TR: Skiing in Peru's Cordillera Blanca

[llyon]

This May and June I had the opportunity to join a trip to try and ski some high peaks in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca. This report is from the first part of our trip: the journey from Switzerland to Huaraz Peru, and our adventure into the Quebrada Ishinca.



Piramide de Garcilazo. These are the sorts of peaks that can be found in the Cordillera Blanca.


I entered this trip with some hesitation, for a couple of reasons. First, while I certainly don’t mind hiking for my turns (and have even been known to don crampons from time to time), I do not consider myself a climber by any stretch of the definition. Not only does the Cordillera Blanca have the reputation for being a center for alpinism, but it also contains a number of peaks in the 20,000 foot range, which is considerably higher than I had ever been before.



Long valleys lead to big, glaciated peaks. The Quebrada Ishinca with Tocllaraju at its head.


With these reservations in mind, my personal goals in joining this trip were to learn as much as possible about climbing in truly high mountains, to enjoy a new experience in this incredibly varied world of skiing, and to come home safely. Any other achievements as far as summits or ski runs would just be an added bonus.



The team: Petter Meling, Juan Rivas, Lee Lyon, assorted donkeys.


Our group consisted of myself (Lee Lyon), Petter Meling, and Juan Rivas. Juan and Petter both live in Verbier, and I was able to spend the springtime leading up to Peru training and preparing with them in the Alps. Personally, I left Verbier in the best shape of my life, with rising hopes about what we could achieve in the Cordillera Blanca.



Training for Peru. On our way to the Petit Combin. Val de Bagnes, CH.


After an incredibly smooth and uneventful trip from Switzerland to Peru, and a few days of logistics and acclimatization in Huaraz, we were ready to embark on our first adventure into the mountains.



Acclimatization hike near Laguna Churup.


In Huaraz, we were staying at the Casa de Zarela. Zarela came recommended to us by other friends, and I would like to pass that recommendation along here. She took care of all of our logistics and preparation; from taxis, to donkeys, to information on camps, to recommendations for places to eat. I have done a fair bit of traveling with skis in the past few years, and have become quite used to the ups, downs, and stresses of it all. While this trip could have been a logistical nightmare, it might have been the smoothest trip I have ever done, almost entirely thanks to Zarela. So… thanks!



Changing transport modes at the base of the Quebrada Ishinca: taxi to donkey.



Beginning the long approach hike to Ishinca base camp. Con burros.



Home sweet home for the next 9 days. Ishinca base camp.


Our destination was the Quebrada Ishinca, with three peaks in mind: Urus Este, Ishinca, and Tocllaraju. We planned to spend 9 days in the valley, acclimatizing and learning about what it would take to ski from summits in this mountain range.



First peak of the trip: Urus Este



Second acclimatization peak for the trip: Ishinca. The line comes off the summit to the looker’s left, and comes straight down between cliffs to the right and seracs to the left. If you look closely, you can see pieces of my camera scattered beneath the cliffs.


At 17,783 and 18,143 feet, Urus and Ishinca are relatively low for the Cordillera Blanca, and we hoped they would be good acclimatizing peaks. I had my video camera along for these two peaks, and along with some POV footage from Juan, was able to put together a little edit that describes our approach into the Quebrada Ishinca and experiences on Urus and Ishinca nicely:






Unfortunately, I hurled my camera off a cliff just below the summit of Ishinca, so this video concludes my photographic contribution to the trip.



Moraine turns to glacier on Urus Este.



Skiing, finally! Finding some powder as a climber looks on.


We were able to summit and ski both Urus and Ishinca. On one hand, this provided some great skiing, and was confidence – inspiring for our chances on higher peaks going forward. On the other hand, we hiked through snow and rain on both climbs, which, in retrospect, foreshadowed our struggles with weather in the weeks to come.



Juan working through crevasses in the early morning sun on Ishinca.



Juan making turns low on Ishinca.



Ishinca, done.


Our last goal for the Ishinca Valley was Tocllaraju, our first 6,000m attempt for the trip (coming in at 19,790ft). Tocllaraju has a beautiful, extremely steep ramp of a west face, that is visible right down the front in this photo. It is often ice, but if it is in condition, it is the ideal ski line from the summit. If it wasn’t looking good, we would descend by the looker’s left ridge.



Tocllaraju. One of the better views of it we got the whole time we were at base camp. You can see the impressive west face coming down out of the clouds in the center of the photo.


Tocllaraju sits at the head of the valley we were camping in, so at this point we had been staring at it for a week. In that week, the summit had only emerged from the clouds for about an hour, total. Realistically, we all knew that our odds were not good for getting on top of this one. But, with our success on the trip so far, we felt that luck was on our side, and that somehow the sun would pop out just for us. Also, a local guide had managed to drag clients through the glacier and onto the summit ridge, and we hoped we might be able to follow his tracks.



Slogging it up to Tocllaraju high camp with heavy packs.


We arrived at our glacier camp with some of the best weather we had seen up high so far, and high hopes. But, when the alarms sounded at 2am, it was snowing again. We were able to find a faint track low on the glacier, but wind and snow were quickly burying it.



Tocllaraju high camp.


Midway through the glacier, the track finally became buried, and we were on our own. We were able to push a little farther, but finally found ourselves back tracking a couple of times, and unable to find the correct route to the summit ridge. When our own track began to disappear behind us, it was time to admit defeat.



Wandering around on glaciers in the clouds.


Many climbers seem willing to take the risk of stumbling around blind on these peaks in the Cordillera Blanca, but the risk is unacceptable for me. I don’t have much glacier experience, but the ones in Peru seem exceptionally open and active. A recurring theme on our summit attempts became an unwillingness to travel exposed glaciated terrain in whiteouts.



One last look back on our way back down to Huaraz.


I have two more parts I'm working on for this TR, which I'll be posting soon.


Snowbrains

[Tuckerman]

FKNA......

[boltonoutlaw]

Nice job Lee

[Grape_Ape]

Holy sheet! Nice report. Thanks!

[StuntCok]

Wow, Lee, just wow.

[IVplay]

Good shit.

[goldenboy]

Awesome. This TR is giving me a flood of memories, I can even see where we camped by the large boulders right behind your campsite. Looks like you had great conditions on Urus and Ishinca, my regret from my trip is that we didn't bring skis- I think that trip had me swearing off climbing without skis forever. Tocllaraju was the same for us- often in the clouds. If it weren't for some Austrians willing to navigate the glacier ahead of us, I don't think we would have gone very far, either. Looking forward to your next TR parts.

[Vets]

An impressive adventure. Beautiful!

[GoEhuge]

Doing it big, Lee. Glad to see you are still living the dream... at a totally new level.

Awesome stuff buddy.

[systemoverblow'd]

very impressive! What a joy that trip must have been.

[Doughnuts01]

I was also in the Cordillera Blancas in May, no skis though. Thanks for the TR, this is going to give me motivation to make it back down there someday, with skis... Looking forward to the next parts of the report.

[xyz]

Skiing, finally! Finding some powder as a climber looks on.

Ha! I love skiing past climbers.

[tommyvee]

Thanks so much for posting a Cordillera Blanca TR with useful info and great pictures.
I've been to Peru a couple times, but never took skis with me, and you are inspiring me to bring skis next time, even if it means wandering around glaciers in a whiteout (which I am already experienced in). And the "coming home safe" first priority is the perspective I share, so makes your TR that much more useful.

[splat]

Nice, nice, nice.
Beautiful shots.
Adventure rocks.

[alev]

Lovin it, Lee! Looking forward to seeing the rest.

[gimpy]

+++++ quality!!! thanx for sharing

[Mike Pow]

Brilliance.

[Ripzalot]

Juan making turns low on Ishinca.

quite the contrast there. very cool!

[looseofforangejuice]

super cool. and kudos for playing smart. turns and sun are fun, whiteout wandering on glaciers not so much.

[llyon]

Thanks for the compliments, everyone. For people interested in skiing down there - the Cordillera Blanca is definitely a climber's mountain range, and it takes some extra effort to haul skis along, but I found it to be very rewarding. Plus there are some gorgeous potential ski lines. If anyone is interested in putting a trip together, please get in touch with me, I am happy to share beta!

[llyon]

Part Two, here we go:



After being thwarted on Tocllaraju, we retreated to Huaraz to take showers and eat massive amounts of parilla. With a couple days of recuperation, it was time to head back into the mountains to go for our primary goal on the trip: Artesonraju.



Packing.



All that, plus four people into the taxi. Simon joined us for this trip.


Artesonraju is truly an impressive mountain. It is well known as the peak from the Paramount Pictures logo, but in my opinion, it should replace Alpamayo as the “most beautiful mountain in the world” (especially for skiers). Viewed from pretty much any aspect, it is a perfect, steep, knife-edged pyramid. It also has three incredible potential ski lines: the southeast, south, and northeast aspects.



Artesonraju’s northeast face, from Alpamayo basecamp. The Paramount Logo angle.



Artesonraju’s south face in the sun, our southeast face in the shade. Sure is pretty.


Our goal was the aesthetically simple southeast face: a perfect planar ramp, which stays between 45 and 50 degrees for it’s entire length (except the summit serac / cornice which is a bit steeper). We had all been dreaming about skiing this one for quite some time.



Last one, I promise. But she looks so good.


Donkeys were not an option for carrying gear up to moraine camp for Arteson in the Quebrada Paron. Time to harden up: 75lb packs, 7 hours, up to over 16,000 feet. Upon arrival, it was a quick dinner, and straight to bed for an early morning summit try.



Heavy packs, long approaches.



Crossing rivers, halfway there.



Moraine camp.


At 2am the stars were out, and we were getting our chance. We cooked breakfast, skinned across the glacier, and reached the bottom of the face at 5am. Then the real slog began. We were the first ones on Artesonraju for the season, and had been warned we may be climbing in deep powder. We encountered various forms of unconsolidated powder with a thick breakable wind crust.



A big, bright full moon made negotiating the moraine and glacier much easier.


Our progress was reasonable, but the face is deceptively long. We were really giving everything, knowing that these few hours were the moments we had been training for the past few months. As we approached the summit, pressure on the altimeter began to plummet, and we could see angry looking clouds building on the other side of the ridge.



Stairway to heaven. Or maybe the slog from hell.


Just below the summit serac, we had to make the difficult but necessary decision to turn around. It appeared that weather was headed our way, and no one was looking to repeat Joe Simpson’s mistakes in the neighboring Cordillera Huayhash. So, we clicked into skis, and began a fantastic ski descent. Good snow, steep and exposed, must-make jump turns, gasping for air – this was the fully challenging ski experience that I had hoped to find in Peru.




A POV video from the descent.



Halfway in on a fantastic ski descent.


While missing the summit of Arteson was disappointing, we skied the main face from more or less the top. As skiers, I think we all felt very pleased with a beautiful descent of the length of the main ski line.



Shattered. Sleepy time.


After a great ski, we arrived back at camp completely exhausted. Although it was still only early afternoon, we all feel asleep, and didn’t wake till late the next morning. Then it was time to pack up our huge packs and make the long slog home.



Tired and happy and headed for home.

[IridePow]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing!

... and yeah, navigating in a white-out on a glacier is a bad idea. Because even with a GPS to back track, you will be stumbling around and barely be able to tell what is up and what is down. (As I can tell from a few experiences this season in Switzerland.) So good thing you turned around on your acclimatizating trip.

Unfortunately the weather window did not hold for you on the Artesonraju either, but hey.... still looks like a hell of a trip!

[Hugh Conway]

damn, very cool llyon.

what are the permits/bullshit like? I'd thought there were rumours of such pain, doesn't seem to have bothered you though.

[gointhedistance]

Holy cow - that is awesome - nice work gents.

[llyon]

what are the permits/bullshit like? I'd thought there were rumours of such pain, doesn't seem to have bothered you though.

We found the bullshit to be pretty minimal. Expect your standard Peru / Latin America travel factors, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The only permit required is a one month pass for $20-25USD to enter the Parque Nacional Huascaran.
Also, sometimes the village right at the base of the valley will charge their own fee for road maintenance and services, but it will only be $2-3USD.

At the entrance to each valley, there is a park ranger, who will check to see that if you have this permit, ask whether you have hired guides / porters / cooks / donkeys, and ask where you are going and when you are coming back.

Technically, your park permit says that you are required to have a guide in order to enter the park. Also, they tend to be suspicious of skiers, as we stand out more and are much less common.

The only valley that hassled us about this at all was the Quebrada Santa Cruz, which gets by far the most tourist traffic in the park.

We found a few things that can help you get in without much trouble:
- Of our group of 3, one was Spanish, and the other two spoke well enough to pretend they were fluent for a short conversation.
- Have an alpine club card from whatever country you live in, and show it to them.
- Before leaving Huaraz, visit the park office there, and talk to the head ranger, named Edison. Try to get his phone number, and hopefully a written note saying where you are going and giving his approval. Even if you don't get these, drop his name to the park ranger at the entrance to the valley.