I just had the most exhilarating mountain climb of my life! A gorgeous day with spectacular weather and stunning views - out on one of the mountains with the most scenic panorama all around. What more could you want?
The day before yesterday I left Huaraz together with Carol and Raymond, a couple from North-Carolina which I had met on the Huayhuash trek, and William, our mountain guide. After a good two hours in bus and taxi we walked the 700m in altitude up to the base camp at 4600m of Pisco. After setting up camp, we had a little time to relax and Raymond and I set out to have a look over the first moraine ridge towards the mountain. A huge field with giant hills of moraine rubble separates the base camp from the glacier where the actual climb begins. Normally, about two hours are required to scramble across this desert of loose rock and scree. After an early noodle dinner we turned in to catch some sleep. I only slept for about two hours and lay awake the rest of the time.
It was a crystal clear night, millions of stars in the sky (and some shooting stars), no wind, cracking cold but dry. We got up at 1am, had a very scarce breakfast, and left camp at 2am. We took on Luc, a Canadian from Quebec, who's climbing partner had gotten sick in the base camp... So we were five in total crossing the moraine in total darkness just illuminating the rocks with our head-torches. I was wearing the plastic mountaineering boots all the way as I did not want to carry the additional load of my trekking boots - all the climbing gear is already heavy enough! These plastic boots are the mountaineering equivalent of ski boots -totally rigid and great on snow and ice, but they did surprisingly well for moraine scrambling and rock-hopping, too.
It turned out that Carol had quite some problems with the moraine rubble and we hence took almost three and a half hours to cross the this unpleasant terrain. Our guide William got a little nervous here, but for me the delay turned out to be a great plus as I had plenty of light for photography on the glacier! When we had put on the glacier gear - additional cloths, gloves, harnesses, boots, gaiters, crampons, ice axes etc. - and finally stood on the snow, the sun began to rise colouring the spectacular rock and ice lanscapes beautifully in all hues of orange and red.
Initially, progress on the glacier was quite slow as Carol was still bravely battling on, obviously being in dire straights. I had no reason to complain - I enjoyed plenty of time to snap pictures during the walk. At the first step after the col (the saddle between Huandoy and Pisco from whereon the walk up the flank of Pisco begins) she finally had to give in. Raymond immediately decided to stay with her, and William brought both back to the col where they waited on the glacier until the rest of us would return from the summit. As the sun was already out and warming, the climb could not have been any more comfortable. No wind and deep blue skies... Not to speak of the gorgeous views into all directions.
We were a little quicker then, and the next two hours climbing through the marvelous glacier landscapes will be one of the greatest memories of my whole trip. Shortly before we reached the summit ridge, a few clouds emerged from the mountain top which obscured the 360° panoramic view. We stood on the summit of Pisco (5752m) at 10am. Regardless of the occasional summit cloud, the views were totally mind-blowing and we spent about 20 minutes on the mountain top taking the great scenery in. The water in my water bottle was almost completely frozen, but due to the sun the climate on the summit was really pleasant and we had a snack of cookies and chocolate - almost the first food for me since getting up in the morning.
On the way down we passed two other groups which had been starring in my glacier pictures on the way up. Walking with crampons on glacier snow can be incredibly easy and quick! Especially downhill. After catching up with Carol and Raymond and reaching the end of the glacier, we took our mountaineering gear off and walked back across the moraine rubble towards basecamp for an other couple of hours. I was very glad to finally take off my plastic boots after a full 13 hours of walking and climbing in them! The longest break had been the summit stop of 20 minutes...
We quickly packed camp and walked two more hours back to Cebollapampa where our taxi to Yungay was waiting. From there we took the bus back to Huaraz. The walking in my heavy but comfortable trekking boots felt like heaven, despite the extra heavy backpack with all the climbing gear in addition to the normal camping stuff.
I do not think I have ever before been walking for 15 hours straight during one single day! But I have not been feeling so extremely happy as well as pleasantly and thoroughly exhausted in a very long time! When I finally fell into my bed in Huaraz after a long hot shower, I slept like a log for ten hours.
I can now perfectly understand why climbing mountains is so addictive! But I feel I have done enough hereabouts in Huaraz and can finally move on. William, our guide, however, tries to convince me to climb Alpamayo together with him... It really is tempting as I am now as fit and acclimatized as ever! But no worries mum, I will probably be sensible and leave the mountains behind for a while.
Have a look at some pictures here, if you like.
P.S.: The mountain was actually named after the local alcoholic drink which the first climbers had in copious amounts when coming back into town after the first successful summit attempt! For me the impressions of the day could not have been any more exhilarating, no alcohol required.
