Cordillera Blanca - RANGE
Overview
This pyramid-like mountain is a very aesthetic climb. The ``nose mountain`` is a classic, but it is not crowded. It's intermediate level (AD) makes this 3-4 day climb very rewarding. This area of the Cordillera is very suited for acclimatisation as there are 4 mountains in reach of the same base camp. Urus (5450 meters) and Ishinca (5530 meters) are both one day climb from BC.
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Getting There and General Information about Cordillera Blanca and Huascaran National Park
See extra page "Cordillera Blanca"
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Approach and Camps
From Huaraz take a shuttle or taxi to Collon. Hire arrieros ($10/day) and mules ($5/day) for the 5h-trek to Quebrada Ishinca BC (13k). To improve your fitness it's as well possible to hike to the BC without mules.
Ishinca Valley (Quebrada Ishinca) offers a wide area to put up your BC at about 4350m. It can serve for climbing Urus, Tocllaraju and even Ranrapalca. There is also a refugio with sleeping places for rent and a small regional cantine.
From the BC follow the track (cairns) ascending a steep moraine crest to gain the glacier W of Tocllaraju. There is a camp site for the ABC at about 5200m (nearby some rocks) and another at about 5300m on a the glacier.
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Routes
NW Ridge: AD. 4-5h
Gain the NW Ridge from the 5300m camp negotiating through a crevasse zone. Follow the ridge until you reach the steep summit tower (bergschrund) at about 5950m. Get to the summit in 3 pitches (45°-60°, varying conditions: styro-foam snow and water-ice). Snow stakes for abseiling sometimes in situ.
W-SW-Face: D- 6h
Traverse under W face and climb a line which gains the S ridge 100m from the summit. Pass the upper serac barrier on the R.
(According to J Biggar)
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External Links
- Tocllaraju & Alpamayo Trip Report 1999
- AndesHandbook-Tocllaraju
great page (in spanish) with good pictures and sketch of normal route to Tocllaraju, and more mountains of Andes.
Additions and Corrections
[ Post an Addition or Correction ]
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| andyinthorne | Untitled Comment | |
Hasn't voted | i just came down from tocllaraju with a guide from Huaraz. we had to turn back because more, wider cravasses have appeared over the last few weeks. more gear needed if you want to attempt the summit. also, the last few hundred meters before high camp are dangerous. this has changed and the end of the glacier is shedding rocks every few minutes. about 100 meters cubed went 50 meters from where we just wlked. very dangerous. | |
| Posted Dec 11, 2004 4:54 pm | ||
| ClimberMan420 | West Face June 8th 2007 | |
Hasn't voted | Gain face at highest part(left) of the bergshrund. The bergrshrund was wel open but on teh right side of the highest part it was crossable and here the cliff on the other sside is smallest. May have to hack a notch in it if its to snowy to climb. Climb face directly slowly travrsing to the right past the exposed rocks. Pass the seracs and ice cliffs to the right for the easiest and most direct access to the South west ridge6-8 pitches. Follow the mellow ridge to the summit. The ridge is easy but has some interesting features of ice cliffs and crevasses to negotiate. It should stay in good shape most of the season. The most likely problem will be the bergshrund at the bottom of the face to access the climb. I suggest an acclimatization day to hike up to the face breaking trail and find access. We used almost exclusively snow stakes and a few ice screw near the top. Climbing 2 ropes and three people we were about 9 hours on the face and then 1 1/2 more on teh ridge pitching up it although a running belay or even solo free climbing could do. Descend the North ridge hopefully on an already established boot pack as the north ridge is a cvery popular climb. A 50m rappel is a convenient way to descend from teh summit shoulder on teh north ridge. Brad Johson rates teh face a D+ and the north ridge a D but the ridge as of June 07 was a walk down most of it. | |
| Posted Jun 14, 2007 9:10 am | ||
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