Eric Holle - Aug 14, 2008 11:30 pm Date Climbed: Aug 10, 2008
Ishinca in 2 days....
Tim, Ben and I had a couple of days before leaving the Cordillera Blanca and wanted to go for another summit. We had acclimitized on Vallunaraju and made it to Camp 2 on Huascaran Sur, so we felt strong...
We were dropped off at the Pashpa trailhead and hiked all the way to Refugio Vivaque, near Laguna Ishinca. It took 8 hours to cover the approximatly 14 miles and 5,400 feet. It was a comfortable night in the small refugio as we had it to ourselves (the next day there were about 12 people staying there).
We awoke early the next morning and were hiking by 4:00am and on the summit by 7:15 am. We chose the direct route from the refugio heading directly accross the basin over the spillway to the base of the West face. From the base of the glacier we traversed to the northern saddle and from there onto the summit. It was fairly straight-forward with only a few cravasses and routefinding problems.
From the summit, we had about 17 miles to go to make it back to the trailhead to catch a taxi that was waiting for us until 5:00pm. We descended the 7,000+ vertical feet and all the milage by 4:00pm for a total of a 30 hr. roundtrip climb of Ishinca.
It was a big push requiring a lot of stamina, but the views the whole way up and down were absolutly worth every step!
Our entire group made a successfull traverse up the southwest ridge and down the northwest slopes. We approached the peak from Quebrada Cojup and Laguna Perolcocha which was beautiful and much quieter than Quebrada Ishinca. This is the highest mountain I have climbed although small by Cordillera Blanca standards. Great views of Tocllaraju and Ranrapalca. Overall the difficulty is similar to the easier routes on Cascade volcanoes.
Ialewis - Jan 14, 2008 3:17 pm Date Climbed: Jun 28, 2007
Traverse
Yep, it is a snow slog, but it does offer some nice views of the surrounding area. We added some diversity to the climb by ascending from the North and descending to the South (left to right). The North side required a little minor route finding in negotiating one of the higher glaciers, but the whole traverse is easily manageable in a half day. The summit offers some nice views and is a mellow mountain for acclimatization.
ClimberMan420 - Dec 12, 2007 1:23 am Date Climbed: May 10, 2007
Nice and easy
Went up north ridge and travesred over peak to Ranrapalca col. was easy in good condition but crevasses/bergschrunds could potentially be obstacles with less snow. Great lttle peak.
gremlin - Oct 24, 2007 1:32 am Date Climbed: Jun 28, 2007
Trekked in through the Cojup Valley and crossed a pass to get to high base camp. Climbed in a mix of overcast and whiteout conditions, so hardly any views. We had the mountain to ourselves. This is the highest I've ever been and I was very surprised at my ability to acclimatize.
Jessica L - Apr 14, 2007 11:27 pm Date Climbed: Jul 5, 2006
Soccer with the Quechuas!
Easy climb probably because I was actually acclimatized (unlike the first mountain I summited). My favorite part of the trip, however, was at the base camp. I attempted to play soccer with the Quechuas, but I could only go a couple of minutes before I was gasping for air.
Six of our club, (South Wales Mountaineering Club) summitted that day. I was the first person up there that morning but lots more passed us as we came down.
We did this as a warm up for Tocllaraju, but none of us were successful there.
Q. Ishinca is a really great place.
skiibum21 - Jun 21, 2006 1:14 am Date Climbed: Jun 19, 2006
North Face -variation
We spotted the route while we were taking some gear off to leave for the next morning, we had not heard anything about the route and just made it up as we went along. We were able to go underneth the rock band untill richt before the hanging seracs, then we were able to turn up and climb a really nice ice and snow chute up to 70 degrees. very fun climb, highly recomended for those of you who want a little more challange than the normal route.
alexclimb - May 23, 2006 4:43 pm Date Climbed: May 19, 2006
Normal
Logical continuation of our acclimatisation, began by Urus. Easy walking on the hard snow, perfect weather. 5 hours from the Ishinca Base Camp
My friend Pau and I very happy because it was our first 5000 summit.
We climbed SE ridge, very beautiful route, and down SW ridge, more easy and less beautiful than the first.
Great acclimitization climb. Simple glacier travel with short steep sections. Hard day to do it from basecamp if not acclimated. Also a good route to climb if you plan on doing Ranrapalca cuz you get a good view of the descent route which is pretty tough.
Nice climb. It was a breeze after doing Toc the day before. Left at 6 am and summited by 11, and down in 2hrs. Pretty simple, nice 45 degree 60m section at the end. With the late start had soft conditions on this part, probably better to leave at 4am. good peak to acclimate with.
Route Climbed: Northeast Ridge Date Climbed: July 24, 2005
Traversed the mountain by going up the Northeast Ridge and down the Southwest Ridge. The Northeast Ridge is more interesting, but we wanted to get a close look at Ranrapalca (which was out of condition).
Route Climbed: Southwest Date Climbed: June 13, 2005
Attempt to do the "face" of Ishinca by climbing the ice/snow line between the northwest and southwest route. Got two pitches in and determined it was not going to be enjoyable. Bailed to the Southwest route for a successful summit
Route Climbed: Southwest Normal Date Climbed: 19 May, 2005
Easy climb for getting acclimatization. Two hours glacier walking from Ranrapalca lake. Perfect weather. Exiting view from the top. This mountain should be considered as initial climb for any climbing program in this region.
Eric Holle - Aug 14, 2008 11:30 pm Date Climbed: Aug 10, 2008
Ishinca in 2 days....Tim, Ben and I had a couple of days before leaving the Cordillera Blanca and wanted to go for another summit. We had acclimitized on Vallunaraju and made it to Camp 2 on Huascaran Sur, so we felt strong...
We were dropped off at the Pashpa trailhead and hiked all the way to Refugio Vivaque, near Laguna Ishinca. It took 8 hours to cover the approximatly 14 miles and 5,400 feet. It was a comfortable night in the small refugio as we had it to ourselves (the next day there were about 12 people staying there).
We awoke early the next morning and were hiking by 4:00am and on the summit by 7:15 am. We chose the direct route from the refugio heading directly accross the basin over the spillway to the base of the West face. From the base of the glacier we traversed to the northern saddle and from there onto the summit. It was fairly straight-forward with only a few cravasses and routefinding problems.
From the summit, we had about 17 miles to go to make it back to the trailhead to catch a taxi that was waiting for us until 5:00pm. We descended the 7,000+ vertical feet and all the milage by 4:00pm for a total of a 30 hr. roundtrip climb of Ishinca.
It was a big push requiring a lot of stamina, but the views the whole way up and down were absolutly worth every step!
Brad Mastros - Jul 23, 2008 1:35 pm
Northwest SlopesAnother fabulous and easy climb out of the Ishinca Valley.
boisedoc - Jul 20, 2008 12:32 pm Date Climbed: Jul 16, 2008
great dayOur entire group made a successfull traverse up the southwest ridge and down the northwest slopes. We approached the peak from Quebrada Cojup and Laguna Perolcocha which was beautiful and much quieter than Quebrada Ishinca. This is the highest mountain I have climbed although small by Cordillera Blanca standards. Great views of Tocllaraju and Ranrapalca. Overall the difficulty is similar to the easier routes on Cascade volcanoes.
Ialewis - Jan 14, 2008 3:17 pm Date Climbed: Jun 28, 2007
TraverseYep, it is a snow slog, but it does offer some nice views of the surrounding area. We added some diversity to the climb by ascending from the North and descending to the South (left to right). The North side required a little minor route finding in negotiating one of the higher glaciers, but the whole traverse is easily manageable in a half day. The summit offers some nice views and is a mellow mountain for acclimatization.
ClimberMan420 - Dec 12, 2007 1:23 am Date Climbed: May 10, 2007
Nice and easyWent up north ridge and travesred over peak to Ranrapalca col. was easy in good condition but crevasses/bergschrunds could potentially be obstacles with less snow. Great lttle peak.
gremlin - Oct 24, 2007 1:32 am Date Climbed: Jun 28, 2007
normal routeeasy walk up
sistinas - Sep 27, 2007 4:30 pm Date Climbed: Sep 6, 2007
Route Climbed: NE RidgeTrekked in through the Cojup Valley and crossed a pass to get to high base camp. Climbed in a mix of overcast and whiteout conditions, so hardly any views. We had the mountain to ourselves. This is the highest I've ever been and I was very surprised at my ability to acclimatize.
Jessica L - Apr 14, 2007 11:27 pm Date Climbed: Jul 5, 2006
Soccer with the Quechuas!Easy climb probably because I was actually acclimatized (unlike the first mountain I summited). My favorite part of the trip, however, was at the base camp. I attempted to play soccer with the Quechuas, but I could only go a couple of minutes before I was gasping for air.
Nigel Lewis - Feb 13, 2007 11:52 pm
Normal RouteSix of our club, (South Wales Mountaineering Club) summitted that day. I was the first person up there that morning but lots more passed us as we came down.
We did this as a warm up for Tocllaraju, but none of us were successful there.
Q. Ishinca is a really great place.
N
highice - Jan 30, 2007 8:57 pm
normalnice warm up climb, but a better ski!!
skiibum21 - Jun 21, 2006 1:14 am Date Climbed: Jun 19, 2006
North Face -variationWe spotted the route while we were taking some gear off to leave for the next morning, we had not heard anything about the route and just made it up as we went along. We were able to go underneth the rock band untill richt before the hanging seracs, then we were able to turn up and climb a really nice ice and snow chute up to 70 degrees. very fun climb, highly recomended for those of you who want a little more challange than the normal route.
alexclimb - May 23, 2006 4:43 pm Date Climbed: May 19, 2006
NormalLogical continuation of our acclimatisation, began by Urus. Easy walking on the hard snow, perfect weather. 5 hours from the Ishinca Base Camp
Trabalon - Feb 28, 2006 4:09 pm
SE Ridge-SW RidgeMy friend Pau and I very happy because it was our first 5000 summit.
We climbed SE ridge, very beautiful route, and down SW ridge, more easy and less beautiful than the first.
iceisnice - Oct 3, 2005 9:29 pm
Route Climbed: NE Ridge Date Climbed: june '05Great acclimitization climb. Simple glacier travel with short steep sections. Hard day to do it from basecamp if not acclimated. Also a good route to climb if you plan on doing Ranrapalca cuz you get a good view of the descent route which is pretty tough.
Rice Climber - Sep 9, 2005 7:11 pm
Route Climbed: NE Ridge to SW Date Climbed: July 7, 2005Nice acclimitazation climb. Did a traverse of the mountain -- climbed the NE Ridge and descended the normal route. We never did rope up on it...
Peak_Bagger - Sep 9, 2005 4:48 pm
Route Climbed: Normal Date Climbed: July 25 2005Nice climb. It was a breeze after doing Toc the day before. Left at 6 am and summited by 11, and down in 2hrs. Pretty simple, nice 45 degree 60m section at the end. With the late start had soft conditions on this part, probably better to leave at 4am. good peak to acclimate with.
GlennMerrill - Aug 8, 2005 12:47 am
Route Climbed: Northeast Ridge Date Climbed: July 24, 2005Traversed the mountain by going up the Northeast Ridge and down the Southwest Ridge. The Northeast Ridge is more interesting, but we wanted to get a close look at Ranrapalca (which was out of condition).
laureljarndt - Aug 3, 2005 10:11 am
Route Climbed: Southwest Date Climbed: June 13, 2005Attempt to do the "face" of Ishinca by climbing the ice/snow line between the northwest and southwest route. Got two pitches in and determined it was not going to be enjoyable. Bailed to the Southwest route for a successful summit
gato - Jun 10, 2005 3:25 pm
Route Climbed: Normal Route Date Climbed: June 6, 2005Great climb, fun acclimitization route. From BC to summit in 6 hours. Outstanding views of the Blanca. I love Peru!
alexclimb - Jun 4, 2005 9:02 am
Route Climbed: Southwest Normal Date Climbed: 19 May, 2005Easy climb for getting acclimatization. Two hours glacier walking from Ranrapalca lake. Perfect weather. Exiting view from the top. This mountain should be considered as initial climb for any climbing program in this region.