail.
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