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Hey everyone! This is my first post to the forum. I just joined SP this afternoon, and I'm really excited to be part of this community! I had a quick question about summits in South America in October. Most of the suggested climbing times say between June and September to climb peaks in Peru/Bolivia. I have a trip planned for mid October and want to knock of some 6000ers. I'm not super experienced and may have to do some solo climbs. Do you guys think it will be ok to climb some of the 6000ers at that time of year! Any peak suggestions for me as a moderately experience mountaineer? Or is anyone going to be in Peru/Bolivia around the Oct 15, and want to do some climbs with me? Let me know and Thanks!!

You need to post this in the South America forum rather than General.

Welcome aboard!

I don't have any experience in Bolivia (might be quite a bit more stable and drier in October), but Peru's northern and southern ranges (Cordilleras Blanca, Huayhuash, Vilcanota and Vilcabamba and Raura) all are going to be entering Spring at that time, and will be much wetter and therefore prone to avy danger (bugs will be coming out a bit later) - the suggested climbing window corresponds to the colder but more stable weather patterns usually present in the Winter season (low precipitation and colder temps).

I have a friend who climbed in the Blanca in October and had a great time, but as a general rule, you DO want to stay within the winter season for both safety's sake as well as minimizing the bug and mud misery factor. My 2cents. The northern 6000ers all have significant glacier/crevasse hazards both on the approaches and the peaks themselves. Pisco, Copa, and Ishinca especially could all be easily and quickly soloed safely if there were tracks to follow, which there may not be at that time of year. Ishinca would likely be the safest bet from an objective hazard standpoint. If you end up going to Peru anyway, I might defer to recon missions into the more obscure quebradas or the Santa Cruz loop (Huayhuash loop weather will be much worse at that time)

if you are relatively inexperienced and your primary goal is to climb 6000m peaks in Peru/Bolivia in October, your best bets would probably be
Chachani (Volcanoes of Arequipa in SW Peru) followed by Parinacota (Cordillera Occidental on Bolivia/Chile border) - I have never been in Peru/Bolivia that time of year, but I imagine the Cordilleras Blanca, Huayhaush, Vilcabamba, Vilcanota, Apolobomba, and Real would all be hit or miss at that time... probably fine for trekking and maybe easy climbing, but not recommended if you are really set on summit goals or unprepared for 'weather' - the Arequipa area should be quite nice at that time and has a number of accessible, non-technical 5000m and 6000m peaks nearby - the Cordillera Occidental should also be 'in' at that time, but note that the peaks are considerably more remote and penitentes could be pretty bad

Awesome! Thanks for the help everyone. I appreciate it. If Peru is not the best place to summit in October, where would an alternative be with relatively easy 6000m summits, but better weather conditions?

sharperblue wrote: If you end up going to Peru anyway, I might defer to recon missions into the more obscure quebradas or the Santa Cruz loop (Huayhuash loop weather will be much worse at that time)

- Thanks! The Santa Cruz loop sounds pretty awesome actually. I may have to just stick with that. I am fairly inexperienced and don't want to get caught in a situation that I am not capable of handling.

Do you know if you can summit peaks from the Santa Cruz loop trail if I get there and decide that the weather may actually be suitable to do so?

If Peru is not the best place to summit in October, where would an alternative be with relatively easy 6000m summits, but better weather conditions?

Actually, much of Peru is prime then (i.e. the Arequipa area).

It's only places like the Blanca, Huayhuash, Vilcanota, etc. that will be out of season.

The Cordillera Occiental in Peru (the range extends into Bolivia and Chile as well) is usually prime in October and October is one of the best months to be there (September and October are probably best of all the months of the year there).

The Chañi and Chachi of Argentina are also supposed to be prime in October, but I haven't made it there yet.