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Well James and I have had a fantastic week since our last blog! We started off by visiting a tourist agency called "Alberth Bolivia" and somehow ended up booking a guide to take us up Huayna Potosi, a 6,088m mountain (although it is supposed to be the easiest 6,000m peak in the world!) in just 3 days time! We also booked a tour for the next day up Chacaltaya, a 5,395m which is a very easy mountain to climb as you are driven up to 5,200m leaving only 200m to climb. Despite leaving very late due to a broken down minibus James and I found the 200m climb surprisingly easy (which at that altitude is something of an achievement) although it probably had something to do with the fact that we had been at over 4,000m altitude for about 2 weeks now. James' dad had climbed the same mountain 38 years ago but apprently found it very hard!!

High Altitude Mountaineering

James and Anne Walkington
2006-08-08 16:53:24

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was up a very steep and rocky path, which was made more difficult as we were wearing plastic mountaineering boots! We arrived there after just 2 hours (including an enforced 30 min rest!) but it was pretty hard work as we were carrying fairly heavy packs, especially once we got above 5,000m. Advanced Base Camp is at 5,200m and is called Campo Roca (Rock Camp) because it is all rocks. The camp is very steep and there are an unbelievable number of tents there. There are no toilet facilities so as you can imagine it is pretty gross in places and there are rats everywhere! We spent the rest of the day chilling out and trying to avoid moving around as it´s pretty hard to breathe at this height. Theodore advised a mid afternoon nap which I did willingly, James didn´t find it so easy as he claims it was 46 degrees in the tent! Hmm, I think not!

After another good meal provided by Teodore it was time for bed as it was 6:00 pm. James was soon asleep but I was wide awake until after 9. It was soon 12:30am and time to get up and start our summit attempt. We put on pretty much all the clothes that we had and after a quick cup of coca tea (to help with the altitude) and half a bread bun we strapped on our crampons and started the long slow walk up the glacier. We were tied together for safety with a 5m gap between us, Teodore leading the way with James and I following behind. It was very hard to keep moving as the air got thinner and thinner as we climbed higher. In the dark all you could see was the light of other groups head torches as they
slowly made their way up the seemingly endless ice slope. We seemed to set off at a very fast pace and I was soon out of breath. Thankfully after catching another group up we were forced to slow down - much to James' annoyance. Eventually La Paz came into view and the orange of the street lights were visible far below.

Two hours into the walk after listening to the relentless crunch of crampons ...

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