Huaraz (4) - Nevado Mateo

My first 5k peak is waiting for me…

We were picked up early in the morning (02:00am) and started the journey driving along the Callejon de Huaylas Valley until the city of Carhuaz and then up to Shilla district and then into the Huascaran National Park until we reached the Punta Olimpica Tunnel, which connects the Callejon de Huaylas Valley and Conchucos Valley. This is the longest vehicular tunnel in Peru and the highest in the world at 4740m.

From here, there is no marked trail and it was rocky. The climb begun with a flat but short hike to the foot of the moraine wall and then a short but tricky ascent up to the moraine wall. The rest of the way was a mixture of good path with some demanding climbing over moraine rocks and loose ground until we reached the glacier where we put on our glacier gear (crampons and ice axe) and roped up . First time walking with crampons for me. The way to the top was quite steep or but without technically difficult.

We reached the summit in approx. 2 hours where there was plenty of space to walk around appreciate the amazing surrounding mountains such as Huascaran, Chopicalqui, Chacraraju, Contrahiervas, Ulta, Hualcan and many others.

We went back following the same way down to the route and drove back to Huaraz.Read more