It is under review a law that will make climbing in the Cordillera Blanca highly restrictive. A link to the British Mountaineering Council describes all the changes that are on the air
<http://www.thebmc.co.uk/news_det.asp?item_id=877>
A more extensive artcle from THe American Alpine Club can be found at http://www.americanalpineclub.org/docs/2004_Winter_AAN.pdf


A brief look at the new regulations:

The key articles affecting climbers and trekkers are;
Article 7.1: Concerning the prohibition of "free entries" for the tourist activities which imply risk for the visitor: Entrance to the PNH for the practice of adventure tourism, rock/ice climbing or other forms of tourism which imply risk to the visitor shall be done through the use of tourist service providers, who are responsible for the safety and behaviour of the visitors during their stay inside the PNH, which cannot exceed thirty days.

Article 25: The Tourism and Recreation Use Plan classifies the mountains according to their degree of difficulty. This classification will be available to the public in the offices where entrance tickets to the PNH are sold. In the case of mountains designated ‘difficult’ due to circumstances of climatic variation, the guide may climb with only two people at a time. In any case it is the responsibility of the guide to ascertain the capacity of clients for this type of climb.


Please write to the following people to voice your opinion.

This is a matter of urgency, so please write now to:
Leoncio Alvarez Vasquez
Jefe de Instituto Nacional de Recursos Nacionales
Email - lalvarez@inrena.gob.pe
Messages should be copied to the secretary - jbarrios@inrena.gob.pe
and to the Head of Protected Areas - csalinas@inrena.gob.pe
FAX - (00) 51 1 224 3218

Jim Bartle wrote to me the following:

Hi Hugo:

Current situation is that the attempt to limit access to a few trails and a few routes on the best-known peaks, prohibiting access to 80% of the park, has failed. The proposed regulations say every visitor has to enter with a licensed guide or "official service provider." I and a number of groups (Peruvian climbing federation, American Alpine Club, UIAA, British Mountaineering Council, International Guides Association, etc.) have fought this. With all the other problems at the moment, plus the upcoming presidential election, there hasn't been any change and probably won't be for a while, if ever (knock on wood).

So you can go anywhere in the mountains, paying your $20 after registering, and if you hire a guide, make sure it's a licensed guide.

Jim Bartle

This is really good news!

It seems like the massive protests have paid off.

Sounds good indeed !

Just a question : if the restriction occurs (hiring a guide), will it be for climbing only, or will it also include trekking

Guys;
Jim Bartle wrote to me on Sep 15 2006,

"We’re working on it, the protected areas chief wants to change it. It’s a bunch of guides and operators who took control of the “management committee” and wrote the regulations. The previous (fortunately now fired) park chief was in collusion with them, and dumped all the letters of protest fron last year.[b]"

Write to all the guys below so we can get a massive email campaign going and they see that they can not do whatever they want!

el Lic. Luis Alfaro, a lalfaro@inrena.gob.pe, The new chief of INRENA, Ing. Roberto Angeles Lazo, a rangeles@inrena.gob.pe ( a copy can be sent to jbarrios@inrena.gob.pe), o Parque Nacional Huascarán chief,
Martín Salvador,a 043-422086 o mspoma14@yahoo.es

All

These new regulations will include any activity done in the Cordillera. That's why is essential to step up the pressure so they can see that people care.