During my first ski trip to Peru I got a nice taste of what the Cordillera Blanca has to offer in terms of skiing. I also quickly realised how challenging the conditions can be. As is the case on many trips, the list of objectives I wanted to ski was longer when I returned than it was before the trip. So, in the end I had no choice but to go back and try again…
On June 2, 2022 I boarded a flight to Lima with a stopover in Houston. The next morning after arrival I directly hopped on a bus to huaraz where I would spend 3,5 weeks. After a decent time to acclimate, I would try to tackle two mountains, Pisco and Yanapaccha before returning to the Netherlands on June 26.
Lima to Huaraz
My trip started with huge delays and long lines at security at Schiphol Airport followed by a long flight to Houston where a stressful connection (due to the delays earlier) allowed me to catch another six-hour flight to Lima. So, on arrival in Callao, the neighborhood surrounding the Lima airport, around midnight I looked forward to some well-deserved rest. First, I had to get some cash to pay the guest house and the bus ride the following day. Visiting ATMs in Callao in the night is an adventure itself, luckily I was accompanied by Fernando, the owner of the guest house who had picked me up from the airport. After a short night, he dropped me off the next morning at Plaza Norte so I could catch my comfortable Cruz del Sur bus to Huaraz.
Roughly eight hours later I arrived in the mountaineering capital of South America and figured it would be interesting to see whether I could find Casa de Zarela without the help of any maps. I had stayed there three years ago and I figured I would still remember a fair deal of the layout of the city. That turned out to be more difficult than I thought. It took a while before I noticed anything familiar and once I did, I got too confident and walked quite a bit passed the guest house before I asked for directions. A bit later than expected I was finally reunited with Zarela, the best host imaginable. It was good to be back!
Day hikes around Huaraz
The ski objectives are all above 5.000 meters, so acclimating is important. Having skied at high altitude several times, I’m quite familiar with the process and the ups and downs that come with it. Luckily I met Tim, a friendly German, who was looking to acclimate as well. We managed to find the collectivo (local bus) to Wilcahuain, a starting point for a trekking circuit passing four lakes. Of course, you can also split the trek into several day hikes. We started with an easy trek to Laguna Radian at nearly 3.900 meters, perfect for the first hike. The following day we went back to Wilcahuain and challenged ourselves by visiting Laguna Aguac at 4.548 meters. The steep ascent combined with the altitude resulted in some headaches, nothing major though. Besides the physical challenge, it’s important to emphasize the mental side of things. I believe it’s at least equally important to get mentally prepared for climbing those giants of around 6.000 meters (or even higher). Coming from sitting behind the desk for the majority of the week, the first steps are always tough. I need a few days before I start to enjoy the suffering and remember what it’s about. My mind needs time to acclimatize as well, you could say…
After two days of hiking, Laguna Paron was a pleasant surprise. A three hour drive delivers you directly at the lake. Because of the drive not many people visit this area and with only a 20-minute hike you can reach a spectacular viewpoint. Together with Tim, I explored the area before sitting down for a nice traditional lunch known as chicharron, a country-style pork rib with some sides including red union relish and fried yuca. After a long day we returned back in Huaraz.
Huaraz is a small city I really enjoy. This time of year there are some tourists but it’s sort of shoulder season so it’s not too crazy yet. The town still feels authentic with many local people on the streets with all their colorful clothing, beautiful hats and local produce. There are a few very nice restaurants. Nothing fancy but really good food and nice owners usually make the place. And then there is always the classic Café Andino where you can spend an hour or two enjoying a chai tea and or a nice cake or banana bread. It’s also not uncommon to end up exchanging stories about mountains to climb or treks to complete. Many people return multiple times and for good reasons. The mountains of the Cordillera Blanca are very attractive and for some even addictive!
What makes my stay in Huaraz particularly special is Casa de Zarela, by far my favorite guest house I have ever stayed at. People from all over the world come here for the mountains. They go hiking, climbing and there is the odd character who arrives with skis. Needless to say that most guests share similar interests and getting in touch with them is easy thanks to Zarela. She makes sure that guests interact, only if they want to of course. Proof that her concept works is easily collected, many people come back year after year. This trip I met Tim, mentioned before, Hector from Puerto Rico and Rita from Argentina amongst many others. Together we enjoyed many evenings at the guest house and some of us shared a delicious meal at Jama, one of the more fancy restaurants in town!
The final introductory steps to acclimatize on the agenda were a visit to both Laguna Rajucolta and Laguna 69. Laguna Rajucolta is not on the tourist radar resulting in us, a group of 4 from Zarela, enjoying the area in solitude. A relatively long drive followed by an easy hike took us to the beautiful lake. Laguna 69 is a completely different story, being the most popular day trip from Huaraz. Many, many, many people visit the lake on a daily basis. That’s why we had decided to take an early morning (4 am) taxi, instead of the normal tourist bus, to avoid the crowds. This paid off nicely since we reached the lake in silence. After an hour or so, however, the crowds started to arrive and gone was the serenity. The typical crowd of people who are more interested in taking a photo for their Instagram feed than to actually enjoy the nature, predominated the sight. Human kind has really arrived in a strange place if you’d ask me. Luckily we had been able to enjoy the lake and decided to go down quickly. On our way down we had to calm down crying people on their ascent wearing jeans and some even on high heels, obviously not prepared for a hike to 4.600 meters.
Santa Cruz trek
After several day hikes, I felt ready for the next step for a proper acclimatization, a multi day trekking while sleeping at higher elevations. Of course, not everybody would need to spend so many days to acclimatize. In fact, I met groups who went straight to 5.000 meters having spent only one night in Huaraz and taking some Diamox (personally not a fan, I’d rather feel how my body reacts to the altitude). Most of them returned sick and 10K USD poorer. Ok, this is the other extreme of the spectrum, so I guess there must be a middle-ground as well. I’m fortunate enough to be able to take the time to acclimatize slowly and I also enjoy the hiking, meeting other people on the way and seeing different places.
Together with Tim, the well-known German by now, I joined a 4-day Santa Cruz trek. While this trek used to be ridiculously popular to the point I would never be anywhere near interested in doing it, this had changed to the popularity of the Huayhuash trek. That’s the one to go for nowadays, making Santa Cruz a very enjoyable trek without the crowds. I’m very happy that I have done the Huayhuash trek in 2019 (check out my trip report here) and the Santa Cruz trek on this trip, sort of in the reversed order. Joined by 3 other Germans and a funny character from China, we finally left on our 4-day adventure…
Sleeping above 4.000 meters for 3 consecutive nights and hiking the majority of the day definitely helps the process of acclimatization. After a leasurely first day, we had to cross the Punta Union pass on day 2. With 4.750 meters this pass is the highest point of the trek. The ascent was relatively steep resulting in a proper suffer fest for a few hours, for me at least, coming from the office and lacking a superb fitness. This hike therefore also really helped to get me in the right mindset for the climbing and skiing in the final part of the trip. Once we had reached Punta Union, it was basically downhill all the way till the end of the trek on day 4. Compared to the Huayhuash trek, this is an easy one but with spectacular scenery along the way as well.
The setup of the trek was pretty good. As usual around Huaraz the luggage is transported by donkeys, we had a separate dining tent and our guide, Humor, lived up to his name. The lack of other people during the trek was an unexpected bonus. We usually had some ok conversations although the group dynamics were not optimal. Luckily I had my trustworthy partner in crime by now, Tim. Our man from China, Ji, turned out to be a true character. He was on his first trekking ever and came really unprepared. He made the funniest statements, told insane stories and made all of us laugh time after time. He was good company to have for 4 days. I’m not sure though if I would have survived any longer with him to be honest…
After quite a few day hikes, time to relax in between in Huaraz and this 4-day trek with nights spent above 4.000 meters, I was finally ready to go higher, to go skiing.
Time has come to go skiing!
The goal of the trip was to ski two big mountains, Pisco and Yanapaccha. Pisco (5.752 m) is a true classic in the Cordillera Blanca. It’s relatively easy to climb (rated as PD) and the view from the summit is spectacular with its 360 degrees panorama of the Cordillera Blanca. It lives up to its nickname ‘The balcony of the Cordillera Blanca’. Yanapaccha (5.460 m) is located nearby and is more technical (rated PD+) to climb than Pisco due to a steep face in the final part of the ascent. Yanapaccha is gaining in popularity because people enjoy a bit more of a technical challenge which should be manageable for many with the help of a guide. Skiing can be a different story though, since you’re usually not protected by a rope on the way down (possible but not my preferred way).
A second attempt on Pisco
During my last trip to Huaraz, I tried to climb and ski Pisco as well but bad weather made me turn around close to 5.500 meters. This time I went together with Ale, a great Italian mountain guide who lives in Huaraz, for a second attempt. We left early morning in his van (see picture below) and headed to Yungay for some final grocery shopping. We had already bought most of the food at the market in Huaraz the previous day but bread always tastes better when it’s fresh :). While we were at Yungay’s market we took advantage of the opportunity to enjoy a delicious fresh juice before we continued our journey towards Cebollapampa.
I had arranged a 3-day program with Ale in order to optimise our chances to summit. Day one we would go to Refugio Peru and set up camp. Day two looked like an easy day on paper since we only had to cover the moraine and set up our next camp just below the glacier. Day three would be a long one. An early start of around 4:30 am would be followed by a ski descent between 11am and 1 pm only to walk back down to the hut where we would have to pack our stuff, load the donkeys and walk back down to Cebollapampa. From there a 3-hour drive in the dark would get us back to Huaraz. If we were lucky we could just make it back in time for a delicious curry meal at Paulinos!
Once arrived in Cebollapampa our gear got transferred to the donkeys (burros…, with rolling r’s that is), leaving us with a light day pack to carry to our campsite. Roughly three hours of hiking were on the agenda where we soon would be overtaken by the donkeys and their driver. When we arrived at the campsite they were already on their way down and left the gear for us. We set up camp and chatted with some other climbers before Ale slowly started to prepare a delicious pasta with tuna which became our standard dinner in the big Peruvian mountains.
After a terrible night of hardly any sleep (I had weird nightmares to the point I woke up screaming one time, again sorry Ale…), we continued our adventure. As mentioned before, day 2 looked easy on paper. Only 250 meters of vertical had to be covered, easy piecy right? Well, not really. In fact, looking back at the trip, I think this was actually the hardest day. First, we had to cross a moraine with huge rocks and boulders which is not great on ski boots. Second, we had to carry a lot of gear since the donkeys can not get there. Finally, because it was a relatively short hike we took things slowly and started late when temperatures got quite high.
After a few hours of sweat and some serious suffering from my side, we arrived at a great and wild spot to camp. No facilities whatsoever and no other tents anywhere near us created a nice and adventurous feeling. Surrounded by spectacular mountains, we enjoyed the silence. Without phones, tv, laptop and other electronic stuff, we simply enjoyed a few jokes, a tea and perhaps a cookie while looking around and absorbing the setting. It’s really relaxing for the mind, or at least for my mind!
After another delicious pasta (everything tastes great after a day in the mountains), we tried to get some sleep. Just under 5.000 meters and with a very poor mattress, this turned out to be difficult but I miraculously somehow managed to get a few hours of rest. For future trips I really have to invest in a proper mattress and good sleeping bag. A good night sleep is the basis of any adventure after all. We got out of the tent around 4 am and to our surprise we noticed people with skis and snowboards on their back. This is quite a common sight nowadays in many mountains across the world but in not Peru. You’ll most likely be surrounded by at least a few climbers on any mountain in the Cordillera Blanca but skiers are still a novelty there. So to wake up and see a group of 7 skiers and snowboards on the same mountain at the same day in Peru…, what are the odds?
After a quick breakfast we left camp and continued our ascent. Soon, we arrived at the glacier to finally step into our bindings. Having skied with Ale before is a great advantage. We get along quite well (or at least I’d like to believe we do) and he knows my pace and level of endurance. Also, he really trusts my skiing abilities which doesn’t hurt my confidence. We got going nicely and soon we arrived at the col from where we were treated by a spectacular panoramic view. It’s also from that point that one can clearly see the summit, a huge motivation to keep going. The weather was great and Artisonjaru (the famous mountain of the Paramount Pictures logo) greeted us in the distance. We had to keep moving of course and soon we arrived at the crux of the climb, a huge crevasse with a not so huge snowbridge…
While crossing the crevasse we had a small audience of people who climbed Pisco without the right equipment and were wise enough not to continue. Perhaps they were rubbernecks dying to see me fall into the huge hole in front of me but that’s my evil side getting creative. It’s more likely they wanted to take a rest, enjoy the scenery and watch how people crossed the crux of the mountain. Being roped up reduces the danger significantly of course but one can still get seriously hurt in case of a fall so precaution was needed. We managed to get across slowly but comfortably and moved on. As Ale likes to say: ‘one final push Paul!’.
By now I knew I was going to summit despite the fatigue. On the way to the summit we crossed several climbers who had just started their descent and they supported us by mentioning we were almost there. Around 11:30 am we reached the summit, always a great feeling. We climbed the mountain in bluebird conditions but once we had reached the top of Pisco, the clouds started moving in. I was planning to take some great photos of Artesonraju but the clouds thwarted my plans. In fact, we suddenly had to hurry because a lack of visibility was about to ruin our descent. After a few summit photos we quickly transitioned from climbing to skiing / snowboarding mode and started making some turns!
Visibility was quite bad the first part of the descent until we reached the big crevasse. There, the weather cleared a little bit which was good for the final part of the descent. However, it also meant I had a clear view of the huge hole below me. Sometimes it’s better to cross the scary parts in bad visibility or even in the dark…
Downclimbing is not my favorite activity but hopefully I’ll get better and more comfortable with experience. So, I invested in the future and gave it a go. Ok, I might have dramatized a bit here since I was roped up and Ale was there to support me. With skis on my back and an axe in my hand I went down step by step until I reached the inevitable narrowly looking snowbridge. “Positive thoughts in, negative thoughts out”, you know the feeling…
Definitely a bit intimidated by the surroundings, I made my way across the snowbridge, trying not to look down into the deep, deep hole below me. Once I was across I could settle down and help Ale by functioning as an anchor for his descent. Shortly after, we were back in skiing / snowboarding mode and enjoyed the final part of the descent. The weather had improved by now and with good visibility we made some nice turns towards the bottom of the glacier.
When we left the glacier and stepped onto the first rocks of the moraine, we met the group of skiers we had noticed in the middle of the night when we first put our head out of the tent. Everyone was on a high after summiting and we exchanged some stories. What are the odds to talk about skiing and snowboarding with roughly 10 people at the bottom of a glacier in Peru, right?
Soon however, time had come to continue our descent since we had to pack our tent and related stuff, cross the moraine, go down to Cebollapampa and drive back to Huaraz, all on the same day and it was already passed 1 pm. Fed by adrenaline and lots of positive energy of our adventure so far, we progressed nicely and made it back to the refugio around 3.30 / 4 pm. After a short break to recharge and load our gear on the donkeys, we descended quickly to the car where we arrived around sunset. In the dark we left Cebollapampa and first dropped off our ‘arriero’ (donkey driver) which gave me the opportunity to practice my donkey-driving-skills too by shouting ‘hush, hush!’ from the window. I’d like to believe I did a good job but it’s more likely that the car scared the donkeys anyway making them running back home.
Once the arriero had found his home as well, we continued the journey back to huaraz. Credits to Ale here for some nice driving. We had been awake for about 15 hours and had quite a workout but he had to pay attention on the Peruvian roads with its crazy drivers and unexpected bumps. We managed to get back around 9:30 and went straight to Paulinos, a popular Indian restaurant in Huaraz. The whole day we had been looking forward to a delicious curry but by now we both seemed to prefer a bed over food. Nevertheless, a very good and successful mini-expedition to climb and ski Pisco!
Here is a short video of the crossing of the huge crevasse on the descent of Pisco:
Steep skiing on Yanapaccha?
After a few days of relaxing and recharging the old battery, Ale and I set off on another mini-expedition. The original plan was to climb and ski Nevado Copa but due to food poisining I needed a few more days to recover leaving us with less time than expected. My flight back home was approaching quickly and weather windows were tight as well so we opted for a ‘quick’ 2-day mission to Yanapaccha. With 5.460 meters and a short approach we could just squeeze this one in. The weather forecast showed promising signs so off we went to Yungay again, probably for the fifth time this trip!
By now we had developed our routine by stopping at the local market to buy fresh bread and stop for a fruit juice before driving up to Cebollapampa. The path to Yanapaccha’s basecamp is too technical for most donkeys, making specialized donkeys a rarity, so we hired a porter instead. We could drive all the way to around 4.600 meters where we prepared ourselves, and the porter, for a 2-hour hike to the basecamp. There might have been a lack of specialized donkeys but beautiful views were available in abundance!
Pisco used to be the most popular mountain because of its relatively easy ascent. Nowadays Yanapaccha is a worthy competitor. Apparently, people are looking for a bit more adventure, a bit more spice if you will. On arrival at the basecamp I was a bit shocked to see the number of tents. Whereas people found pure solitude a few years ago, there were at least 30 tents and the place was full of people getting instructions and practicing a rappel or two. Up high, we were able to find a free spot where we pitched our tent. As it turned out later, we were surrounded by a group of skiers led by Josh Beckner who I had met earlier in Casa de Zarela. In the afternoon Ale and I went up to the glacier for a little scoping mission. Where could we best enter the glacier, what conditions can we expect and how does the actual route look? After all, those questions can be answered more easily during daylight than in the middle of the night.
Yanapaccha has a huge glacier with a relatively mellow lower part followed by a very steep face (in terms of skiing) and a moderately ridge leading to the summit. The weather forecast showed four days of sunshine and so far predictions were accurate. After our usual evening routine of tea, pasta with tuna and more tea, we went to bed. If I had a proper mattress and sleeping bag, I might have dreamed about some delightful steep skiing. My mattress however was of such poor quality that I was fighting rocks all night…
After concluding that an investment in some new gear was definitely justifiable after a very poor night, hot chocolate and granola woke me up and gave me some fuel for the day ahead. We left camp optimisticly but soon we realized that the weather forecasts had been far from optimal. Instead of sunshine we were treated by a thick fog. I could just see Ale a few meters in front of me but that was about it. By now we were almost halfway up the mountain and getting close to the exciting part, the steep face. Since skiing down this steep face in those weather conditions was simply too dangerous and not enjoyable at all, we decided to turn around. After practicing some rope techniques we called it a day and left Yanapaccha…
Disappointed by the state of affairs and, not to forget, the weather forecasts, we once more packed our gear and walked back to the road where, to our big surprise, was no sign of our driver. We hopped on a local minibus with all our belongings and drove down until we would meet our driver. Needless to say that we arrived in Cebollapampa, where the van was parked, a bit later than expected. Back in Huaraz, I took Ale to Chilli Heaven for the best fajitas in town to thank him for his great company and professional guiding. Yanapaccha ain’t going nowhere, so if climate doesn’t change too rapidly, I might go back to give it another go to ski that steep face together with Ale!
Reflecting on the trip
I visited Peru for skiing in 2019 for the first time and decided to come back. The trip was amazing in 2019 and Peru delivered once more. Huaraz is a pleasant little city with some nice bars and restaurants and interesting culture with locals dressed up nicely, making it a pleasure to spend your ‘downdays’ in between adventures in the mountains.
Another proud asset of this mountain town is of course Casa de Zarela. She truly adds value to my visits to the Cordillera Blanca. She’s always available for a chat, arranges whatever you need, connects you to like-minded people and serves delicious Thai food. What else can you ask for? It is here, where I met Tim, Rita and Hector, people I really enjoyed spending time with. We did hikes together, shared many lunches and dinners and had some great conversations in the evenings. Whenever I go back to Huaraz, Zarela will always be the first to contact regarding accommodation.
Then there are the mountains. I have been fortunate to have seen quite a few mountain ranges all over the world but the Cordillera Blanca is really something special. The mountains there are big and each objective looks and feels like a true objective. Looking up from Cebollapampa to the summit of Pisco is intimidating and then it’s good to realize that Pisco is one of the smaller mountains out there. Chopicalqui And Huascaran are roughly 500 and 1.000 meters highers respectively so imagine how intimidating they look! And it’s this fact that makes you feel so small resulting in every adventure being a true adventure. At least, that’s how it feels to me. I’ll never forget the feeling I had when going up Pisco in bluebird weather and looking around realizing I was surrounded by the Huandoys and other giant and beautiful mountains.
Those mini-expeditions are phenomenal. Preparing in town by doing some grocery shopping, talking about weather forecasts and conditions, loading the donkeys, camping in the wild, the suffering while climbing and the incredible reward while standing on the summit knowing you’re about to slide down on skis… I enjoy all of it. Thanks to Ale I can make this happen. He is great company and together we have enjoyed many teas and pastas and talked about possible future ski destinations. Most importantly, Ale is not simply there for the business, he really enjoys snowboarding down these big mountains too.
Since Peru delivered once more, it’s very likely I’ll go back at least one more time. Yanapaccha is waiting for me to be skied and Nevado Copa is another great ski objective. This trip I also realized even more than ever how relaxing such trips are for my mind. Working towards a few clear objectives with a lot of time to relax in between, seems to be a pretty good way to spend my holidays in this stage of my life!
Click here to see more pictures of this trip!
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