- Three excellent alpine climbs in the high Cordillera Real of Bolivia
- Pequeno Alpamayo, Huayna Potosi and Illimani
- Climbing in Bolivia is blessed with good weather and great snow conditions
- Acclimatisation in La Paz and beside Lake Titicaca
- The altiplano of Bolivia is probably the wildest part of the Andes
Viewed from the Bolivian capital of La Paz, the imposing peak of Illimani (6438m) dominates the south-east skyline. Marking both the high point and southern extremity of the 120 kilometre-long Cordillera Real, this challenging peak provides a fitting finale to our exciting Bolivia Climber expedition. We acclimatise in La Paz and beside Lake Titicaca, with visits to Inca and pre-Inca ruins and to the Island of the Sun, before trekking in for 4 days to our first objective, the shapely Pequeno Alpamayo (5370m). This peak provides a techincally interesting snow climb via its long west-south-west ridge. Transferring to the basecamp for Huayna Potosi (6094m), we make a 2-day ascent of this popular mountain and then return to La Paz for a day's rest, before setting out to tackle Illimani. Suitable for those with winter climbing experience, this is a superb mountaineering holiday to a mountain range that is famous for reliable weather conditions and for perfect snow conditions.
Trip Guide
This climbing holiday in Bolivia offers a great variety of trekking conditions from easy trails to zig zag paths over scree slopes, boulder fields, and glaciers. The trip begins with 4 days of acclimatisation in La Paz and beside Lake Titicaca. Then, on our initial 3-day approach to the first objective peak, we cross high passes which may be snow covered. At this early stage of the trip, this will be moderately challenging even for experienced hillwalkers. During the climbs, the group will usually be moving as a roped party on glaciated terrain and easy angled snow slopes using crampons. The climbing holiday is given the STRENUOUS grade on account of the height of the peaks and the fact that there are several long mountaineering days. It should be noted that trekking and climbing at these altitudes makes extra demands on the body and though the underfoot conditions and angle of slope encountered present generally quite easy technical conditions, the ascent of each of the peaks will offer a real challenge. Huayna Potosi is the least steep of the 3 peaks, whilst Illimani is the steepest, with snow slopes approaching an inclination of 60 degrees.
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