Enter the choss: An hour out and 15 feet up, post 1000 pound block trundling.
Our desired route is the central couloir. Nothing but choss on the bottom.
On day one putting in a boot pack. We thought we had it in the bag, less than 500 ft. to the base. Two full days later we reached the face.
The view of what we needed to bridge.
Despite many pictures from three different years all showing a continous ice and mixed line... we found no such line. Most likely it's due to the strange weather this year. People are saying it is the snowiest winter in the past 30 years. I believe them. We have seen many major avalanches and have done more post-holing than I care to admit.
We set out for the Paron with a solid two-weeks of food. We came to hunt bear and make sure we gave an honest attempt on our project. This period would also serve for our acclimitization so we wanted it done right.
We spent the first three nights at 14,500 ft. Did some hiking and eventually moved our basecamp to 16,500 ft. We spent one day completely tent bound as the storm raged.
In total it took us the better part of three days to get a book pack up to the face. The snow hit Marcus' knees so I'll only let you guess where it puts the snow level on my frame.
Despite seeing from a distance that the snow was not continous we hoped to find crack systems or terrain condusive to mixed or aid climibng. No such luck. I spent over two hour trying two different obvious features to reach a ramp that would bring us within a pitch of the ice. I cleared probably a thousand pounds of rotten rock, ran it out, and never got more than 30 feet up. Without a HILTI I'm not sure this goes. Tried or look at every conceivable option... another year maybe.
No we are back in Huaraz as the mountains storm. Bad weather this season. The south faces are avalanches waiting-to-happen. We'll head to the seldom climbed, but this season climbable, Churup next. Looking for lemonade... still finding lemons.
We set out for the Paron with a solid two-weeks of food. We came to hunt bear and make sure we gave an honest attempt on our project. This period would also serve for our acclimitization so we wanted it done right.
We spent the first three nights at 14,500 ft. Did some hiking and eventually moved our basecamp to 16,500 ft. We spent one day completely tent bound as the storm raged.
In total it took us the better part of three days to get a book pack up to the face. The snow hit Marcus' knees so I'll only let you guess where it puts the snow level on my frame.
Despite seeing from a distance that the snow was not continous we hoped to find crack systems or terrain condusive to mixed or aid climibng. No such luck. I spent over two hour trying two different obvious features to reach a ramp that would bring us within a pitch of the ice. I cleared probably a thousand pounds of rotten rock, ran it out, and never got more than 30 feet up. Without a HILTI I'm not sure this goes. Tried or look at every conceivable option... another year maybe.
No we are back in Huaraz as the mountains storm. Bad weather this season. The south faces are avalanches waiting-to-happen. We'll head to the seldom climbed, but this season climbable, Churup next. Looking for lemonade... still finding lemons.
3 comments:
Hey Nate,
Good luck buddy. Keep your options open with those frustrating conditions, get creative, and stay safe!
Just lemons beats sitting on your ass any day.
Fine effort so far; climb safe and take it a day at a time.
Nothin made failure in Peru as sweet as dinner at Bistro de los Andes. Track that place down. It's worth it.
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