By Peter Krug – September 2004

At 03.30 a.m. on a Sunday morning in July I was at long last, after several months of
training and preparation, on me way to Peru to hopefully break my own personal altitude
record in the year of reaching a personal significant age. Having been dropped off at
Naarwich Intercontinental Airport by Louise and saying our goodbyes I was on my way to Lima
via Amsterdam. I met up with some of the team in Amsterdam and identified the remainder
(including our leader Di Gilbert) in Bonaire where we stopped off for some fuel. I can tell
you it was an experience stomping around in the West Indies with plastic boots on! It was
scorchio!

Owing to an unplanned extension of our stay in Bonaire due to “problemos technicos” and a
long wait at Lima Airport whilst one of the team found out that his luggage was on another
continent (he was reunited with his gear about an hour before we were due to leave Huarez and start our acclimatization trek!) we made it to our hotel and barely had enough time to have a beer before going to bed.

We left gloomy Lima first thing the following morning. You might think that good old
Blighty might be cloudy most of the time but Lima has clouds almost continually – I still
remember sitting in a cafe, at the end of the trip, overlooking the almost “Stygian-like
waters” of the Pacific wallowing below me. Quite weird considering I was in the Tropics.

We made our way out of the city passing the shanty towns on the outskirts and into the
desert and then heading northwards along the Pacific Coast and then hung a right and headed
towards Huarez over a 4,000m pass. The journey took an age and wasn’t helped by the fact that
we were repeatedly stopped at various police “checkos-pointos” (you can see I was getting
used to the lingo) where the cynic in me suspects a little money might have changed hands,
and the fact that our radiator hose developed a leak.

However, eventually we found our way to Huarez and, fortunately, the next day was a rest
day to allow us to acclimatize (we were now at about 3,000m). We spent the day hanging around the hotel which was rather pleasant, souvenir hunting and in the evening went up a nearby hill to get what was claimed to be the best views of Huascaran which was the ultimate
objective of the expedition. Quite frankly most of us were rather disappointed with the
view.

The next day was when the fun was really supposed to start as we headed for our first
night of camping at Cashapampa. On the way we visited the town of Yungay which was completely wiped out by a landslide (following an earthquake) in 1970. Overall about 80,000 people died in that valley and it was a sombre reminder of what mountains can do because basically they were killed by lots of ice falling off our mountain – Huascaran. Having indulged in alpaca the previous day I fulfilled a long held ambition by dining on guinea pig (don’t tell our
guinea pig although I think he knows – he won’t look me in the eye). Early on the next day we
started on the five day acclimatization trek along the Santa Cruz trail in the Northern
Cordillera Blanca and including a couple of 4,750 m passes and was billed as ideal
preparation for Pisco and ultimately Huascaran. By the way when I say we I should point out
that there were (at this stage) seven clients being Stuart, Nigel, Duncan, Jens, Phil,
Angeleen (whose husband was on the Alpamayo team and was to join us for Huascaran) and yours truly plus the tour leader who I have already mentioned.

The first day involved a long plod up the gorge at the bottom of the River Santa Cruz
towards our camp at Laguna Ichiccocha and we were now starting to really appreciate the scale
of the mountains. This became even more apparent the next day as we made our way past yet
another beautiful lake (Laguna Jatuniccocha) to our camp at Taullipampa. We took the
opportunity to visit our Alpamayo team who were acclimatizing at base camp. I was looking
forward to seeing this beautiful mountain but it was largely shrouded in cloud and in any
case to get the classic view of its fluted face you need to reach the col camp at about 5,000
metres. However, there were many other giants in the area to entertain us including Quitaraju
(6,036) and Nevada Artesanraju (6,025). Our campsite itself was utterly dominated by
Taulliraju (5,830) and next to it was the Punta Union (4,760) which we climbed the next
day.

You could say that the ascent of the Punta Union marked the first significant milestone of
the holiday and we were chuffed to make it up without mishap, although it was a bit cloudy
and consequently the views were not up to much. We could not see much of the Hauripampa
valley into which we were now headed which involved about 1,000 metres of descent which I was not particularly looking forward to. The descent was somewhat enlivened by one of the team admitting to have suffered from a “wet fart” – yeah ok he (and it wasn’t me) followed
through, and the sight of one of the porters chasing a bolting horse. The campsite at
Hauripampa whilst being quite pretty was extremely busy and as a result there was a lot of
litter left lying around which was a shame.

The next day involved possibly the worst day’s walking of the whole trip as we made our
way down through Hauripampa and then headed up a dusty road to our campsite which was
basically in the middle of nowhere. Whilst the walking was somewhat non-descript it was quite
pleasant walking through Hauripampa and looking at village life and we did get views of
Nevada Piramide (5,885) which is essentially a spike and is quite simply stunning! The next
day saw us finish trekking by going over our second high pass, the Portachuelo Llanganuco
(4,750), and thereby getting some of the finest mountain scenery imaginable. On the left we
could see both the South and North peaks of Huascaran (6,768 and 6,664 respectively), the
three peaks of the Huandoy range (all over 6,000), then our next objective Pisco which at
5,752m is somewhat dwarfed by its neighbours and the stupendous fluted face of Nevada
Chacraraju which I felt to be the equal of Alpamayo. After surveying the scenery we had
another long descent to our campsite at Cebollapampa where we were successful in tracking
down some beer – RESULT!!

The next day was a rest day beside the flowing waters of the Quedrada Demanda before the
next stage of our expedition which was the attempt on Pisco Oeste which at 5,752 metres
represented our warm up peak. I was feeling fine as we left Cebollapampa and to Pisco Base
camp which was at 4,600 metres just below one of the huge moraines left by retreating
glaciers. The next day we were now carrying all our personal gear and had to clamber up this
moraine and through some more rubble and up yet another moraine as we found our way to Camp 1 – and bloody hard work it was too with all the extra gear! However, it was not as hard work as it was for our porters, one of whom (Justino) was seen carrying five tents plus his gear –
awesome! Things were getting a little spicy as well. We were aware that there were some huge
cornices on the face above us but that morning there was an avalanche (we had heard several)
which helped to concentrate the mind somewhat!

Earlier in the trek a couple of my fellow travelers having admitted that they had been on
a trek with an IMC member and suddenly whilst finishing off me pudding at Camp 1 on Pisco I
suddenly became aware of Nigel saying that he wanted to introduce a certain individual to
someone. I looked up and saw a familiar figure striding towards me, stood up in amazement and said “f*** me, it’s John Penny!”. Now what are the chances of meeting a friend on the same
mountain, on the same camp and on the same day but on a different continent? I don’t know but this is exactly what happened on the 5 August in the year of our Lord 2004!!!!!!

The next day was Summit Day, and various people had told us that this was a fairly simple
plod up some reasonably gentle snow slopes! Was it heck! An alpine start (3.00 a.m) saw us
make steady progress up to the col between Huandoy and Pisco and then we headed up the ridge of Pisco. Whilst there was only one spot that required fixing by the guides and the slopes
for the most part were quite reasonable, we had to cross snow bridges and jump the odd
crevasse and there were quite a few cracks in the glacier to step over as well. On top of
that we were aware of the cornices and the avalanche the previous day. Fortunately, it was
quite dark and all these factors became more apparent on our descent.

As it dawned it became increasingly clear that the weather was breaking as it was cloudy
and there was a piercing breeze, but onwards and upwards – the show must go on. Having
negotiated the fixed ropes we passed John Penny’s mob who were on their way down from the
summit. As I jumped one more crevasse I realised that we were on the summit ridge and the end was nigh – I mean in sight! It was with great joy that I made it to the summit. We were the
second rope there and we all hugged and congratulated each other, and to our amazement were treated to tea which had been carried up by the ever-willing Justino.

Once the third and final rope of our party arrived, and the photos were taken with partial
but nonetheless impressive views of the mountains that surrounded us, we retreated with haste hoping to get down before the sun (what sun?) turned the snow to mush. We could see the extent of the lack of snow which meant that there was a lot of crevasses which no longer were being filled by snow and it is reckoned by the guides that Pisco might not be easily
attainable shortly unless the crevasses were filled – pah global warming! Having faffed
around for ages at the fixed rope stage and done my first ever icy abseil which I enjoyed
(NOT!) we dashed off the ice, had a meal at Camp 1 and then struggled back across the moraine
shite back to base camp full of the joys of spring.

The next day we made it back down to Cebollapampa where we were picked up and taken to new Yungay – for those who weren’t concentrating old Yungay was under a pile of rubble – for some rest and recuperation. Now rest and recuperation involved finding a flea-ridden hostel and then getting completely trashed at The Point which was a seedy discotheque and was quite
fun!

Sore heads prevailed the next morning as we were driven to Musho where the main event, our
ascent of Huascaran, was to begin! The first part of this involved a steady walk through
eucalyptus forests, then scrubland, some more woods to Huascaran Base Camp which was at 4,300 metres and involved a lot of steady uphill. Nonetheless, we (now ten in number as the team was augmented by Steve and Barry who had joined us from the successful Alpamayo team) made it to Base camp in reasonable condition. Now I must say that I felt completely awed by the scale of this mountain. It was immense!

From now on we were supposed to carry all our personal gear and sacrifices had to be made
so off went the walking boots and on went the plastics even though we were not yet on ice.
Part two involved walking across and off course up some slabs which were fairly easy angled
and considering we were in a glacial area surprisingly smooth (due to the fact that there
must have been a lot of water flowing under the glacier) to Moraine camp. In the evenings we
had fantastic views of the North and South peaks basking in Alpenglow.

We had a day’s rest at Moraine Camp in order to acclimatize before things really started
to err ….. heat up. The next day we finished with the slabs, donned crampons and made our
way onto the glacier. After about an hour’s struggle in the heat of the afternoon sun we
found ourselves at Camp 1 and erected our tents on the snow ledges. Most disturbing perhaps
was the fact that my tent was situated about four metres from a crevasse and I made a mental
note not to forget that fact in the event of a midnight call of nature!

Things were about to get even more exciting as the next thing we had to do was negotiate
“The Garganta” which was possibly the crux of the climb. There were tales ringing in our
heads. Firstly, we had been told that there had been 37 fatalities on Huascaran in the past
few years and, secondly, we were aware that several groups were turned back by a large
crevasse which was negotiable by an extremely dodgy snow-bridge followed by a short technical section.

We had an early start, departing camp 1 at about 6.30 a.m., and the going was hard as we
negotiated seracs and crevasses and, at times, pretty steep. And on top of that we were at
over 5,500 metres. There were a couple of places which the guides “fixed” and thank god they
did! There would have been a definite refusal from yours truly otherwise. Tottering across a
couple of yawning chasms on ropey snow bridges is not exactly my bag! Nevertheless these two
tricky spots safely negotiated we had a couple of hundred metres more ascent before we
reached Camp 2 which was on the col between the two Peaks and was at an altitude of nearly at 6,000 metres and this proved to be extremely hard work.

Unfortunately, this is where it all ended for me. I was struggling with controlling my
sugar levels (I am diabetic) which weren’t behaving as they should and were basically too
high, leaving me drained of energy. The next day at about 2.00 a.m. I decided, having waited
until the last possible minute, that it was safer for me and the team not to go for the
summit. I did not want to jeopardise any of their attempts either. I also had someone at home
who I care for a lot and I knew I would be in trouble with her if I killed myself!

However, eight of the team did make the summit (at least they made it to the lower North
Summit as the South Summit was not climbable due to the existence of a massive crevasse)
which was great, and I will admit to a pang of jealousy as they returned.

After that it was simply a case of evacuating the mountain and retracing our steps to Lima
and ultimately home which was again exciting in “The garganta” with a couple of team members falling into the crevasses (fortunately they were attached to the ropes). I particularly
enjoyed jumping backwards onto a narrow snow-bridge and then walking along it for over five
metres until I reached relative safety!

Despite not making the summit it was a great holiday filled with some good experiences. I
met some fine people and once again I’m awed by the strength and kindness of the people that
looked after us. It is quite humbling. The scenery is magnificent and there are some scenes
which are indelibly printed on my mind and I learnt something about myself in that I was able
to make the “mountaineering decision” and not go “hell for leather” for the summit regardless
of the cost.

I can’t possibly finish on such a serious note and there are a couple of incidents which
livened up proceedings. Picture the scene – team comfortably ensconced at Huascaran Base Camp enjoying a brew. There were a couple of chickens, nicknamed Casserole and Provencal which had seen better days and quite frankly weren’t going to see many more. One of them was looking extremely poorly so Nigel picked it up and put it in the shade and put a bowl of water next to it. Suddenly it went into some sort of fit and fell head first into the water before being plucked out. As it lay on its back weakly turning it’s legs our beloved leader jumped to her
feet shouting “Urgh – Walter will somebody f*****g kill it!” and one of the kitchen boys got
his chopper out and complied with her request.

Now did I mention being fed with “Bimbo” bread and “Fanny” jam at Moraine Camp on
Huascaran? A veritable banquet for a tone lowerer!