Summitting Pisco

The ride down from the bus station to our camp in an 8 passenger van with 20 people in it was steep and windy, SCARY! The van stopped at this view point and the guide showed us which peak we would be climbing in the next couple days.
Here´s PISCO!
James and I camped here one night with our cook, Rosebell. In the morning our new guide, Julio, and 2 more climbers, Tomas and Marco from Germany, met up with us and we hiked 2 hours up to the base camp for Pisco.

I tried to pull out the study cards occasionally!
The closer we got to Pisco, the more intimidating it looked to me (Hollie)

Here´s base camp the night before the big climb. There was an Italian Refugio (hostel) there, and the thought of splurging for a room and a hot shower was tempting, but there just wouldn´t be the same sense of accomplishment if I didn´t make it the whole 7 days without a shower or a bed. Will Power!

We woke at 2 am and got our gear together and drank some hot tea, and then set out. We hiked 2 1/2 hours in the moraine, which James taught me is the name for the huge rocks and boulders that are deposited by a glacier. It was tricky in the dark and not knowing which rocks were secure and which ones would slip under your weight.
We welcomed the first light, which turned the mountains and the sky different shades.
Gorgeous!
When we finally reached the base of the snow we had a quick rest and got our gear on. The rest of the way would require cramp-ons, harnesses, rope and ice axes.

The side of the mountain that we were climbing to the peak on was not the same side that we approached the mountain on, so it wasn´t until we had been up in the snow for a while when we could see just how far or steep it was to the summit.
My face was really cold!

There were some pretty crazy crevasses, but no touching the void for us!
Lactic acid!!! About an hour into the snow, one of the German guys decided he couldn´t go any further, so he and 1 of our 2 guides turned back, and the remaining 4 of us roped together and carried on. I was a little nervous that I wouldn´t be able to make it to the summit, and now that we only had 1 guide with us, he said that we either all had to make it, or all turn back! Pressure!!


We were really fortunate to have such great weather, just the week before it was snowing on Pisco. It was still super cold though, and an occasional wind whipped snow in your face.

Incredible views!
Last stretch....This was one of the steepest stretches where our ice axes came in real handy. It was 4 hours from where we started on the snow to the summit.
At the summit of Pisco. Elevation: 5758 meters/ 18,892 feet! (we started at 15,000 ft that morning)

Us with our guide Julio.
A little rest before the long hike back.
James was still not feeling great, he´d had a bad stomach ache for a few days.
Almost back down to the moraine. A little glacial lake in the background.





We arrived back at base camp around 3 that afternoon and were exhausted! And of course, dinner was another dish of rice, pasta, potatoes and questionable meat (not the kind of celeratory meal I would have liked, and not the kind that James´ stomach could handle)

Summiting Pisco was a pretty big accomplishment for me. Definitely one of the best parts of our whole trip for me.

The next morning was typical Peruvian experience though. We were told that we´d hike down 2 hours to the road to meet the van at 10 am, then a 2 hour ride back to Huaraz, the town we were staying in. But of course, once we get to the road, they tell us, oh, the van is now coming at 12. So we play cards and nap on the donkey poop trail, until the van finally arrived at 2!!! By then one of our guides had started to walk down the road to the next town to call for a ride for us, so then we are looking for him as we drive for almost the whole first hour, finally find him, and the ride is still another 2 1/2 bumpy hours. By the time we got to Huaraz we were just wiped out. Then James lost his ATM card to top it all off. We were staying in our nicest hostel so far though, so it was a treat to get back and have really hot showers and an incredible living room with a fireplace to relax in.