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| Northwest Ridge   | 
| Page Type: Route Location: Ancash (Cordillera Blanca), Peru, South America Route Type: Mountaineering Season: Summer Time Required: One to two days Difficulty: D (due to the difficulties of the summit pyramid). Grade: III
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| Page By: MRoyer4 Created/Edited: Mar 21, 2005 / Oct 2, 2009 Object ID: 164412 Hits: 3104 Loading... Page Score: 82.27% - 3 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Approach[NOTE: I have just inherited this page and will be working to provide original content in the near future. I will leave this existing description, from Brad Johnson's "Classic Climbs of the Cordillera Blanca" in the meantime.]
Tocllaraju is one of the most beautiful mountains in the range. It is a challenging peak, yet not too difficult for a first 6,000 peak. Adventurous yet moderate ice climbing and an exposed ridge lead to a perfect summit. This classic two – day mountaineering adventure is not to be missed.
From Ishinca base camp, walk to left side of the valley, and follow a sparkling stream. Eventually, cross to the right side of the stream and follow a faint path through the bushes. Head up the small valley between the large moraine ridge on your right and the left side of the main valley. Continue up this small valley for about half of its length, until, you can see cairns leading left, up the steep hillside. Follow this steep trail to the top of the slope, where the trail traverses 100m right, through a boulder field, toward the obvious snow ramp.
This snow ramp is at the bottom-right of a large rock buttress. Don crampons and walk up the snow ramp for about 200m, to the flat glacier ridge. There are many places to camp along this ridge (ca.5, 000m, 3-4 house from base camp). Beware of hidden crevasses.
Some people might consider making their high camp at 5,300m, instead of on the flat glacier ridge at 5,000m. Doing so would make the summit day shorter.
Route DescriptionElevation gain: 1,632m from valley floor; 1,032 from high camp.
Time: 2 days roundtrip from base camp; 5 – 7 hours from high camp to summit.
Start your climb early. Walk toward the left end of the northwest ridge. (The skyline ridge descending left from the summit). Gain the ridge and climb it toward the summit pyramid.
In some years, it is possible to cross a bergschrund and climb 45-degree slopes through ice cliffs to gain the northwest ridge one third of the way up from its lower end. Under good conditions, this can save time.
Descent: Descend by the same route. Two 40m rappels take you down the north ridge, below both bergschrunds
Essential Gearcrampons, 1 long and 1 technical ice axe, 2-3 pickets, 2 rope (50m or longer).
Miscellaneous InfoIf you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.
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Cordillera Blanca - RANGE
