I know this is in poor style before I even post it... Anyone want to divulge some beta on possible FA's in the Cordillara Blanca range. I have limited time to be in country and find a quality route myself. Thx

If you work in an outdoor store you might have access to these new things called guide books. The Johnson one is not very helpful for new routes; David Sharman's Climbs of the Cord. Blanca is the standard reference and indicates new route possibilities. Of course conditions are changing dramatically, so on-the-ground research is necessary as well. If you really want to put up FAs, the Huayhuash is loaded with possibilities, many very helpfully listed by Jeremy Frimer in Climbs and Treks in the the Cord. Huayhuash. But all of this takes time and effort. If you really can't be bother to do either, you could still probably put up a new line on Pisco.

I have checked out Johnson's book the last time I went down there and found it quite helpful to climb the classics, but not FA's. I'll give it another look. Thanks again.

fowweezer wrote:look at a book?

Classic Climbs of the Cordillera Blanca by Brad Johnson has a lot of really high quality photos of the peaks that some distinct ice lines can be picked out on. I emailed Brad about one of them to see if it had been climbed. He was pretty helpful. I don't know if he could tell you every route, and apparently there is a spanish guidebook that is very comprehensive that lists more FA's than his book, but I don't read spanish. Might want to check that book out.

My impression is that in a good ice year it would be very easy to pick un-done lines.

Does anyone know how to get a copy of the Spanish guidebook? I saw a copy at the Andino in Huaraz and it was great, but I couldn't find a copy to buy. I don't read a lot of Spanish but it wasn't all that hard to figure out the basics.