I am probably heading down to Bolivia this June and plan to do some peaks when I am there visiting my sister-in-law who lives in La Paz. She is a relative newbie by mountaineering standards (climbed Huayna Potosi and that is about it to my knowledge), however I have climbed pretty extensively in CA and completed technical routes on a number of 13k-14k peaks. I am competent leading rock, ice, and spending days on the mountain climbing in the winter. With that being said, she wants to climb Illimani when I am there and I just wanted to get some feedback on the technicality of the peak via the standard route as I would prefer not using a guide. It is my understanding that the two technical aspects are 50 degree snow and some glaciated terrain that sounds like it is relatively straight-forward to navigate. Is that an accurate assessment? What have been your experiences for those of you that have done Illimani?

I haven't done it, but John Biggar rates it as similar in difficulty to Huayna Potosi.

From his book:

Huayna Potosi: Reputably the easiest 6000m peak in the Corillera Real, but sometimes Illimani is easier.

Illimani (Rated PD/AD): Usually fairly easy, but sometimes with one or two serious ice pitches.

Apparently the conditions on Illimani vary quite a bit from year to year.

Thanks Scott. I just downloaded Biggar's book last night so I plan on taking a look in the next day or two. I will have my sister-in-law check around in La Paz about the conditions before I come down and plan to bring ice gear if it warrants it. I am assuming it is a drier than normal year down there this year with the strong El Nino but I really have no idea.

I climbed Illimani back in 2009, with a local guide, shortly after climbing Huayna Potosi. I remember Illimani as just marginally harder than Huayna Potosi, but still fairly easy. Our main problem, if you can call it that, is that we overslept on summit day. Conditions were excellent though, so it turned out that we still had plenty of time.

In hindsight I would rate the route about PD+. There were no serious difficulties. As the picture below illustrates, there were plenty of visible (and some huge) crevasses though, which implies plenty of invisible ones as well; and with glaciers changing constantly, what's a fairly easy route in one season can be impossible the next. For the record: this picture is taken from Illimani high camp and shows the slightly lower North Summit. According to Biggar that steep face is rated D. The route to the (main) South Summit isn't visible in this picture, it's just off to the right. And while there were similar crevasses near our route to the main summit, there was nothing even remotely comparable to that steep face on our route. Just some short steepish sections, which is why I estimate it PD+, not PD.

If conditions are about the same as they were in 2009, and considering your and your sister-in-law's experience, I say go for it. And if you're unsure about what ice gear to pack, well, if I were in your shoes I'd bring a long axe and a technical tool. I rather prefer to have a second tool and not need it than to find out on the mountain that it's actually harder than I planned for. Since your sister-in-law will only follow, she'll be fine with just a long axe.


Illimani

Thanks a lot, very helpful indeed. According to Biggar, he mentions the possibility of 1-2 "serious" ice pitches depending on the conditions of the year. Anyone have any idea what "serious" means at all? Since the route is never too steep, I am guessing just like 45-50 degrees glacier ice slope? Any thoughts on what he might be referring to on this? I agree about bring a second, technical tool as well to have options. I am probably going to take my wife and her sister to do some Ice climbing on the glacier on Huayna Potosi earlier in the trip so I plan to have plenty of ice gear down there with me....just need to bring or more alpine setup with me on the climb.

It's been a few years, so the details of the route are fading from my memory, but I'm sure I would remember it if it had been more than 60 degrees even for a short pitch, or more than 50 on a longer one. That said, there is a catch in your remark "the route is never too steep". Sure, in 2009 it wasn't, and navigation was indeed fairly easy. However, I didn't do any navigating as I only had to follow my guide, who knew the mountain well. And there is no guarantee that the route in 2016 will be more or less the same.

I would be surprised to learn if there were any changes to the route to high camp, but from there on up the ever changing glacier may have made the route that I climbed impassable. In that case a new way around any obstacles must be found, which may or may not be easier, and may or may not mean one or two serious ice pitches, as Biggar writes. On the plus side, the glacier "ice" is far more likely to be packed and hard frozen snow than bare ice, and consequently it's much easier to climb. Therefore, personally I wouldn't worry about having to lead a short 60 or even 70 degree pitch without any protection. Pack a few snow stakes (and, just in case, a few ice screws) to build a belay at the top in order to help your sister-in-law follow and you're fine.

Once you're in La Paz, you can make inquiries about the route at the various agencies, to find out if the glacier has a trail to follow, what difficulties you can expect and whether you should bring a few stakes or screws. Your sister-in-law could inquire before you arrive as well, but there is the possibility that she's not taken seriously as an independent climber (in Bolivia, being a woman doesn't always help in that respect either) and that the agencies will try to make her hire a guide instead of giving solid advice.

Illimani is a very nice climb. I climbed it last year, summitting June 1st. The rainy season had been very wet and there was plenty of snow, so it was quite straightforward. I didn't see any crevasses. Some steeper hard snow, I think up to 50 degrees, and as long as I can remember there was only one real obstacle, a little wall (maybe just 2-3 meters high) with a lot of soft snow there that took some time and effort.

timogronlund.blogspot.com for some Bolivia climbing trip reports.