I am planning to go to the Cordillera Blanca (CB) for 2 months this upcoming summer (2016), likely late-May through July. I have a ton of questions and have been doing research on Summit Post (SP) and through other sources to prepare. If anyone is kind enough to share advice or their own experience, here are some general questions I have:

- Is it safe to assume whatever gear I don't take I can buy/rent in Huaraz? Are there some things that are worth bringing from the US, either due to cost or lack of availability?

- Does anyone have any first hand recommendations for hostels, hotels, or apartments? Web searching has yielded decidedly poor results, though I have found some seemingly good leads based on a few trip reports I've read on SP.

- What is the best way to connect with partners in Huaraz? Are there climbing clubs or regular hangouts that anyone suggests?

- For the more difficult and technical routes, does anyone have a recommended guide service they have used and liked?

- I have the Johnson book and have ordered the Sharman book. Are there any other recommended resources for climbs in the region?

- Any other wisdom would be greatly appreciated.



A little about me:
37, male, American. I have two interests, climbing and motorbikes, which I plan to focus on when I quit my job in a few months. The primary trip is a ride from NY to Argentina, which I have been planning for some time now. But fearing that this means I won't be able to climb, I decided to try to set up two months in some climbing region before I embarked on that adventure. I looked into a few good options (Pacific NW, Alaska, Ecuador) and the CB seemed to make the most sense.

You can rent (or even buy) a lot of gear in Huaraz, but there are limits, so you should definitely bring certain items yourself. Even if you haven't got it, for two months it's worth buying it ahead of time. For the record: I brought everything myself.

The most important advice I can give is to bring your own boots. Sure, there are plenty for rent, which is fine if you are a regular traveler and want to climb one or two easy mountains. However, finding a pair that suits you takes time, and especially if you want to climb other routes than the easy ones you really want a good fit. I would also bring socks and gaiters. As for crampons, well, if you want to do easy stuff you can rent them locally, but the harder it gets, the better it is to bring a pair that you know will fit. I had the Black Diamond Sabretooth Pro, with Scarpa Omega boots.

Considering your plans, I assume you'll bring camping gear anyway, though not necessarily for camping in really cold places. In Huaraz you can rent everything you need for camping high up on the glaciers. Some of it is quality gear, some less so, so you better check it before heading off: Fire the stove, pitch the tent, inflate the inflatable and roll out the sleeping bag. When there is an issue, it's better to find out in Huaraz than at 5000 m...
If you're not struggling hard with weight limitations, the first camping item to bring is a warm down sleeping bag, followed by an extra thick inflatable. I regularly talked to other climbers that slept poorly, partly because they were cold, partly because their mat was too thin, meaning that they felt lots of bumps. I had an Exped Down filled inflatable and a North Face down bag and always slept fine, but on the other hand, those two together weighed about 2 kg, which is more than anybody else that I met. But, personally, I believe that a good night sleep at high camp is really important to have a better experience on summit day, and if that means carrying a bit more weight, so be it.
My bag was good to -18 Celcius, but it was never colder than about -8 Celcius inside my tent, therefore, I think a slightly lighter and less warm bag would have sufficed. But next time I certainly plan to pack my Exped again.

Freeze dried meals are hard to find in Huaraz. As I spent four months in Peru, I obviously couldn't bring enough of them, so I learned to cook at altitude using regular food. Huaraz has a good central market and plenty of supermarkets. With trial and error I got quite good at it, if I say so myself. Alternatively, you can easily hire a cook in Huaraz if you don't want to bother.

For finding partners, there is of course SP itself. Once you're in Huaraz, there are a few nice watering holes popular with climbers where you can leave a note on the message board. Johnson's book mentions them all. When I was in town, the two main places I used to hang out were Café Andino and California Café.

Another book I found quite useful is The Andes, by John Biggar. You can check out his site. He's just published a new edition.


A dangerous traverse high on Chopicalqui

Thanks for the thorough reply, Rob.

I definitely plan to bring my own boots, along with nearly all my gear. The things I was likely going to leave behind were my foam sleeping pad, pitons, maybe my rope. These are things that are either bulky or heavy and would risk making my air travels difficult or expensive (most airlines have a $100 fee for bags above a certain weight). But the core things---boots, layers, sleeping bag, axes, etc---I will certainly bring myself.

Sleeping bag - I have a 20F/-7C rated bag from Feathered Friends. I suspect a 0/-17 bag would be ideal, so I'm debating an upgrade. I'm okay with wearing my layers, using the hot water nalgene technique, eating a full meal, etc. strategy to stretch the temperature limits of my 20/-7 bag. I haven't used my 20/-7 actually at 20/-7, only at warmer temps, so maybe I will sleep outside one night this winter here to test its limits.

Tent - I don't have a 4-season tent but have been eyeing a few (mainly hilleburg or MH models). Quite an investment, so I was thinking I would either be able to share with a partner if they had one or I (we) could rent. But maybe it's time to buy my own. How often were you camping in snow and/or in strong winds?

Crampons - I was planning to bring both my mountaineering crampons (G12) and my vertical crampons (Lynx), on the thought that maybe I would spend a few days doing vertical ice. Though I've been starting to think that maybe I just leave the vertical ones at home. Are there good water ice routes in the region?

Food - yeah, I'm lazy and have used those freeze dried meals on my trips, too. But I don't love them, so I guess this trip will provide me the opportunity to learn to cook mountain meals without them. As a side note, the mountaineering course I took last year had 2 guides and they both claimed to have not had a freeze dried meal in 5-10 years despite basically spending their professional lives in the mountains. They said the extra weight of the REAL food they bring is well worth the return in flavor and moral.

That is sage advice on doing a test run in Huaraz before I get out in the wilderness. Thanks, I will definitely fire up the stove, inflate the inflatable, etc.

What pack(s) did you take? As posted elsewhere on SP, I'm in the market for a new large pack but am deciding between a framed pack (BD Mission, MH South Col 70) or an unframed pack (CCW Chaos or WT Andinista). I wonder how long the trips were and how much weight did you generally carry on your climbs?

I will order the Biggar book. Thanks.

I think most of your questions will be depending on which peak you climb.

There are 17-20k' peaks. In the Blanca there's mostly two to three camps, the moraine (no snow), mid and/or high camp. I would want a 4-season tent, 0F bag at most high camps. It doesn't get that windy in the Blanca but it gets really cold. Although I've used the Black Diamond Firstlight and my partners used a 3-season tent at the high camp on Huascaran. Leave the vertical crampons at home. There's no vertical waterfall ice that's worth climbing.

Usually there are a bunch of peaks to climb from one valley (basecamp) so people pack in heavy and climb a few. In this case your pack will be heavy. The longest trip I did was for 9 days where we wanted to climb three peaks. Your pack can be anywhere from 50-70lbs. I'll personally go with the CCW & WT.

You can get all the food you need in the Huaraz markets. There's plenty of pasta, ramen, nuts, dried fruits, cookies, bread, oatmeal, cereal, jam, PB, salami, canned fish, powdered milk. Say no to that freeze dried shit.

infinityjellyD wrote:The things I was likely going to leave behind were my foam sleeping pad, pitons, maybe my rope.

I strongly prefer inflatables over foam pads. When I don't expect temperatures far below freezing, I pack a Thermarest NeoAir XLite, which doesn't weigh much and packs much smaller than a foam pad. I never used pitons. Most routes in the Cordillera Blanca are on snow and ice. Ropes are heavy, and since you will be traveling onwards I wouldn't bring one in your case. That means you'll either have to find partners with ropes, or rent a rope if necessary. Or go unroped, though there are not all that many routes suitable for that.

infinityjellyD wrote:Sleeping bag - I have a 20F/-7C rated bag from Feathered Friends. I suspect a 0/-17 bag would be ideal, so I'm debating an upgrade. I'm okay with wearing my layers, using the hot water nalgene technique, eating a full meal, etc. strategy to stretch the temperature limits of my 20/-7 bag. I haven't used my 20/-7 actually at 20/-7, only at warmer temps, so maybe I will sleep outside one night this winter here to test its limits.

You won't be at risk in a -7C bag, but I couldn't say if you'll have a comfortable night sleep in it when it's a really cold night. That said, you're likely to get that only in a few places; basically only in the high camps for the 6000-ers. Testing your sleeping system this winter is a good idea. If you're fine in your sleeping bag in your tent when it gets -20C or so outside, you'll probably be fine in Peru as well. The main difference is that you'll be camping on the glacier, which means you'll need good insulation from below - which is exactly why I bought an Exped Down mat back in 2009.

infinityjellyD wrote:Tent - I don't have a 4-season tent but have been eyeing a few (mainly hilleburg or MH models). Quite an investment, so I was thinking I would either be able to share with a partner if they had one or I (we) could rent. But maybe it's time to buy my own. How often were you camping in snow and/or in strong winds?

I bought a Hilleberg Nallo 3 right before my trip to Peru. It weighs little than the Nallo2, but being a 3-person tent it has the advantage that it not only fits 2 people but all the gear as well (though I leave my crampons, axes and hiking poles outside). For trips where I don't expect to be sharing my tent I pack a Vaude Hogan Ultralight, which weighs about 1.75 kg, I think. That's a 2 person tent, but with two people there is no room left for gear. I'm sure it would have been good enough for the conditions I experienced in the Cordillera Blanca though.
I hardly ever camped in strong winds, and never in a true storm, but I may just have been lucky that way. From what I read, the weather at Huascaran high camp in particular can be quite harsh. But you can build a snow wall to protect your camp site. In total I camped about 15 nights on various glaciers in Peru. In some cases it was pretty close to the edge of the glacier, and if my gear hadn't been good enough for glacier camping I could have looked for a camp site on the rocks instead. Then again, it's easier to make a decent flat area for a tent on the glacier than in a boulder field. However, for many of the interesting routes, camping on the glacier is hard to avoid altogether, unless you're much faster than the average mountaineer and start your summit push from a much lower camp than normal.

infinityjellyD wrote:Crampons - I was planning to bring both my mountaineering crampons (G12) and my vertical crampons (Lynx), on the thought that maybe I would spend a few days doing vertical ice. Though I've been starting to think that maybe I just leave the vertical ones at home. Are there good water ice routes in the region?

As I wrote before, I had the Black Diamond Sabretooth Pro. I also own a pair of G12's, and they would have been good enough for most routes. That said, on the steepest sections I climbed (Huascarán Norte and Sur, Chopicalqui and Uruashraju) I wouldn't have felt as comfortable on my G12's.

Food - yeah, I'm lazy and have used those freeze dried meals on my trips, too. But I don't love them, so I guess this trip will provide me the opportunity to learn to cook mountain meals without them. As a side note, the mountaineering course I took last year had 2 guides and they both claimed to have not had a freeze dried meal in 5-10 years despite basically spending their professional lives in the mountains. They said the extra weight of the REAL food they bring is well worth the return in flavor and moral.

That is sage advice on doing a test run in Huaraz before I get out in the wilderness. Thanks, I will definitely fire up the stove, inflate the inflatable, etc.

infinityjellyD wrote:What pack(s) did you take? As posted elsewhere on SP, I'm in the market for a new large pack but am deciding between a framed pack (BD Mission, MH South Col 70) or an unframed pack (CCW Chaos or WT Andinista). I wonder how long the trips were and how much weight did you generally carry on your climbs?

The best pack is always the smallest and lightest one that does the job. The maximum I want to carry on my back is about 25 kg, but I prefer to keep it below 20 kg, and well below that if possible. On summit day I leave almost everything at high camp. I've even experimented with going without pack at all, simply stuffing all my pockets instead. You're wearing most of the stuff anyway, right? But it's hard to carry a decent amount of water in your pockets, so I don't recommend that and I don't expect to do it again unless perhaps on a hiking peak with a short summit day.
I brought two backpacks to Peru: a 65 L Bach Venture and a somewhat smaller Lowe Alpine pack which is so worn down by now that I can't read the name or size anymore. I always left one of them in the valley when going into the mountains. Mostly I used the Bach, in a few cases the Lowe Alpine. Earlier this year I bought a new Lowe Alpine to replace it, an Alpine Attack 45:55 to be precise. That's about the same size, perhaps marginally smaller.
I actually own one pack that's bigger than the Bach Venture, but I learned that it gets too heavy if I fill it up. Consequently the Bach is the better option; even if I cram as much stuff in it as possible, it's about 25 kg and I can still carry it. The bigger bag is useful only when I don't have to carry it far, but I consider it unsuitable for hiking trips, let alone climbing.

Many thanks, Kevin and Rob. Very helpful!

rgg wrote:As I wrote before, I had the Black Diamond Sabretooth Pro. I also own a pair of G12's, and they would have been good enough for most routes. That said, on the steepest sections I climbed (Huascarán Norte and Sur, Chopicalqui and Uruashraju) I wouldn't have felt as comfortable on my G12's.

I'm curious about your above comment, rgg. From what I understand, the G12 and Sabretooth Pros are basically the same design (though one is chromoly steel and the other stainless steel). Why do you feel better in the Sabretooth Pros?

infinityjellyD wrote:Many thanks, Kevin and Rob. Very helpful!

rgg wrote:As I wrote before, I had the Black Diamond Sabretooth Pro. I also own a pair of G12's, and they would have been good enough for most routes. That said, on the steepest sections I climbed (Huascarán Norte and Sur, Chopicalqui and Uruashraju) I wouldn't have felt as comfortable on my G12's.

I'm curious about your above comment, rgg. From what I understand, the G12 and Sabretooth Pros are basically the same design (though one is chromoly steel and the other stainless steel). Why do you feel better in the Sabretooth Pros?

Figuring out the reason that the Sabretooth Pros feel better isn't an exact science. Nevertheless, I feel more secure on steep ice with them than with the G12's. When strapped on tight, it feels as if they are one with my boots, which is very reassuring. With the G12's I still feel a tiny bit of movement.

rgg wrote:Figuring out the reason that the Sabretooth Pros feel better isn't an exact science. Nevertheless, I feel more secure on steep ice with them than with the G12's. When strapped on tight, it feels as if they are one with my boots, which is very reassuring. With the G12's I still feel a tiny bit of movement.

So basically what I'm hearing is that the Sabretooths were a better fit on your boots. Got it.




Next question:
What have people done about travel insurance and rescue insurance? I will be quitting my job prior to leaving so I will likely lose my health coverage, and even then I don't think it covers travel and high risk activities anyway.

infinityjellyD wrote:Next question:
What have people done about travel insurance and rescue insurance? I will be quitting my job prior to leaving so I will likely lose my health coverage, and even then I don't think it covers travel and high risk activities anyway.

I didn't need any special health coverage; the (mandatory) Dutch basic health insurance provides world wide cover. There are plans to limit that to Europe only, but not before 2017, I think. I'll take out world wide health cover in an extra health insurance policy when I have to. Mind you, health care in Peru is cheap. I visited a hospital for an abrasion, and went to the dentist once, and paid it myself. The bills were so low, I couldn't be bothered to file an insurance claim for it to get my money back. More serious health problems will cost more of course, so having insurance is still prudent.

I had rescue cover, but the small print meant I wasn't actually covered anymore for most of my trip, because it was much too long. But I figured, it didn't matter because rescue services in Peru couldn't do much anyway. Cell reception high in the mountains? Don't count on it for your life, so it's unlikely you'll be able to call for help in the first place unless you've got a sat phone. If there is a chopper nearby at all, which is not all that likely, it may not be able to fly high enough to be of use. In theory, if you have a trusted friend down in the valley with enough persuasion (i.e. money; just showing proof of insurance won't be enough to convince people to start a search quickly), and that friend knows that you should have been back by now, he or she can hire a bunch of local guides and porters and organize a search. The insurance can be useful to get back the money spent on the rescue party, if you can convince the insurance company it was a valid expense. Now, I left word in the valley were I was going, but there was nobody with enough money to organize a search. Would I have gone missing for a long time, sure, at some point the authorities would go looking, if only because my friends and family back in the Netherlands would raise the alarm and the Dutch embassy would get involved. But that couldn't possibly happen soon enough to be a rescue mission, only be a recovery missing at best.

Bottom line? If you're high in the mountains and are in serious trouble, it's basically up to you and your climbing party to get out alive. No need for insurance for that.

Infinity jellyD

Any chance you need a climbing partner? I'm dying to go back to Peru!

Matt Lemke wrote:Infinity jellyD

Any chance you need a climbing partner? I'm dying to go back to Peru!

I am currently without partner---was planning to basically do as rgg did (if you read his trip reports) and find people while in Huaraz. So yeah, I'm interested. I'll pm you.

Hey there Infinity and Matt, huge chances I will be in the Blanca this year again, for probably 2 months as well. No partner's yet and looking to get my hands on some of the hard stuff.

BTW, if you think you will need pitons, bring or own or expect to pay over 15 dollars for old stuff that's probably not ideal. I'm bringing mine this time.

Cissa wrote:Hey there Infinity and Matt, huge chances I will be in the Blanca this year again, for probably 2 months as well. No partner's yet and looking to get my hands on some of the hard stuff.

BTW, if you think you will need pitons, bring or own or expect to pay over 15 dollars for old stuff that's probably not ideal. I'm bringing mine this time.

Great. I'm PM you with some info on my schedule and plans. I've been in touch with Matt regarding initial thoughts, goals, plans, etc., but nothing set or solid yet. In any case, I will be there (95% chance) June and July.

Hi Infinity, Matt and Cissa,
I was actually thinking of going back to Cordillera Blanca to climb this summer and im looking for partners. Im in the early stage of making plans so I am very flexible. Im planning on staying in Huaraz 4-5 weeks during July.

Hello all,
I am planning to be in Peru late July, looking at climbing Yanapaccha and Chopicalqui. If anyone will be around at that time feel free to msg me

Thanks,
Ryan