Peru Expedition: June 2022
Club member, Wendell Martin, recounts the story of his trip to the Cordillera Blanca in Peru to climb Ishinca and Alpamayo.
A hotel in Lima was our rendezvous point - 8 members of our expedition who travelled from Scotland, Ireland and England and our local Guides. Our goal was to climb Ishinca (5530m) and Alpamayo (5947m). It was a 3 week expedition, which allowed us time to get used to the terrain and more importantly, to acclimatise to the altitude.
1st Objective - Ishinca 5530m
Our 1st stop was Huarez, an 8 hour dusty drive from Lima. This was our main base for the expedition. The air was incredibly dusty and some of us wore masks to keep it at bay. To help acclimatise to the altitude, we did a number of long treks doing various ascents and descents. To tackle Ishinca, we set up a base camp at 4270m and set out on a 4 hour trek to the peak of the moraine overlooking our camp below and Ishinca above. We got our first sign of animal life in the form of Spanish cows, roaming aimlessly in the pebbly scrub.They wandered through our camp, ignoring us completely, and wandering off again! Wild dogs followed our treks, but seemed very wary of us and kept their distance. Chinchillas were everywhere, searching for food, and potential lunch for the eagles above!! Moving up to a higher to Moraine Camp, the air got noticeably cooler and thinner. None of us were used to such a slow walking pace, but we couldn’t have moved quicker even if we wanted. It was difficult to find any energy and keeping food down was a challenge! It's a most uncomfortable feeling, with headaches, nausea and coughing taking over.
A 4am wake up call, 5am departure saw the start of our ascent up Ishinca. Rough moraine and huge rocks dominated the terrain to the glacier just as daylight came. Front pointing with crampons helped our progress and after 5 breathless hours we all topped out on the Summit. It was photos, smiles and snacks all-round as we prepared for the descent. A 5m down climb to get around the bergschrund was followed by an uneventful 4 hour trek on the glacier to our moraine camp at 4800m. Thin air made breathing during the night difficult, and we were all glad to be descending to our base camp the next day. Back to Huarez, before our attempt at Alpamayo.
2nd Objective - Alpamayo 5947m
Having driven 2 hours from Huarez, our start point was Caasapampa, and from there it was a 5 hour trek to camp one at Liamacorral. Next day, our local team, with the help of burros, set off well ahead of us to prepare our 2nd camp, which was Alpamayo base camp (4300m). A rest day and prep for the move up to Moraine camp followed. Another 5 hour trek, and gaining significant height, saw us at Alpamayo Moraine camp (4880m). Temperature was dropping rapidly and we were now well above the tree line. After a cold night, with frosted tents and air temperature plummeting as we had breakfast, signs of altitude sickness followed our cold night on the slab. An ascent up rock slabs, a moraine ridge got us to the edge of the glacier where we roped up in teams for the glacier climb to Col camp (5300m). 5 hours to ascend just 500m! Some technical parts required use of both ice-axes over 3 pitches before roped teams could continue.
By now we were high up on the ice-field, and we huddled in our tents to keep warm and rested. By nightfall, I was beginning to feel dreadful - headaches, coughing blood and unable to sleep. Talking with the guides, I made the decision to descend - a really difficult decision to make but the right one. I dropped down 1100m and started to improve. 2 days later a further drop of 1200m reduced my coughing considerably. By sea level, it was gone. As for my team mates, they reached the summit - a gruelling 13 hour round climb. That convinced me I had made the right call!!!! A climbing accident 12 years ago which had severely injured my back and caused some lung damage (unknown at the time) has now been confirmed as contributing to my altitude breathing difficulties. Ongoing treatment should sort it out for my next challenge!!!
It was a fantastic experience.The adventure, challenge, and the unknown all met my expectations. A special mention must go to the local team who looked after us superbly - cooking our meals/snacks and encouraging the whole team all the way.
Thanks guys.
Wendell Martin