Regional discussion and conditions reports for South America. Please post partners requests and trip plans in the South American Climbing Partners section.
A while back I reported that I had heard that conditions on Alpamayo were dangerous last year and that guide agencies were not climbing it for that reason. I've recently heard from people in Huaraz and they say that the route is supposed to be in good shape this year. They say that the mountains have gotten a good bit of snow in recent weeks so the snow depth is keeping many away from the mountains but that they have an Alpamayo climb planned for next week.
Just climbed Alpamayo with Doug Shepherd on 6/26. The Cordillera Blanca did indeed receive a lot of snow during the first 2 weeks of June (though May was reportedly pretty dry). The French Direct (D+) route is in excellent shape, with the exception of the final 1/2 pitch which is steep and rotten snow (2 pitches of steep snow, 5 pitches of excellent ice, 1/3 pitch of completely rotten snow/slushice). We put in the first tracks from the summit over to the Ferrari route (interesting/exciting) which we descended. The Ferrari (AD+) is also in good shape (2 friends of ours climbed it at the same time we were on the French Direct), but is still threatened by 2 large cornices (they seem pretty stable, but.... you never know). Plentiful rap anchors are now in place (3 picket anchor from the summit ridge in the obvious notch between the cornices) on the Ferrari.