khosro@ronagh.ca - Nov 26, 2022 6:11 am Date Climbed: Nov 15, 2022
Chachani Climbed 2022
It was a little cold at night
arosusi - Apr 2, 2020 10:48 am Date Climbed: Dec 20, 2019
Chachani
Easy one day hike
jck - Oct 23, 2018 12:58 am Date Climbed: Oct 18, 2018
North (scree) - unguided
We took 'one day' option.
Managed to find a reasonable priced transport to the trailhead (225 soles / person). We reached the trailhead at 5000 m around 5 a.m. and summited few minutes before 11 a.m. Back to the car in 2 hours.
Great views to Ampato, Sabancaya (erupting) and Coropuna.
steved - Apr 23, 2017 11:48 am Date Climbed: Apr 19, 2017
Cabrerias/North scree route
First attempt was via the Cabrerias route (8-12th April), after three 8-9 hour days of solid trekking, got within 20 metres (heightwise) of the summit on the 10th and got stopped by the snow (arriving a little too late, 4.00 pm, snow hip deep near summit), otherwise, a great route (watch out for the 'bowl' just before Pampa Grande high camp, boulder fields and loose scree). Following few days, looked for transport to the Azufrera trail head but was getting crazy quotes (450 soles, presumably only one way), decided to sign up with a tour group for 280 soles, Quechua Explorer, ascended again, this time via the North scree route (18-19th April) with Steve & Nicola and our guide, Jose, started at 2.00 am, reached the summit at 8.10 am. (Note: I'd read a few bad things about QE, personally I thought it was very good value).
seancau - May 24, 2016 4:33 pm Date Climbed: Jan 4, 2016
Cabrerías Route
Long climb up via the Cabrerías route. Should have started earlier and camped higher at Pampa Grande (we camped at 4,600m). Very long summit day, the ridge up was relentlessly steep. Summited just before sunset having started at 7:30am. Arrived back to camp 1:50am! 2 nights spent on the mountain, both at 4,600m at a good camp there, but highly recommend using Pampa Grande camp at 4,900m~ instead. The main advantage of the Cabrerías route is that it can be reached by a short taxi ride from "1ro (Primero) de Junio", a suburb of Arequipa. Stunning mountain, my first guideless 6,000er.
Mike D' - Mar 31, 2016 3:54 am Date Climbed: Jun 20, 2015
Great Success
Pete and I paid a pretty sol to one of the local mountain guide companies to simply drive us up to the trailhead one day and retrieve us the next. The ride entailed maybe two hours on a steep, dusty, rough road, it ended on a sort of saddle where the route begins. We hiked the couple hours into basecamp late afternoon, my small UL tent allowed us to pitch on one of the few flat finely grained scree spots on the bouldery ridge just above the established camp, which cut a couple hundred feet off the next morning's ascent.
We started a little after 4am, well below freezing, scrambling up the boulder field was slightly tricky in the dark, sunrise brought us to a broad steep face with various switchback routes. Altitude hit us like a wall, we both really felt like throwing in the towel over much of the climb, but we kept on, the rising sun's warmth a motivating factor. Eventually we hit consistent snow & ice, established tracks coupled with quick thawing made cramp-ons unnecessary. Final ascent was cake, summit around maybe 9am, amazing views including a distant smoking volcano to the NNE. Hung out at the summit for awhile because the day was clear and weather was perfect as always in Arequipa.
Thinking it would be quicker and a nice alternative, we descended the due east scree face, which was a hazardous mistake. The face was a mellow enough pitch below 40-degrees but too many large rocks amid the fine scree made for a glissading nightmare, we really had to take care not to send a boulder down the mountain. Some ice-bands protruding into the slope were only a tease, their fading stability barely helped. A very unamusing slog & traverse got us back to safety in the stable ridge of boulders, back to camp to pack up then booked it down then back up to the road at the pass by 3pm, so pleased that our ride was awaiting.
Excellent scrambly but non-technical overnight summit, accompanied by the gruels of high altitude. Somehow we were the only humans out there from start to finish, summit & trek in/out totally to ourselves.
Humberto - Sep 27, 2011 10:05 am Date Climbed: Sep 24, 2011
Chachani
Made it to top with Jose from Quechua Explorer and Qwen from Singapore, Fabian from Germany and Sandra from Spain.
It was a hard slog, very cold due to the high winds. I got hit by altitude but pushed on and made it.
An easy route, fine weather but very cold... A lunar landscape!
rgg - May 18, 2011 8:27 pm Date Climbed: May 18, 2011
Cold!
It was an organized tour. The first day we had a long drive to the trailhead and a short walk to the campsite at 5200m.
The plan was to have breakfast at 0:30 and start walking at 1. For various reasons (a.o. the fact that two of our group of six reported sick - my stomach wasn`t quite with the program either, but after taking a loperamide I decided to give it a go anyway), we started at 1:40, but made good time going up. We used crampons higher up. With real good boots, I think it may have been possible without crampons, but with was much safer anyway.
It felt very cold, partly because it was windy at times, especially on the summit. I had to put on all my layers to feel reasonably comfortable, and wished I had better mittens ...
Oh, and I loved that scree and sand on the way down!
Garon Coriz - Sep 7, 2010 11:07 am Date Climbed: Sep 5, 2010
A Forced Quickie
My original friend and guide couldn´t make it so I got on board with his buddy Alfredo. We went with a German girl, Magdalena, and her Australian boyfriend, Joseph. Unfortunately, Joseph had altitude sickness at had to turn around soon after leaving camp. With a little aid from me, Magdalena summited with me and Alfredo. Amazing views of the volcanic chain and the arid landscape below.
gintherj - Jun 23, 2010 3:07 pm Date Climbed: Jun 8, 2010
First 6000 M
Altitude made progress very slow. Began at 230am from 5300M base camp. Snow began to soften early in the morning. Otherwise great climb and fairly good views from summit. Definitely recommend if you have a couple extra days in Arequipa!
jeffrawn - May 22, 2010 2:56 pm Date Climbed: Apr 21, 2010
Glad I did it; but it was a challenge!
I've been to Arequipa 3 times doing mission work; heard Chachani calling my name each time! Several summit firsts: Volcano; in Peru; over 6000M; altitude sickness (glad to skip that from now on!). Azufrera Route, but slowly due to 3 of our 5 dealing w/ AMS - 7 hrs. from BC. Very little visibility at summit. Glad we had crampons and ice axes, as snowfields on Fatima were knee deep and occasionally steep and slick. Descent was very fast. I needed more than 3 days from sea level!
iechegar - Jan 5, 2010 5:48 pm Date Climbed: Jun 27, 2009
Route Climbed: Normal : June 2009
As previous poster said, altitude sickness is an issue. 2 out of 5 abandoned before first col due to altitude sickness. You are supposed to acclimatize in one night for 3,300 meters altitude differential.
Reached 5800 and had to return due to waist-deep snow on the slopes of Fatima. Those amounts of snow are not common but freak snow storms happened all week long before we climbed.
Climbed Chachani two times when working in Arequipa. Bring enough water, a warm sleeping bag and trekking poles. No ice equipment required.
nattfodd - Jul 7, 2009 1:14 pm Date Climbed: Oct 5, 2007
Failed attempt
This was to be my first 6000er, but poor acclimatization and making the mistake of only taking hiking shoes forced me to give up a few hundred meters below the summit (just above the 6000m line), as I was fearing frostbite on my feet.
Even if technically very easy, climbing a mountain that high is not to be underestimated. Lesson learned.
deungsan - Mar 28, 2009 6:48 pm Date Climbed: Jun 18, 2005
up high!
It sure was weird sleeping at 16,600 feet.
Gingko Biloba helped, I'm thinking.
With Zarate Guide Service.
TrevorMarrs - Nov 3, 2008 4:36 pm Date Climbed: Oct 10, 2008
Race up
Raced to the top with Jonny Gaunt (ENG) basecamp to top in 2hrs 45mins shagged coming back down though! Dusty climb but the views are fantastic!!
MountainHikerCO - Dec 29, 2007 11:01 pm Date Climbed: Aug 15, 1998
Chachani
It took a lot of energy going up. With the loose material each step included some sliding backwards. Coming down however was quick and a lot of fun - back on the heels and slide with each step.
Vic Hanson - Dec 22, 2007 12:35 pm Date Climbed: Dec 4, 2007
Arequipa Triple Crown
This completes my Arequipa Triple Crown of Pichupichu, Misti and Chachani, which we did in 5 days. We camped low, below the base camp, at 15,990' (4874 m) on Monday night. On Tuesday we hiked La Azufrera route from there to the summit and back in 9 hours and 15 minutes, and then drove back to Arequipa that evening. Almost no snow, just a small patch before the final summit climb.
khosro@ronagh.ca - Nov 26, 2022 6:11 am Date Climbed: Nov 15, 2022
Chachani Climbed 2022It was a little cold at night
arosusi - Apr 2, 2020 10:48 am Date Climbed: Dec 20, 2019
ChachaniEasy one day hike
jck - Oct 23, 2018 12:58 am Date Climbed: Oct 18, 2018
North (scree) - unguidedWe took 'one day' option.
Managed to find a reasonable priced transport to the trailhead (225 soles / person). We reached the trailhead at 5000 m around 5 a.m. and summited few minutes before 11 a.m. Back to the car in 2 hours.
Great views to Ampato, Sabancaya (erupting) and Coropuna.
steved - Apr 23, 2017 11:48 am Date Climbed: Apr 19, 2017
Cabrerias/North scree routeFirst attempt was via the Cabrerias route (8-12th April), after three 8-9 hour days of solid trekking, got within 20 metres (heightwise) of the summit on the 10th and got stopped by the snow (arriving a little too late, 4.00 pm, snow hip deep near summit), otherwise, a great route (watch out for the 'bowl' just before Pampa Grande high camp, boulder fields and loose scree). Following few days, looked for transport to the Azufrera trail head but was getting crazy quotes (450 soles, presumably only one way), decided to sign up with a tour group for 280 soles, Quechua Explorer, ascended again, this time via the North scree route (18-19th April) with Steve & Nicola and our guide, Jose, started at 2.00 am, reached the summit at 8.10 am. (Note: I'd read a few bad things about QE, personally I thought it was very good value).
seancau - May 24, 2016 4:33 pm Date Climbed: Jan 4, 2016
Cabrerías RouteLong climb up via the Cabrerías route. Should have started earlier and camped higher at Pampa Grande (we camped at 4,600m). Very long summit day, the ridge up was relentlessly steep. Summited just before sunset having started at 7:30am. Arrived back to camp 1:50am! 2 nights spent on the mountain, both at 4,600m at a good camp there, but highly recommend using Pampa Grande camp at 4,900m~ instead. The main advantage of the Cabrerías route is that it can be reached by a short taxi ride from "1ro (Primero) de Junio", a suburb of Arequipa. Stunning mountain, my first guideless 6,000er.
Mike D' - Mar 31, 2016 3:54 am Date Climbed: Jun 20, 2015
Great SuccessPete and I paid a pretty sol to one of the local mountain guide companies to simply drive us up to the trailhead one day and retrieve us the next. The ride entailed maybe two hours on a steep, dusty, rough road, it ended on a sort of saddle where the route begins. We hiked the couple hours into basecamp late afternoon, my small UL tent allowed us to pitch on one of the few flat finely grained scree spots on the bouldery ridge just above the established camp, which cut a couple hundred feet off the next morning's ascent.
We started a little after 4am, well below freezing, scrambling up the boulder field was slightly tricky in the dark, sunrise brought us to a broad steep face with various switchback routes. Altitude hit us like a wall, we both really felt like throwing in the towel over much of the climb, but we kept on, the rising sun's warmth a motivating factor. Eventually we hit consistent snow & ice, established tracks coupled with quick thawing made cramp-ons unnecessary. Final ascent was cake, summit around maybe 9am, amazing views including a distant smoking volcano to the NNE. Hung out at the summit for awhile because the day was clear and weather was perfect as always in Arequipa.
Thinking it would be quicker and a nice alternative, we descended the due east scree face, which was a hazardous mistake. The face was a mellow enough pitch below 40-degrees but too many large rocks amid the fine scree made for a glissading nightmare, we really had to take care not to send a boulder down the mountain. Some ice-bands protruding into the slope were only a tease, their fading stability barely helped. A very unamusing slog & traverse got us back to safety in the stable ridge of boulders, back to camp to pack up then booked it down then back up to the road at the pass by 3pm, so pleased that our ride was awaiting.
Excellent scrambly but non-technical overnight summit, accompanied by the gruels of high altitude. Somehow we were the only humans out there from start to finish, summit & trek in/out totally to ourselves.
Humberto - Sep 27, 2011 10:05 am Date Climbed: Sep 24, 2011
ChachaniMade it to top with Jose from Quechua Explorer and Qwen from Singapore, Fabian from Germany and Sandra from Spain.
It was a hard slog, very cold due to the high winds. I got hit by altitude but pushed on and made it.
Silvia Mazzani - Jul 9, 2011 4:57 pm Date Climbed: Jul 30, 2007
La Azufrera RouteAn easy route, fine weather but very cold... A lunar landscape!
rgg - May 18, 2011 8:27 pm Date Climbed: May 18, 2011
Cold!It was an organized tour. The first day we had a long drive to the trailhead and a short walk to the campsite at 5200m.
The plan was to have breakfast at 0:30 and start walking at 1. For various reasons (a.o. the fact that two of our group of six reported sick - my stomach wasn`t quite with the program either, but after taking a loperamide I decided to give it a go anyway), we started at 1:40, but made good time going up. We used crampons higher up. With real good boots, I think it may have been possible without crampons, but with was much safer anyway.
It felt very cold, partly because it was windy at times, especially on the summit. I had to put on all my layers to feel reasonably comfortable, and wished I had better mittens ...
Oh, and I loved that scree and sand on the way down!
Garon Coriz - Sep 7, 2010 11:07 am Date Climbed: Sep 5, 2010
A Forced QuickieMy original friend and guide couldn´t make it so I got on board with his buddy Alfredo. We went with a German girl, Magdalena, and her Australian boyfriend, Joseph. Unfortunately, Joseph had altitude sickness at had to turn around soon after leaving camp. With a little aid from me, Magdalena summited with me and Alfredo. Amazing views of the volcanic chain and the arid landscape below.
gintherj - Jun 23, 2010 3:07 pm Date Climbed: Jun 8, 2010
First 6000 MAltitude made progress very slow. Began at 230am from 5300M base camp. Snow began to soften early in the morning. Otherwise great climb and fairly good views from summit. Definitely recommend if you have a couple extra days in Arequipa!
jeffrawn - May 22, 2010 2:56 pm Date Climbed: Apr 21, 2010
Glad I did it; but it was a challenge!I've been to Arequipa 3 times doing mission work; heard Chachani calling my name each time! Several summit firsts: Volcano; in Peru; over 6000M; altitude sickness (glad to skip that from now on!). Azufrera Route, but slowly due to 3 of our 5 dealing w/ AMS - 7 hrs. from BC. Very little visibility at summit. Glad we had crampons and ice axes, as snowfields on Fatima were knee deep and occasionally steep and slick. Descent was very fast. I needed more than 3 days from sea level!
iechegar - Jan 5, 2010 5:48 pm Date Climbed: Jun 27, 2009
Route Climbed: Normal : June 2009As previous poster said, altitude sickness is an issue. 2 out of 5 abandoned before first col due to altitude sickness. You are supposed to acclimatize in one night for 3,300 meters altitude differential.
Reached 5800 and had to return due to waist-deep snow on the slopes of Fatima. Those amounts of snow are not common but freak snow storms happened all week long before we climbed.
Will return to get that monkey off my back!
bledl - Sep 1, 2009 6:28 pm
weekend climb from ARQClimbed Chachani two times when working in Arequipa. Bring enough water, a warm sleeping bag and trekking poles. No ice equipment required.
nattfodd - Jul 7, 2009 1:14 pm Date Climbed: Oct 5, 2007
Failed attemptThis was to be my first 6000er, but poor acclimatization and making the mistake of only taking hiking shoes forced me to give up a few hundred meters below the summit (just above the 6000m line), as I was fearing frostbite on my feet.
Even if technically very easy, climbing a mountain that high is not to be underestimated. Lesson learned.
deungsan - Mar 28, 2009 6:48 pm Date Climbed: Jun 18, 2005
up high!It sure was weird sleeping at 16,600 feet.
Gingko Biloba helped, I'm thinking.
With Zarate Guide Service.
TrevorMarrs - Nov 3, 2008 4:36 pm Date Climbed: Oct 10, 2008
Race upRaced to the top with Jonny Gaunt (ENG) basecamp to top in 2hrs 45mins shagged coming back down though! Dusty climb but the views are fantastic!!
nbasford - Dec 30, 2007 11:11 pm
Multi-colored bueatyClimbed as intern with Cotahouasi Adventures
MountainHikerCO - Dec 29, 2007 11:01 pm Date Climbed: Aug 15, 1998
ChachaniIt took a lot of energy going up. With the loose material each step included some sliding backwards. Coming down however was quick and a lot of fun - back on the heels and slide with each step.
Vic Hanson - Dec 22, 2007 12:35 pm Date Climbed: Dec 4, 2007
Arequipa Triple CrownThis completes my Arequipa Triple Crown of Pichupichu, Misti and Chachani, which we did in 5 days. We camped low, below the base camp, at 15,990' (4874 m) on Monday night. On Tuesday we hiked La Azufrera route from there to the summit and back in 9 hours and 15 minutes, and then drove back to Arequipa that evening. Almost no snow, just a small patch before the final summit climb.