La Esfinge(The Sphinx) is a vast granite formation in the Paron Valley, in the Cordillera Blanca in Peru.
It is famous for beeing probably the largest Big-Wall site in Peru and it has been discovered for climbing relatively late: Initial lines, dating back to the Original Route by Antonio Gomez Bohorquez and Onofre Garcia in July 1985, were lengthy big wall extravaganzas using considerable aid. The real potential of the Sphinx as a wonderful free climbing venue was realized in 1997 by the Spanish-Peruvian team of Julio Fernandez, Guillermo Mejia and David Rodriguez, when they made a two-day free ascent of the Original Route (first climbed with nine bivouacs) at the relatively 'easy' grade of 5.11c.

Please note: If you find any errors or outdated info on this page or want to add
more information, please send me an eMail, so I can correct it, or I can give you editing privileges.

Getting There

See the description of Artensonraju which is located in the same valley. Starting from Huaraz, follow this description:

From Huaraz it is a three-hour ride in a taxi to Laguna Paron. Leave the permanently manned
Guard’s Hut at the lake (porters can usually be arranged there), walk out of the gate and just before
crossing a bridge take a small path on the right. Follow this for c30 minutes, past the entrance to two
valleys, until a third valley rises up to the right. Leave the path just before a small stream, at the point
where there is a green slab and large pointed block on the ridge above. Ascend a vague track up a large hill
until it levels off after approximately two hours. Stay high near the scree and reach Base Camp, which lies
in the direction of the Sphinx, in a further 15 minutes. From Base Camp it is again best to approach all the
routes on the East Face by staying high near the scree. While the sunny East Face is beautifully featured
golden granite with great potential for free climbing, the impressive 1,000m high South Face is probably the
venue for big aid routes, as it is very cold, remaining in the shade all day. The South West or West Face is
largely snow-covered and probably not that steep. Cloud tends to cover this wall without spilling over the summit
ridge to the East Face.

Red Tape

There are no summit fees in Peru today (2001).
Check at other peruvian peaks for updates

When To Climb

The best season to climb is from mid June till late July and early August. In an average year you can probably start as early
as May and continue until the beginning of September, but the rainy season will usually drop in mid September

Camping

No limitations whatsoever

Reports of Year 2000

Info in this section is credit to: High Mountain Magazine June 2001

Note: The Reports in this section relate to the Routes 2001 section below.

First on the scene in 2000 were Nils Davis and Todd Offenbacher, who arrived in early May, a time when the summer mist and drizzle is normally being replaced by increasingly clear blue skies and winter sunshine. Unfortunately, last year winter was late in coming and the two Americans hardly saw the sun throughout their entire stay. Although few details are known, the pair completed a new route towards the left side of the face on the 19th May, naming it The Riddle of the Cordillera Blanca. After climbing the first section of the Original Route, Riddle moves right and up the face to touch the Original Route once more before heading off right to finish up the prow just left of the top section of Papa Rellena (Cruaud/Devernay/Peyronnard/Plaze, 1999: 550m: 6c+ and A3: wrongly reported in INFO 215 as lying on the South Face). The climbing was primarily free at a relatively modest grade of around 5.9. However, there were three pitches of aid (A2 and A3) in a right-facing corner at half-height and a crux free pitch (the seventh) at 5.10+. Sadly, it is rumoured that the pair found it necessary to bring a rechargeable battery-operated drill.

Arriving in late May, and in time to greet the winter sunshine, was the UK/Irish couple, Brian Bigger and Lucy Regan, who were visiting Peru for the first time having earlier in the year attempted at new line on Cochamo's Mount Trinadad (Chile).These two were attracted by the centre of the face where the vague pillar, more or less taken by the line of Papa Rellana, is situated. After climbing the first four pitches of this route, the pair broke out right. The rock was solid but the cracks were often very dirty and had to be cleaned with an ice tool before they became fine jamming pitches. A relatively modest number of bolts, compared to many of the other routes on the wall, were placed with a hand drill and the precarious crux aid pitch was led by Regan. After six days the pair had fixed all 250m of their rope on the first seven pitches, so they took a portaledge up to their high point, removed some rope from below, fixed some of the ground above over a further two days, then took off up a huge discontinuous flake system for the summit. One day's climbing led to a fine bivouac ledge below easy ground and the following day, 3rd June, they climbed the last three pitches to the summit. Descending the North Ridge to the col, they made three rappels to the screes and on a subsequent day spent retrieving the ropes and portaledge, were able to free climb five of the first seven pitches, leaving Here Comes the Sun with a technical grade of British E3 5c and A3. A full article on this ascent, which takes one of the best lines on the face, appeared in High May 2001.

Next to arrive was the extremely talented partnership of Italian, Mauro 'Bubu' Bole and Slovenian, Silvo Karo. Their original idea had been a new route on the 1,000m South Face but finding that it received such little sun and was obviously too cold for an all free project, the two immediately turned their attentions to the left side of the East Face, where it is at its highest. Together with Slovenian photographer, Boris Strmsek, they reached a suitable site for base at c4,600m on the 27th June and set up camp on a flat plateau one hour's walk from the foot of the face. In the initial stages Bole, on his first visit to the Greater Ranges, suffered from altitude and it was left to Karo, belayed by Strmsek, to open the first pitch.

The party were soon acclimatized and on the 4th July Bole free climbed the second pitch, which he had climbed, cleaned and equipped the day before. The grade was 7c. Karo then cleaned and equipped the third pitch, leaving the lead to Bole, who climbed it on his first attempt at 7c+. The team then continued to push out the route, fixing ropes and retiring to base each night. Most of the pitches were climbed on-sight with some protection from hand-drilled bolts. Having fixed to the top of pitch 11, where their line crossed the 1987 Route and after a rest day on the 9th July, the three set off to complete the upper section on the 10th. A further five long pitches (mainly 6a to 7a+ in cracks and corners) brought them to the top of the Sphinx. Several more days were then spent removing all ropes and filming sections of the climb.

Cruz del Sur (Southern Cross), named not after the famous bus company plying the route from Lima to Huaraz but simply after the constellation seen every night from Base Camp, has 16 pitches with a crux third pitch of 7c+ (5.13a) and obligatory climbing up to 7a. Thirty three bolts and 16 pegs were placed, of which 17 bolts and 12 pegs were used on main belays. The 650m high (800m long) route is to date technically the hardest free climb on the wall.

At around the same time the Madrid climber, Jon s Cruces, was putting up a new line, solo, in the middle of the face. In 1999 Cruces, with two other partners, had attempted a line on the East Face, getting six pitches up before deciding to bail. This time he returned alone and without a portaledge, instead making extensive use of fixed ropes from bivouacs established at two convenient ledges on the route. His line started to the right of the Original Route and involved delicate hooking on the first and crux A3 pitch. Working up and right to join Papa Rellena after approximately half-a-dozen pitches, Cruces continued up this line, apparently using some aid where the previous ascensionists had free climbed, then moved left to pursue a more direct line on the upper c150m of easy ground (where it seems possible to climb almost anywhere at around IV+). After 15 days' work and a total of 13 long pitches Cruces emerged at the summit on the 18th July. Lobo Estepario was graded A3 and 6b and apart from one rather dangerous pitch comprised sound granite throughout. All bolts were placed with a hand drill.

Two other Spanish climbers, Jos‚ Fern ndez and Dani Lacueva, also completed a new big wall route on the East Face; the 16-pitch Todas Narcos, which started up a series of corners and steep slabs right of Papa Rellena. The pair had first tried a line on the South Face but after fixing only one-and-a-half pitches, discovered that not only was the cold too intense but the rock was also poor. After changing venues they fixed four pitches on their new route, before being forced to return to Huaraz due to stomach illness. They returned a week later and in four days added around four more pitches to join Here Comes the Sun on the rightward traverse below the big roof. Although the pair had originally hoped to pursue an independent line in a difficult diedre on the upper wall left of Here Comes the Sun, lack of sufficient water and retuning illnesses forced them to continue up the Anglo-Irish route, which they completed in two more days, reaching the summit ridge on the 23rd July. After its introductory free pitch at 6c Todos Narcos is largely A2 and A3 with a few sections of 5 to 6a. Hooks and RURPS are essential.

Prior to these last two ascents a large group of mostly young British climbers, together with a two-person American-Japanese team, arrived at Base Camp. These climbers, but in particular the British, chose a different tactic, treating the cliff more as an (admittedly large) free-climbing crag. As a result they were able to use their talents to create three completely free lines and set a speed record on a fourth. Taki Miyamoto and David Sharratt (USA) climbed Intuition on the shorter right side of the face between Ganxets Glace and Dion's Dihedral. The 550m all-free route took eight days to compete and was rated 5.12c. Three out of the 11 pitches that comprise the route were given a 5.12 rating and although these are very well-protected (bolts and natural gear), some of the others at 5.9 and 5.10 are rather run out.

In just seven hours on one day during the first half of July, Miles Perkins and Adam Wainwright completed a free ascent of the Original Route, giving it a British grade of E4 6a. The first one-day ascent was made in 11 hours in June 1999 by Guy Edwards (Canada) and Jason Price (USA), themselves no slouches on hard rock. Patch Hammond and Nic Sellars turned their attentions to the 1999 Dolecki/Isaac route, Dion's Dihedral (550m: 5.9 and A3: see INFO 206), and climbed it completely free over four days at E5 6b (5.12b). This pair created a variation entry to the huge diedre, which forms the main feature of the route. At around the same time Leo Houlding and Sam Whittaker spent four days free climbing Here Comes the Sun at E6 6b. Although they had the obvious advantage of previously cleaned cracks, they were somewhat critical of what they considered to be a number of unnecessary bolts placed in this route. Similar comments about other routes on the wall were expressed by the rest of the British party, who didn't take a drill to the area and placed only a couple of pegs between them throughout their stay. A new route, Little Fluffy Clouds, (600m: E5 5c) was completed over three days, on sight with no fixed ropes and using only natural gear (no pegs or bolts) by Hammond with Neil Dyer. The line is close to that taken by the 1996 Spanish route, Ganxets Glace, towards the right side of the face.

The British climbers found the Sphinx to be a world class natural free climbing arena, where most lines could be completed in a day by strong parties. For others, a few fixed ropes might be necessary but a portaledge is certainly not essential.

Note: grietero mentions that they have repeated the "original route", "and the "Riddle of the Cordillera Blanca" if you need more information goto www.montanismo.org.mx

Routes 2001

Existing lines to date are listed below, with numbers matching those on the photograph (above). More detailed route information is available in the Casa del Guide, Huaraz. The length of the route rather than its vertical height is quoted.

(1) South Face (Bohorquez/Vicente, August 1988: 950m: 5.10a and A4: 15 bivouacs: probably unrepeated, takes the sunny right edge of the face, left of the photo and not in view).
(2) East Pillar; Volveras a Mi (de la Cal/Madrid/Olivera/Polanco, August 1987: 900m: 5.10a and A3: probably unrepeated).
(3) Cruz del Sur (Bole/Karo with Strmsek: July 2000: 800m: 7c+, 7a obl: unrepeated).
(4) Original Route (Bohorquez/Garcia, July 1985: 750m: 5.10a and A1: 10 days. FFA probably Fernandez/Mejia/Rodriguez, 1997: 5.11c or E4 6a. Many ascents with the fastest by Perkins and Wainwright in seven hours during July 2000.
(5) Riddle of the Cordillera Blanca (Davis/Offenbacher, May 2000: 750m: 5.10+ and A3: unrepeated.
(6) Lobo Estepario (Cruces-solo, July 2000: 650m: F6b and A3: unrepeated).
(7) Papa Rellena (Cruaud/Devernay/Peyronnard/Plaze, July 1999: 600m: F6c+ and A3: partially repeated).
(8) Here Comes the Sun (Bigger/Regan, June 2000: 700m: E3 5c and A3. FFA Houlding/Whittaker, July 2000: E6 6b).
(9) Todos Narcos (Fernandez/Lacueva July 2000: 750m: F6c and A3: unrepeated).
(10) Little Fluffy Clouds (Dyer/Hammond, July 2000: 650m: E5 5c: unrepeated).
(11) Ganxets Glacé (Ortuño/Salvador, July 1996: 650m: F6a and A2: unrepeated).
(12) Intuition (Miyamoto/Sharratt, July 2000: 600m: 5.12c: unrepeated).
(13) Dion’s Dihedral (Dolecki/Isaac, June 1999: 600m: 5.9 and A3: 10 days. FFA Hammond/Sellers in four days during July 2000: E5 6b).
(14) North East Ridge (Huber/Koch/Schmidt, June 1955: easy scrambling: many ascents and forms the standard descent route).From the lowest point on the ridge make three rappels down the east flank to the screes, though originally the crest was approached via the easy west flank).

Reports before Year 2000

Info in this section is credit to: High Mountain Magazine January 2000

A fifth route has been added to the steep walls of this superb granite tower, which with a summit altitude of 5,325m is one of the highest pure rock formations in the Americas.

The Paron Valley is situated on the north side of the Huandoy Group and runs down to the town of Caras. The Sphinx lies on the north side of the river opposite the lower but unclimbed Torre de Paron (c4,800m) and its summit was first reached in 1955 by the Germans, Huber, Koch and Schmidt, via a relatively straightforward ascent of the North East Ridge.

The first party to attack the steep walls of this peak comprised the Spanish pair, Antonio Gomez Bohorquez and Onofre Garcia. In July 1985 these two forced a line of 750m up the middle of the East Face at VI+ and A1 with nine bivouacs on the wall.

The East Pillar on the left side of the face became the target for four more Spaniards in 1987. This pillar and the larger South East Face to the left offer almost as much climbing as a big line on El Capitan. Eduardo de la Col, Alejandro Madrid, Manuel Olivera and Chema Polanco, all from Madrid, first spent from the 21st-31st July fixing ropes before adjourning to the fleshpots in bad weather and finally completing the 900m route from the 15th-18th August at a grade of VI+ and A3 with much of the route succumbing to free climbing. Bohórquez returned the following year with the Basque climber, Iñaki San Vicente, and forced a difficult line up the South East Face (VI+ and A4), spending 12 consecutive nights on the wall during his final attempt. Over three days in 1996 another Spanish pair, Kike Ortuño and Gilbert Salvado, climbed a 650m route towards the right side of the East Face, which they christened Ganxets Glace (VI and A2).

By 1995 the Original Route on the East Face had probably received half a dozen ascents and may well have been climbed free in July of that year by Boyer and Bozzy. It was certainly climbed completely free at 5.11c over two days in October 1997 by Julio Fernandez, Guillermo Mejia and David Rodriguez. Fernandez appears to have led all the hard pitches while his compatriots jumared. A second free ascent was made over two days in August 1998 by Ralph Ferrara and John Reyner.

In June 1999, this now quasi-classic route had its first one day ascent when Canadian, Guy Edwards, and Jason Price from the USA climbed all 20 pitches in 11 hours. They did not fix any ropes prior to their attempt and completed the route almost entirely free at 5.11. Just after this ascent Canadians, Larry Dolecki and Sean Isaac, started their attempt on a new route up the far right side of the East Face. The pair had originally hoped to try the cold, 900m high South East Face but lack of available time in which to adequately acclimatize forced them towards the shortest part of the wall. Although only 500-600m in height, this area has the steepest and cleanest rock on the Sphinx and appeared ideal for a modern aid route.

An orange-streaked corner high on the face seemed an obvious target and the pair began fixing on the intervening 200m of thin features and somewhat blank connecting sections. The fourth pitch proved to be the crux (A3) and took two days to lead due to complex route finding and long sections of copperheading with ledge fall potential. After four days and in anticipation of the orange corner succumbing primarily to free climbing, the two set off with a portaledge for a continuous push. Unfortunately, the corner required extensive aid, forcing the Canadians to use everything from copperheads and Birdbeaks to No 5 Camalots. However, they managed to reach the top of the wall in three days and rappelled the route mainly from bolt anchors. The 11-pitch route was graded VI, 5.9, A3 and named Dion’s Dihedral in memory of a young fellow countryman, Dion Bretzloff, who had been killed just two weeks previously while climbing on Yerupaja in the Cordillera Huayhuash. Almost all the pitches were long and involved difficult pegging, hooking, copperheading, loose expanding flakes and some rivets.

In the past the Sphinx was rumoured to be covered with vegetation like so many other granite formations in the Blanca. However, its much greater altitude all but eliminates this problem. The Canadians had to excavate the occasional Pencas (a type of prickly cactus) and other vegetation in order to obtain gear placements but in the main, the faces and crack systems are free from the nasty growth that carpets lower rock faces in the region. Whilst the weather was not perfect during the ascent it was at least consistent, sunny until 3pm then a cloud build-up resulting in evening snowfall before a return to clear skies on the following morning.

Original Routes (by 2000):
To date six routes have been established on this granite tower: (A) The South East Face (Bohorquez/San Vicente, 1988: 950m: VI and A3/4), (B) East Pillar (de la Cal/Madrid/Olivera/Polanco, 1987: 900m: VI+ and A3), (C) East Face - Original Route (Bohorquez/Garcia, 1985: 750m: VI+ and A1 or 5.11c all free), (D) Ganxets Glace (Ortuño/Salvado, 1996: 650m: VI and A2), (E) Dion’s Dihedral (Dolecki/Isaac, 1999: c550m: 5.9 and A3), (F) North East Ridge (Huber/Koch/Schmidt, 1955). The usual descent from the summit is down the North East Ridge until reaching the horizontal section then three rappels (60m ropes) down the east flank.

Info in Sharman Guidebook

Unfortunately the info in the Guidebook of David Sharman
is not very detailed. (see only topo below)

External Links

High Mountain Magazine Article
Report of the year 2000 Seasons.
This is where most info on this page came from

Images



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