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  • Day 252

    Huayna Potosi Base Camp, Bolivia

    June 26, 2017 in Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    The one to rule them all.

    We've climbed a lot of mountains this trip. Every country in South America has provided some kind of peak to challenge us and let's not forget the might of Acatenango and Ometepe in Central America. Huayna Potosi was not one of these. This my friends, is another kettle of fish. A 6088m summit attempt. Attempt being the operative word; Lonely Planet boasts a 60% failure rate for gringos on this peak.

    To emphasise my point, base camp for Huayna Potosi is at 4800m. That's quite high. In fact, that's some eight/nine hundred metres above our previous highest peak. Peak! Huayna Potosi (appropriately pronounced 'whiner' Potosi) wasn't a challenge of time or distance. It was a challenge of altitude. And given that we were already under strain in La Paz (at 4000m) this was never going to be enjoyable. Yet apparently, it's one of the easiest 6000m summits there is. (I later understood this to mean 'least technical' - the word 'easy' is very misleading).

    We booked in the three day climb wih Base Camp Lodge for a cool 1000 Bs each ($200) - all included (except chocolate and batteries if we're being pedantic). This time of year the weather is unusually reliable; sun for two weeks was the forecast - much to our relief. Despite the heat of the sun we would be enduring temperatures from 12°C highs to early morning lows of -14°C. I couldn't tell concern from panic on Cat's face as she calculated the possibility of fitting into all of her clothes at once.

    We were a group of six: Cat and me, Lennart, Luiz from Brazil and a French couple Guilleme and Ana. For the six of us, we had two/three guides depending on the relative danger of the activities for that day/night. We ascended by van to base camp (cheats!) through La Paz, El Alto and the plateau at the base of the mountain, admiring the beast from a distance.

    We had lunch at base camp and afterward we geared up. This was an ordeal. On top of any base layers we had overalls, jackets, harness, snow boots, garters, crampons, gloves, beanies, helmets, head torches/glasses, ice axes and a day pack filled with the rest of our crap. It took a full hour for everyone to kit up before we headed out onto the track. Our guides were pretty blazé during this process but they did a predeparture check of everyone which gave me some faith.

    We trekked for less than an hour before arriving at the base of the glacier. Today was acclimatisation and practice day. We donned our crampons, lashed ourselves together in groups of three (plus guide) and began working our way over the glacier. All instructions were in Spanish and much to my surprise I understood everything as did Cat who even translated for the group. Maybe we have been learning something after all!

    Despite a snails pace, it was hard work. Our lungs flapped about in the thin air, struggling for efficiency. There was no muscle burn, just hefty puffing. The previously silent glacier now alive with the noise of what could've been a hundred panting dogs on a hot day. After testing ourselves in all the various techniques, we descended the glacier and relocated to an ice wall for climbing practice.

    Under a belay, we all had to ice climb a 10-12m vertical face. It looked intimidating at first, even for me but we all managed to reach the top, Cat included and elated at the accomplishment. It was great fun hacking away at the ice with axes and crampons but the physicality was intense and a worring sign for days to come.

    We returned back to base camp later that afternoon for tea. Coca tea and coca leaves were by far the drink of choice although their health benefits remain unproven to me. Even with an early bed time, the evening dragged on in the refugio as everyone opted for their own ways to maximise rest and acclimatisation. We spent that night in a very spacious and rather chilly Maori bunk in the roof of the refugio.

    The next morning was also quite relaxed, we breakfasted at 8am and prior to that I took great joy in unfreezing the toilet water with my urine. We spent most of the morning packing our climbing gear into packs (as well as our personal gear) and doing the usual faffing that can be expected from a tour group of noobs. After lunch (by the way, all our meals were rice, potatoes or quinoa) we hit the track in the midday 'heat' with laden packs. We had a meagre two hour ascent to Campo Alto (high camp) where we would complete our acclimatisation. Two hours isn't much, but with a full pack in thin air with a 400m altitude gain - it was more than enough.

    It was a walkable ascent and we reached high camp at 5130m in the mid-afternoon. We immediately got stuck into the coca tea and spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering about, taking pictures, relaxing, playing dice (of course) and nervously thinking out loud about the day to come. The altitude (or maybe in fact the vast quantities of coca tea) appeared to suppress everybody's appetites, as we picked at our food during our 5pm dinner. Not one to waste food, and with an engine with a high reliance on it, I managed to finish my meal. After another Spanish briefing, we hit the hay at 6pm in a fairly cold refugio bunk doing our best to get some kip before our midnight alarm...
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