Hello,

I was wondering if anybody had climbed Volcano Parinacota in late March.

> I read that there can be a lot penitentes, how tall are they at that period ?
> Can we climb without crampons, or are they very necessary ?
> Trekking poles enough, or ice axe useful ?
> Only snow slopes or glaciar/crevasses on some parts ?

Thanks in advance

When I climbed it in July 99, I know that a guy had climbed it the previous February. Yossi Brain himself told me that Feb/March was not too bad, but often had deep snow and bad weather.

The route is very easy, but you still need crampons. You could probably do it with only poles, no axe, but I had one axe and one pole.

D

Damo,

might be heading over through bolivia on my way down further south. wanted to give HPotosi, Peq. alpamayo and Illimani a go but was advised that weather is crap (precip.) on the eastern flank in dec. however, parinacota, sajama and others in teh western region might be drier in dec. do you know anything about this?


cheers

col

Yep, the main peaks of the Cordillera Real are not good then, but Sajama/Pomerape/Parinacota are a bit separate, out in the desert. They're far from their best then, but doable.

You should not that though Sajama is not technically difficult, it is prob a good grade harder than Parinacota, which is totally straightforward. You can fall off Sajama, and of the two it may be more objectively serious in bad conditions. ie. Dec-Feb.

A mate tried HP in Jan one year and just had rain, snow and terrible avalanches all round. Illampu would be even worse. Illimani & PeqAlp prob like HP.

Bolivia normally has relatively great weather, compared to most high mountain areas, at least in their winter - late May-early Sept.

Also keep in mind how significantly these areas are affected by El Nino and La Nina weather patterns - the effect is so great it really is worth checking well before you go. They've recently forecast a mild El Nino coming, for Australia at least, so that may have an effect. El Nino brings rain and snow to the Andes, but La Nina can strip everything bare. I think 1998 was a La Nina year and Parinacota and Pomerape were totally bare of snow in their winter, like big scree hills, almost unrecognisable in photos I saw. But the next year, when I was there, they were back to normal.

D

Also, if Sajama et al are no good then, you could stop in Ecuador instead, as Dec is one of the seasons there. You just won't get to 6550m.

D

Damien Gildea wrote:Also, if Sajama et al are no good then, you could stop in Ecuador instead, as Dec is one of the seasons there. You just won't get to 6550m.

D

Cheers Damo,

Good to get a decent insight from experience. Anyway, since I'm taking a few friends with me for the argentinian direct on the polish glacier on aconcagua, and the fact that I have 10 days extra before meeting in mendoza, I was thinking of what I'd like to do. I did Illiniza norte, cotopaxi and chimborazo this past March so not too keen on repeating those, although the december timing is perfect, alas. In your opinion, is Sajama doable in 10 days in december, bearing in mind I'll be staying at least three days acclimating in La Paz and counting bad weather/windy days on the hill?

10 days total ? Not ideal, but possible given your experience, assuming you're fit:

4 days in LaPaz (walking around at 3600m and going up to El Alto at 4000m)

1 day fr LaPaz to Sajama village 4000m , then walk 2hrs? to BC in the creek

4 days to go BC-HiC-Summit-BC. This would normally be plenty, you'd usually only need 2 days, but you have an increased chance of bad weather, and you'll be less than optimally acclimatised.

1 day BC to LaPaz (you may need to organise/hire a jeep/van for this bit).

D

I,

Why not just go straight to Mendoza then spend a week in the Cordon del Plata or Ramada (Mercedario) areas ? Less stuffing around than climbing Sajama then travelling down to Mendoza etc. You'd benefit more from the acclimatisation with more rest and eating and less travelling between what you do first and Aconcagua.

D

Damien Gildea wrote:I,

Why not just go straight to Mendoza then spend a week in the Cordon del Plata or Ramada (Mercedario) areas ? Less stuffing around than climbing Sajama then travelling down to Mendoza etc. You'd benefit more from the acclimatisation with more rest and eating and less travelling between what you do first and Aconcagua.

D

That's a good idea, but thought of that too (see my post on peaks around aconcagua's east face). Was trying to find out what nice peaks there are en-route to plaza argentina. Do you have more info on the cordon del plata region or ramada etc. Thanka again
col

Hello Damien,

Thanks for all the information you've provided.
One last question : do you know if it it possible to rent crampons (and ice-axe) in the cities of Sajama or Parinacota.

We will be going from La Paz to Arica (Chile), so we cannot rent equipment in La Paz as we're not going back afterwards.

Gracias

When I was there in 1999 you could not rent equipment in Sajama village and I doubt you can do it on the Chilean side either. Sajama village was not much - a park HQ, some very basic shops and very basic guesthouses.

D

I,

Sorry, I didn't see your last post until now.

I have a guidebook to the Plata, which is available in Mendoza. There are some OK peaks up to 6000m with good access. Better in Nov-Dec than Jan-Feb I think, due to more snow covering the scree.

The Ramada is further away, near Barreal, but has bigger and more interesting peaks. These are the peaks you see to the north from high on Aconcgua. Plenty of pics here on SP under Mercedario. The Ansilta range looks good too, it is just north of Mercedario but not over 6000m, access from Barreal. Again, better in Nov than Jan.

D

Damien Gildea wrote:I,
I have a guidebook to the Plata, which is available in Mendoza. There are some OK peaks up to 6000m with good access. Better in Nov-Dec than Jan-Feb I think, due to more snow covering the scree.
The Ramada is further away, near Barreal, but has bigger and more interesting peaks. These are the peaks you see to the north from high on Aconcgua. Plenty of pics here on SP under Mercedario. The Ansilta range looks good too, it is just north of Mercedario but not over 6000m, access from Barreal. Again, better in Nov than Jan.
D

The guide book for Cordon del Plata.
Agreed on what Damien says about the snow conditions later in the season in Cordon del Plata. On the other hand, Plata, the highest peak in the range is an easier climb without snow.
A page about Cordon del Plata

For the Mercedario area you can have a look Here.
For the trekking/scrambling routes on the peaks in the Mercedario massif it doesn't matter if you go in November or Februari, but the snow gets mushy later on in the season so if you want to climb some more technical routes you better go early.

however, parinacota, sajama and others in teh western region might be drier in dec

Since I can only get time off in the (US) winter, I have checked into Sajama before and have read that it is now illegal to climb anytime out of season. I don't know if it is strictly enforced?

I read it on John Biggar's (author of Climbing the Andes) site:

http://www.andes.org.uk/peak-info-6000/sajama-info.htm

You can rent some emergency material (incl crampons) from Antonio, guide who runs the "restaurant" el Oasis, right next the guardaparques office. Very helpfull, but it allways better to have your own gear.