i almost climbed a mountain
Our first day in huaraz saw us meeting with the tour guides Cesar and Hiaso and arranging our flash climbing gear. You dont quite feel like a climber until you have a pair of ice axe's in each hand. With gear packed in the van we headed up the mountain spotting a few inca relics on the way.
We took some time at the start of the hike to have some lunch, which was made interesting by a peruvian army company streaming down the mountian we were heading up.
I figured i would be partly prepared for the hike from the salkantay trek. This was not the case. This hike was hard work, made even harder by the onset of a skittery gut that had me eyeing up possible spots to ease my stomach over the 2 hour vertical hike at 5000 meters above sea level. It was the altitude that had us beat, you would take 10 steps and need twice as long to recover from them. I took the picture on one of the rest stops, i call it tired chris on rock.
Finally at base camp we each found a spot and rested while the porters setup the camp. The warm food was welcome as the sun disapeared behind the mountains. The air temperature was very cold and with the wind picking up there was very little to do to keep warm. Despite wearing all my warm gear as we ate dinner i had to retire to the tent for warmth. I realised, once in my sleeping bag that the money was well spent. The horizontal ice covering our tent in the moring suggested it had been a very cold night.
The next day we took a quick breakfast though my skitter guts had gotten worse and i was unable to hold any food. The lack of calories and altitue were conspiring against me but i was determined to have a go at ice climbing.
We accended further up the mountain to an area where the rock meets the ice. There was a perfect 30 meter ice face for us to test our ice climbing skills on. First we had Cesar 's school of knott's and caribena's. This went along way given our climbing knowledge didnt extend beyond tree's in the back yard.
Cesar Climbs the ice face like its horizontal, using 2 ice axes and his crampons. Setting up the rope for us to follow, he then absails back down. While simon and chris climb the face i keep having to say 'hey guys, be back in a minute' while i retire to a comfortable rock. After a while i realise that im pretty sick and its not getting better. So make the painful decision to return to huaraz and seek medical help.
Heading back down seemed simple in theory but it took a 2 hour hike and 1 hour taxi ride down a road that was really ment for a four wheel drive. Hiaso the other guide from andean adventures was amazing, he took me to the doctor's, the pharmacy then arranged for a hotel. So back in civalisation i was able to relax and drink my pink peptobizmal, electrolytes and pills.
We took some time at the start of the hike to have some lunch, which was made interesting by a peruvian army company streaming down the mountian we were heading up.
I figured i would be partly prepared for the hike from the salkantay trek. This was not the case. This hike was hard work, made even harder by the onset of a skittery gut that had me eyeing up possible spots to ease my stomach over the 2 hour vertical hike at 5000 meters above sea level. It was the altitude that had us beat, you would take 10 steps and need twice as long to recover from them. I took the picture on one of the rest stops, i call it tired chris on rock.
Finally at base camp we each found a spot and rested while the porters setup the camp. The warm food was welcome as the sun disapeared behind the mountains. The air temperature was very cold and with the wind picking up there was very little to do to keep warm. Despite wearing all my warm gear as we ate dinner i had to retire to the tent for warmth. I realised, once in my sleeping bag that the money was well spent. The horizontal ice covering our tent in the moring suggested it had been a very cold night.
The next day we took a quick breakfast though my skitter guts had gotten worse and i was unable to hold any food. The lack of calories and altitue were conspiring against me but i was determined to have a go at ice climbing.
We accended further up the mountain to an area where the rock meets the ice. There was a perfect 30 meter ice face for us to test our ice climbing skills on. First we had Cesar 's school of knott's and caribena's. This went along way given our climbing knowledge didnt extend beyond tree's in the back yard.
Cesar Climbs the ice face like its horizontal, using 2 ice axes and his crampons. Setting up the rope for us to follow, he then absails back down. While simon and chris climb the face i keep having to say 'hey guys, be back in a minute' while i retire to a comfortable rock. After a while i realise that im pretty sick and its not getting better. So make the painful decision to return to huaraz and seek medical help.
Heading back down seemed simple in theory but it took a 2 hour hike and 1 hour taxi ride down a road that was really ment for a four wheel drive. Hiaso the other guide from andean adventures was amazing, he took me to the doctor's, the pharmacy then arranged for a hotel. So back in civalisation i was able to relax and drink my pink peptobizmal, electrolytes and pills.
posted by Adam Maddox at
12:28 PM
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