free Bolivia beta?

Anyone been to Bolivia? We're a little stoked on photos at the moment and are considering planning a trip for the near-ish future with alpine/mountaineering type climbs in mind. Looking for general tips/recommendations from anyone who's been there.

Availability of route info? Photos seem to show quite a bit of snow most of the time but I'm not sure if that's do to the season they're taken- is there more of an alpine rock type season for some areas or should we expect straight alpine all year? Ease of tavel to/from climbing or mountain areas?

Gracias in advance.

I have been there..

You're asking alot of questions, do you have specifics that you want answers too?

As far as rock quality goes - I think it's mostly choss. Majority of the climbs are snow/ice.

No, no specifics, rather just looking for the most useful 2-cents people are willing to offer. Thanks for the heads up on rock quality.

I've also started pre-planning a trip to Bolivia. Maybe my specific question is relevant, albeit slightly different...

Where should one stay for good access to cragging/multi-pitch/bouldering areas?

What's the best way to travel?

Anything not to be missed?

It's very affordable in Bolivia. A good portioned meal in a nice place is about $3-4USD just to give you an idea of costs.

The peaks are beautiful. I went there to mostly climb Cabeza de Condor.

We did have a little bit of dislike for La Paz because of our traveling experiences:

Trying to fly out of LAX I was cancelled on. Even though I was at the check-in line 4 hours before my flight left, flights were being cancelled all over US due to some lame storm. They got so backed up, they had to bump me. I finally left 1.5 days later.

It took me 4 transfers and 30 hours later I was in Bolivia (ontop of the 1.5 day delay). So it jacked up my acclimitization schedule pretty badly.

My wife's flight was delayed only a few hours but that meant she showed up a day late. Of course causing problems for her acclimitization. She toughed it out at BC (14,000') the next day puking her guts out.

The climbing was excellent with no one on our routes.

After 2 weeks there, we were excited to leave. We awoke at 3am to get to El Alto. Of course, that night a freak storm had moved in and "dumped" 3 inches on the whole city. I knew we were in trouble when the taxi could barely make it to the airport.

The airport was shut down. We got bumped for 5 days. We tried to fly into other countries with no luck. The only option was to wait or to take a 15 hours bus ride and hope the next airport had something available.

Needless to say, another 5 days there was not in our plans. My boss was furious as my backup person had to leave due to her water breaking. Luckily, if you're going to get stuck somewhere...Bolivia is affordable.

The issue with LaPaz is lack of flights. At the time, Florida was the hub for North America and Europe. So, not a big tourist destination like Peru. Hell, Ecuador was even easier to get in and out of. Something goes wrong and they get backed.

All in all - I'm glad I went.

Hope that helps. PM me if you want specifics.

BackCountry wrote:I've also started pre-planning a trip to Bolivia. Maybe my specific question is relevant, albeit slightly different... Where should one stay for good access to cragging/multi-pitch/bouldering areas? What's the best way to travel? Anything not to be missed?

Sorry - did not go to rock climb. I did climb some rock bands but they were surrounded by ice. There must be some somewhere for you though.

Travel - we used taxi's or collectivos (mini buses). Both very affordable. I was sightseeing at Tiwaniku and stayed too long. All the collectivos had gone for the day. I found someone that was still there and talked him into taking me solo all the way back to La Paz for $30USD. I think the ride there with a Coca leaf grandma cost me $2.

We mountain biked down "The World's Most Dangerous Road". You start at 10k and go down to Amazon-ish area. Some uphill peddling required but mostly downhill coasting. My wife crashed on her face with no medical facilities close by but that's another story.....

Lake Titicaca was nice too. Especially out to the islands. We were in a big rush so skipped the $2 ferry with the masses and hired a private boat. We had both his motors cranking at full throttle. Round trip was $50USD for that. We were in a seriously big rush to make it to the bus that was taking us to La Paz so seemed like a good use of our funds or we would have had to skip the islands.

gearwhore wrote: We mountain biked down "the World's Most Dangerous Road".

I saw a few videos online, looks like something not to be missed. Rented bikes I assume?

I've gotten by with very bad Spanish in Mexico & Costa Rica, but guessing there are fewer English speakers in Bolivia?

Brittany, Long time, no see. I went to Bolivia in 2008. I may even have a guide buried somewhere I could send you. I didn't do a whole lot of climbing, just in the Condoriri area, but I hiked into the Ancohuma base camp too. I'll see what I can dig up for you. I've got some pics on facebook of both places if you want. Once you get to Bolivia things are very affordable and pretty accessible, it was a really awesome trip.

Mark Lauer

Mark- shut the hell up, I had no idea you've been! We should chat about this, and I be stoked to borrow any type of guide you can dig up. We miss you up here (and are jealous of your warm winter rock down there)!

@gearwhore- awesome, really helpful stuff, thanks!

Rented bikes I assume?

I've gotten by with very bad Spanish in Mexico & Costa Rica, but guessing there are fewer English speakers in Bolivia?

Rented bikes, yes and the whole package. I don't know how you would get there otherwise. The tour compaines have you meet in La Paz where the bus and bikes are ready. Then drive you to the starting spot. The bus followed us all the way just in case someone got hurt (LOL!) or if someone decided they had had enough. Don't remember the cost but was probably something like $80.

Fewer English speakers...indeed. The other 2 countries you mentioned have more English speakers for a few reasons; Education would be one of those reasons.

As a whole, Bolivia is a very poor country.

Great place for alpine climbing. Went there in 2000 to climb snow & ice. Get guide book by the deceased Yossi Brain - great book. Just know that the routes to continue to melt & change. We did 5-6 peaks from 16,000-21,000 in about 16 days - casual pace. The maps available then were inaccurate. We put a short blurb about that in American Alpine Journal 2001. Be aware of politics before you go. Avoid street protest and strike marches (guys with guns). Hasta!

Hey Brittany!

It'd be kinda useful to (and really fun if you do) speak Spanish. Probably a useful tidbit about yourself to post if you are asking advice about going there.

Best part about trips there is just being there, have fun!

I have not been to Bolivia, but I have heard of a gigantic, barely-developed bouldering area there. From the sounds of it, it is on good quality volcanic rock.

Here is an article that mentions it: globalbouldering.com/showAr…

Quimsa Cruz is the place for alpine rock. It has granite towers and walls. It's five hours by jeep from La Paz at 15,000'-18,000'. The season is April to October, although you can get ok weather at other times too. There are plenty of established routes to keep you busy plus much unclimbed rock, although some of it needs a lot of cleaning of lichen and dirt in parts.

Your best bet is to hire a guide service in La Paz to drive you to the basecamp/trailhead and provide a cook who will also watch your stuff while you climb. You have to be picky about guides in Bolivia but if you are just using them for logistics and camp support it's less of an issue.

I came to Bolivia six months ago and didn't know anyone. Within two weeks, I had more partners than I had time to climb with. There are about 200 sport routes at Aranjuez which is basically in La Paz at around 10,500'-11,000' so it's a good place to spend some time while you get acclimatized. Some of the routes are really good. The Chunkupunku bouldering area is awesome and it's at around 13,000' so it's another good place get some time a elevation before going higher.

There are also thousands of technical peaks for snow/ice climbing. The most popular peaks are heavily guided by the normal routes but, other than those few routes, the rest of the mountains and even the non-normal routes on the most popular peaks, are empty.

There's a saying here: "In Bolivia, everything is possible." Practically speaking, this means you have to a flexible approach to your travel plans and just accept that things are unlikely to go exactly as you might expect. Roadblocks are the favorite form of political protest so some days you can't travel but, at least recently, the roadblocks are just a nuisance and not a danger.

If you have more specific questions, I can try to answer them.