Trip Reports

Pisco and Chopicalqui, July '16

The steepest part of Pisco
Trip Report

Written by Leader Ed Chard, August 2016

Chop£Chop£Chopi£how do you say it again? We were two hours into our flight from Amsterdam to Lima and the air hostess and I were discussing our jobs. £And you get paid for taking these people on holiday?£ £Expedition£ I said £not a holiday£ knowing that to most people, twenty days in the Peruvian Andes sounded like a holiday. I knew it wasn£t going to be your conventional 18-30 trip away!

She looked at the rest of my semi sleeping group and then back at me. £What if you don£t like them?£ £I always get along with folk£ I said, £that£s the interesting bit! Little did she know that I knew a fair few of the group already, they were all focussed, fit and raring to go.

With a slightly surreal feeling we landed in Lima and were met by old friends, my Spanish seemed to still work as we sped across town and into our hotel. A visit to a pizza gaff and a quick play with some local cats sent us off to sleep. The next day we gathered at breakfast and met the remaining group members that had travelled separately. We were a truly international group with a Fin, Norwegian, Irish, Dutch, Austrian and British climbers. We played some name games through the day as our coach travelled north into the hills through the outer barrios of Lima, through costal deserts and up to the Alto Plano and Cordillera Blanca or White Mountain Range. We had great views of some big snowy peaks, whetting our appetite for the days ahead. The next two days we spent acclimatising to our new environment with a short walk to 4,100m on the first day and a longer walk and scramble to 4,400m on day two. It was five years since I£ve been to Peru and the glacial retreat was incredible. Laguna Chirrup is still as beautiful and great place for tuna and avocado pasta for lunch.

Day four saw us actually lose height for a brief time as we drove down from Huaraz and then back up to our first camp at Cebolla Pampa near Laguna Lianganuco. A lovely roadside campsite with lots of bird life set just below Pisco Base camp. Folks were getting into their stride by the following day as we walked up to the uninterestingly named Laguna 69 and gained a further 400m. The weather was getting better and was looking stable. Time to think about our first objective. Pisco stands at 5,752m, some 1,700m higher than we were. We needed a base camp and a high camp to get up it safely and efficiently. Basecamp was a hot dusty walk up moraine ridges but once there is a lush green mini valley. Other folks had moved in as well so we spent the following day abseiling on a short bolted crag and chatting to the community. Our other Guides turned up as planned so we had everything in place for the move to high camp the following day.

The route to high camp crosses the lower Huandoy Glacier and involves a rocky, dusty and steep descent onto the dry base. A chain had been put in for this year and was needed as several folk went hand over hand down the short slope. The route up to camp on the other side was long but an early dinner was soon on hand to get folk ready for the early start the following day.

My alarm went off at 1.30am; there were all manner of grunts, crashes and expletives before our £breakfast£. Everyone was ready an hour later as we made our way up and over some rock slabs to the glacier. The route to Pisco was uncomplicated and follows a broad slope to a col between Huandoy and our summit. Four and a half hours of slow and steady ascent saw the team on top. The feeling of success was added to by our kitchen crew also making the ascent with tea and biscuits; they soon disappeared into the dawn to make porridge for the way down.

Back in basecamp, and 1,100m lower, folks had the chance to clean up and relax. Fresh pastry and guacamole made tea time a place for big smiles and happy hearts.

The following day we were off again, back down the valley, picked up by bus and driven the twenty minutes to Chopicalqui basecamp. Thirty minutes from the road the camp was already looking full, all was well however as most people were on their way down with stories of good conditions and little new snow. I went to get an up to date weather forecast, it was not great news. In four days, the fine weather would break, winds would increase and our summit attempt looked at risk.

I got to basecamp a little later and shared the news. We had planned two further rest days making our summit day right in the middle of the storm. £There could be another way£ the words sounded like there was a cunning plan ahead, there was! We decided that missing a rest day and getting the top and back down in three days could be done. It needed some sharp turn around but everyone was up for it. Nineteen hours later the team left basecamp for moraine camp. A stunning campsite with tent nests on a ridge. The day after is a short but technical day through a jumble of seracs and crevasses to a flat snowy camp in a bowl at 5,300m.

We were in the right place at the right time; the weather early the following day was cold and clear. Light winds were forecast as the rope teams reached the first steep part of the ridge. Folks talked of seeing a sheer face ahead of them in the darkness only to find it was around 35 degrees and very friendly. Winds picked up at dawn as the group got to £the steep bit£. 40m of Scottish grade 2 feels a lot harder at 6,200m! Forty five minutes later and there were summit hugs and photos. The wind was building and it wasn£t a place to hang around for long.

One more night in high camp and base camp saw us retracing our steps to Huaraz. Looking through the bus window as we drove away, the clouds were building and the mountains were taking on a different hue.

Farewell dinks and meals were the next item on the agenda; Andean craft beer is a welcome addition to the local culture. Back on the plane and I£m talking to a different air hostess; £Chopi..whaty?£ she said. I just showed her a picture and smiled.


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