A Vertical Challenge

A few days after New Years and Ben was looking for a challenge. He had heard that there were some very high altitude mountains nearby that might offer the chance for a dramatic summit. The curiousity continued to nag until he finally signed up for a 2day/1night attempt at Huayna Potosi, whose peak stood teasing at 6088m (19,974ft). What a strange thought to be at more than 6 kilometers vertically above hometown Vancouver.

The easy part was signing up. The lady at the tour operator desk simply looked at Ben and shaking her head continued to mutter the words ´Muy duro, muy duro´ (very hard). La Paz central sits at about 3100m which makes for an elevation change of about 3000m in two days. For that reason, the 3day/2night trip is highly recommended. Given that Ben had fared well at altitude on previous trips, he opted for the quick charge to the top. He didn´t dwell on the fact that his previous high altitude was only 4750m. It is well that beforehand we had decided that Patricia would take advantage to stay in town, recuperate, explore and shop.

On the first day after picking up the required gear, Ben arrived at the operator´s base camp lodge, elevation 4700m. After a quick lunch the group of 10 enthusiastic climbers and 4 guides departed for a 600m ascent to the high camp where they would spend the night. Climbing in mountaineering boots is a difficult thing to do, especially when you´ve got the basic rental models. Imagine slightly smaller ski boots and you´ve got the picture. These things are heavy and hardly flex at all, making for awkward footsteps on any kind of basic incline. The 600m was covered at a moderate pace by the more fit climbers and amongst this group, Ben reached the high camp around 4pm passing through rocky, snowy and zero visibility conditions.

The high camp was a cozy affair and a good shelter from the wind raging outside. After an early dinner and some coca tea for the altitude the climbers got lucky with the weather and caught some beautiful blue sky with views of the snowfields and surrounding mountains. They couldn´t enjoy for long however as the weather came roaring back in and the plan called for a 6pm bedtime, a midnight wakeup for breakfast and a push to the summit for daybreak.

Trouble soon began for all concerned. All the classic problems of altitude began to kick in as reality at 5300m above sea level took its toll on minds, bodies and enthusiasm. Headaches and nausea were fairly strong. Ben wasn´t able to sleep for any prolonged period at night due to high energy as the heart rate increases significantly at altitude in order to feed the body with air containing much lower levels of oxygen. Fortunately before these effects set in in a bad way, Ben forced himself to eat everything he could find, as he knew he would need lots of energy the next day. Well planned, as upon waking, he couldn´t even get down plain bread. Thank goodness for the soothing warmth of more coca tea and sugar!

The group of 10 eager climbers was now but 4 who had found the drive to continue their quest for the top. It was Ben, two young Belgians and a German girl. The upshot was that now each person had their own personal guide for the nighttime ascent. Each was tied to their guide, crampons where fixed onto mountaineering boots and ice axes were in hand. There was no wind outside, the stars were alight and the group made their way through the vast snowfields by headlamp. Soon it was just Ben and the Belgians.

The rhythm was a 30 minute hike up, followed by a few minutes of collapsing on the ground for rest, water and sugar. There was not much to be seen in the darkness other than the distant lights of La Paz and occassionally a slightly terrifying crevasse that was avoided by navigation or by a leap of faith followed by a determined plant (very determined) of the ice axe on the far side.

As dawn light threatened to approach, the Belgians began to tire and their pace slowed. Ben was feeling pretty good and continued a steady march with the most experienced and vertically challenged of the guides - the affable Mario. Together they marched on alone in the darkness. Mario soon made an announcement. They were getting near to the top, but things were about to get a bit difficult. The words ´cornice´, ´narrow´, ´steep´ and ´careful´ were understood in their basic exchange of Spanish. It all became quickly clear anyhow. They had made it to the shoulder of the mountain and now had to get on top and climb along a narrow ridge to make the summit.

Ben was game as long as Mario thought it was safe. Mario seemed game as long as their was a chance of a good tip at the end of the trip. A good understanding for both! As the sun rose in the distance to amazing hues, Mario struggled to make a path through deep fresh snow along the narrow ridgeline. Being tied together, both climbers were in intense concentration. Ben would anchor the two climbers as deeply as possible while Mario did the hard work and used his experience to make headway. This slow process continued for an hour as the summit seemed to inch nearer. All the while, unthinkable vertical drops lay to left and right. Forward or nothing. Or as Mario said ´La Cumbre o Nada!´(The summit or nothing). Funny as Ben first thought he had said ´El Hombre o Nada!´ (Be a man or nothing!). Both expressions applied.

With the sun now shining on the magnificent chain of the Cordillera Real, Ben sat on top of the mountain with Mario and enjoyed a well deserved Cerveza Pacena with his new best buddy and lifeline home. Joining him on the summit were two Australians from a separate expedition who shared in sweet victory beer to delight all around. These were the only members of the summit club on that magnificent day. If they had had the energy to sit on each others shoulders, the top man would have been at over 20,000 feet.