Alpamayo rapid ascent expedition is planned for mid July. This is a private expedition with myself and a very experienced Peruvian Andes climber. Thoughts please regarding limited acclimatization time and other potential pit falls of this itinerary?

1. USA - Lima
2. Lima - Huaraz
3. Huaraz to Corral Camp
4. Corral Camp to base camp
5. base camp to moraine camp
6. moraine camp to col camp
7. col camp to summit to base camp
8. base camp to Huaraz
9. Huaraz to Lima.

What route? Ferrari or French Direct? Anyhow, i advise to plan two-three days more for a correct acclimatization and to have a reserve-period in case of bad weather.

French Direct route. I'll add 1 additional day for weather/acclimatization. Thanks.

AlbertoRampini wrote:What route? Ferrari or French Direct? Anyhow, i advise to plan two-three days more for a correct acclimatization and to have a reserve-period in case of bad weather.

I have a few questions for you first:

What moderate/high alititude experience do you have?
Where do you live?
Do you plan any acclimitization shortly before you leave?
Will you be taking Diamox?
Is your short itinerary out of necessity, or can you book a longer trip?

Woodie

highest peak I've climbed was Grand Teton, and experienced no symptoms of AMS.
I live at 300 meters
no acclimatization before trip
I will be taking diamox 250 mg bid starting the morning I leave from US to Lima.
my trip is locked into an 11 day time span, which must include travel to and from US.

Woodie Hopper wrote:I have a few questions for you first:

What moderate/high alititude experience do you have?
Where do you live?
Do you plan any acclimitization shortly before you leave?
Will you be taking Diamox?
Is your short itinerary out of necessity, or can you book a longer trip?

Woodie

I think Diamox is a good idea. I actually used 1/2 the dose you're planning. It might be a good idea to try it before you leave so you have an idea what to expect. Personally I've only had some paresthesias which didn't bother me, but as an anesthesiologist you may be a little more experienced with the drugs than I am.

In my opinion there is an order of magnitude difference between something around 14k, and a peak around 6k meters. With that being said it is very possible that you'll pull off a great trip without a hitch. I think for sure you would enjoy the trip more if you at least had an acclimitization peak to tackle first. The unfortunate reality is that there is also a possibility that things might not go so well in case you still come down with AMS, eat bad food or have bad weather/conditions. I'm often in the same boat you are in terms of flexibility with my work and family, so with plans like yours if things don't work out, I hope you aren't too disappointed. Ideally if we all had enough time, we'd book longer trips to deal with contingencies, but that's not possible for all of us.

With all that being said, I hope you have a safe trip and are successful too.

Suerte!

Woodie

deathzonescience wrote:Alpamayo rapid ascent expedition is planned for mid July. This is a private expedition with myself and a very experienced Peruvian Andes climber. Thoughts please regarding limited acclimatization time and other potential pit falls of this itinerary?

1. USA - Lima
2. Lima - Huaraz
3. Huaraz to Corral Camp
4. Corral Camp to base camp
5. base camp to moraine camp
6. moraine camp to col camp
7. col camp to summit to base camp
8. base camp to Huaraz
9. Huaraz to Lima.

You can do it, but it's going to be rough - mostly just weakness and lethargy if all goes well. A few thoughts: you can skip Corral camp and make it straight from the trailhead to Base in a single long-ish day, arriving just before sundown. Or better, you could make an earlier start from trailhead, arrange to meet your guide at Corral, and gun ahead to Base, hang out, then descend back to Corral to get higher faster but then sleep lower - that would be a very long day, but do-able. It might be better to move the first night's camp as high up towards the trailsplit (where the paths diverge to Alpamayo/Taulliraju BCs) to reduce the return journey, which is actually quite a shot.

It is also easy to move from Base to Col and skip Moraine - assuming of course that you didn't need the acclimitazation You could apply the same strategy here as well to acclimate faster: establish base, then climb to moraine or higher, then descend and sleep. That's probably teh best option to help the schedule.

A note: the headwall at the top of the path from moraine camp - col camp is as steep than anything on the actual route, so be comforted when you're on that

All in all, 11 days is doable but rough, and Alpamayo-Quitaraju col is a sh*t show - one of the very few really busy areas in the entire range. With your hard 11 days, it might be worth reconsidering objectives and then coming back when you have more time; this is an el nino year, and even a few days of bad weather could shut you down, and if it does, there's no room for a Plan B objective - not that the trip would be wasted - it's a stunning area. One of our partners in 2012 only had ten days, and we tackled 2 acclimitazation targets and Artesonraju

Leaving for Lima in the morning. Original rapid ascent itinerary is still the goal (doorstep at 300 meters to summit in 7 days). My intel is that conditions are moderate, but certainly an obtainable objective this year. Expect a full trip report to follow.

deathzonescience wrote:no acclimatization before trip
I will be taking diamox 250 mg bid starting the morning I leave from US to Lima.

awesome. drug aided climbing. what, could you not get bottled oxygen? too bad they just can't install elevators to summits.

Acetazolamide is a great option for objectives of 6000 meters on a tight acclimatization time frame. All glaciated high altitude objectives are 'aided' in some form, wether it be aided with ice tools, crampons, specialty boots, synthetic clothing, anchors, ropes, down bags, tents, stoves, head lamps, sometimes O2 etc.....Why do you disagree with Diamox? Can you provide evidence that your climbs are un--'aided'.....all natural?.....ya douche bag.

bscott wrote:

deathzonescience wrote:no acclimatization before trip
I will be taking diamox 250 mg bid starting the morning I leave from US to Lima.

awesome. drug aided climbing. what, could you not get bottled oxygen? too bad they just can't install elevators to summits.

deathzonescience wrote:Acetazolamide is a great option for objectives of 6000 meters on a tight acclimatization time frame. All glaciated high altitude objectives are 'aided' in some form, wether it be aided with ice tools, crampons, specialty boots, synthetic clothing, anchors, ropes, down bags, tents, stoves, head lamps, sometimes O2 etc.....Why do you disagree with Diamox? Can you provide evidence that your climbs are un--'aided'.....all natural?.....ya douche bag.

bscott wrote:

deathzonescience wrote:no acclimatization before trip
I will be taking diamox 250 mg bid starting the morning I leave from US to Lima.

awesome. drug aided climbing. what, could you not get bottled oxygen? too bad they just can't install elevators to summits.

There are clinical indications for using Diamox. "I want to climb a high peak quickly without proper acclimatization" is not one of them. But really, if you want bang for your buck, why not just use dex?

I don't understand the knock on Diamox either but to each their own. I personally have some but don't require it. Years ago I took it but have sense found my body doesn't need it.

The big question is how did it go? You must be back?

Yes! Please fill us in in. We all want to know how it went.

I climbed Alpamayo on July 17th of this year. For me it was pretty tough. The approach up to Col camp was fine and even okay until half way up the face. I admit that I had never climbed that high before so it was a bit of a shock to my body. I passed out near the summit and was throwing up on the way down. It was one of the hardest descents I've ever done. The shrund was in good condition, I couldn't use the ice much in fear of knocking it down on the Brits below. The final pitch was the hardest and in my opinion the steepest. Once I was off the glacier I was wondering in the dark alone not quite sure what to do with myself because I was deliriously tired. Fortunately I was able to find one of my team mates later who encouraged me to go down. My heart was literally aching, each step felt quite difficult, I was very dehydrated, super hungry, and had a hard time focusing on my steps. It felt unreasonable to go on. However I didn't want to become even more dehydrated than I already was, I already poured out my nasty water that got Matt sick.

Let's just say I've had my fill of adventure and am happy to have made it out alive.

deathzonescience wrote:Acetazolamide is a great option for objectives of 6000 meters on a tight acclimatization time frame. All glaciated high altitude objectives are 'aided' in some form, wether it be aided with ice tools, crampons, specialty boots, synthetic clothing, anchors, ropes, down bags, tents, stoves, head lamps, sometimes O2 etc.....Why do you disagree with Diamox? Can you provide evidence that your climbs are un--'aided'.....all natural?.....ya douche bag.

bscott wrote:

deathzonescience wrote:no acclimatization before trip
I will be taking diamox 250 mg bid starting the morning I leave from US to Lima.

awesome. drug aided climbing. what, could you not get bottled oxygen? too bad they just can't install elevators to summits.

This is really quite humorous! Here's a guy who has a photo and pseudonym designed to give us the impression that he is a real bad-ass and he comes on here with this supposed question telling us what a bad-ass climb he's going to do! Now after all that he calls someone else a douche bag!