Huayna Potosi - the 6088m adventure

Last Sunday we embarked on our yet biggest adventure to climb the majestic Huayna Potosi, a 6088m giant in the middle of the Cordillera Real, just an hour north of La Paz. Apparently, this is one of the easiest 6000 plus mountains to climb... I find that hard to believe!

From the summit you have amazing views of El Alto and the Altiplano and the peaks between Illimani 6439m and Illampu 6368m and Lake Titicaca as well. The Illimani is the mountain that overlooks La Paz - it is the highest and the southernmost peak of the Cordillera Real with 5 peaks, 3 of them are over 6000m high. A beautiful sight!

We were a great team of 4 Dutch guys and us two. Jeroen and Debby - a fun couple who studied Spanish with us in Sucre and their friends Michel and Marien as well as our three Bolivian guides - Lorenzo, Miguel and Jorge.

On the first day we arrived in the base camp at 4700m and had a technical practice session in the glacier to learn how to use our ice axes and crampons. Very tiring at this altitude but great fun. The next day we trekked all the way up to the high camp at 5300m. This only took us 3 hours but I was ready to die at the end! What a feat! So unbelievable tiring to carry a pack with polar equipment up the hill when you can barely breathe walking on the flat not carrying anything! Needless to say non of us (apart from Craig) were able to sleep at the altitude either!

The high camp was like a big tin shed and we had to lie down on the floor like sardines to be able to fit in there. Very cosy! At least we weren´t cold! At 5300m your heart beats really fast, as if you are running up a hill. No way to sleep. I think the body is too confused?

So we just lay there in the dark, listening to the wind howling outside and trying not to panic too much. The guides all snoring away, I just lay there trying not to remember all the mountain dramas I read about in the far too many mountaineering novels at home. Very exciting!

At 12.30 in the morning we had to get up, get dressed in thousands of layers of clothing, our ice boots and head lamps and get out in the cold. Minus 15C outside the refuge, and minus 25C on top of the mountain!!! Brrrr.... Quite a problem because you cannot take water with you for long and chocolate freezes as well. Even the snot in the tissue in my pocket was frozen!!! (is that too much information????)

Up and up we walk, very very slowly like walking on the moon. I could barely breathe and was so tired and exhausted after two hours of walking uphill... I had to give up. One of the guides took me back down to the refuge. Very sad. Craig however, went up with one of the other guides and managed to reach the top with Jeroen!

And this is Craig - hero of the day on the top of Huayna Potosi, the world at his feet! I cannot tell you how proud I am!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!