Type: | Ice, Snow, Alpine, 1650 ft (500 m), Grade III |
FA: | D. Mackay, H. Tothill 1959 |
Page Views: | 3,913 total · 21/month |
Shared By: | Evan Sloane on Mar 11, 2009 |
Admins: | Tony Yeary, MAKB |
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Description
A great acclimatization route as the altitude is relatively low for the area (5460m) but the route is somewhat technical.
The route begins to the right of a prominent rock buttress that extends a good ways up the face. Scramble up a bit of rock until the bottom of the glacier is gained. Head up the slope (maybe 50 degrees?) for approx. 800' or so to a flat area. From here traverse right through some crevassed territory to where the face steepens towards the summit. Work your way up and right towards a prominent crevasse. Cross this to gain the final headwall. Climb this calf burning headwall for about 160m and head right at the end to the summit.
Descend by either rapping or downclimbing the final headwall. From there retrace your route back down.
The route begins to the right of a prominent rock buttress that extends a good ways up the face. Scramble up a bit of rock until the bottom of the glacier is gained. Head up the slope (maybe 50 degrees?) for approx. 800' or so to a flat area. From here traverse right through some crevassed territory to where the face steepens towards the summit. Work your way up and right towards a prominent crevasse. Cross this to gain the final headwall. Climb this calf burning headwall for about 160m and head right at the end to the summit.
Descend by either rapping or downclimbing the final headwall. From there retrace your route back down.
Location
From the basecamp near the road take the trail to the right of the river up valley. This leads into a picturesque cirque with waterfalls on all sides. The trail cuts steeply uphill from the head of the valley to the right to gain the upper slopes. A little further along, look for a somewhat faint trail that cuts off right of the main trail just before a spring crosses the trail. If you reach a steep section of main trail that leads to a lake, you've gone a bit too far. Follow the faint trail up and up and right and up again until you near the snows on the ridge connecting to Yanapaccha. There is a great campsite just beyond the stream that marks the end of the uphill march. The moraine camp is about 30-45 min further along, but the great views and easy access to good water make the first campsite hard to pass up. From either the early camp or the moraine camp, traverse right passing the prominent rock rib until spotting a moderate scramble that leads up towards the glacier. Don the crampons here and start the fun.
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