August 1, 2006

Climbers:
Kenric Kesler (Flagstaff, AZ)
Timothy Bell (San Jose, CA)
Philip Highfill (Oberlin, OH)
Jon Rosenthal (Detroit, MI)
Shatayu Pandya (New York, NY)
Chad Lebo (Rocky Hill, NJ)

Guides: Jason Martin and Andrew Wexler

Guide Jason Martin wrote in Tuesday morning with the following dispatch:

Hello All,

Welcome to the first trip report from the Peruvian Andes! Everybody has arrived and we have just completed our second acclimatization hike. Following is a quick sketch of what we've done so far:

The trip from Lima to Huaraz can be a bit bumpy and a bit long. Everybody enjoyed an eight-hour bus trip in order to get here. Some of the buses provided movies, while others provided live BINGO. It doesn't really matter what creature comforts existed, eight hours is eight hours.

We began our trip on Saturday with a general orientation, gear check, and a very nice dinner at a creperia. Crepes are somewhat popular in Huaraz. Most restaurants serve crepes for dinner, dessert, or both.

On Sunday we made our first acclimatization hike up to Laguna Churup. This is a beautiful lake located underneath the scenic peak of Churup at about 14,500 feet. The entire team made excellent time from the road to the lake.

Yesterday we climbed up to 16,500 feet on a steep muddy trail in order to continue our acclimatization. We enjoyed excellent views of Ranrapalca and Oshapalca, two dramatic peaks at the end of the valley.

Upon returning to the bus we discovered two French climbers that needed a ride. We had a bit of room so we helped them out. After a bit of conversation we found out that one of the climbers was Francois Petit, a world class sport climber. That is one thing about the town of Huaraz: world class climbers looking for world class routes appear to be everywhere!

July 28th was Peruvian Independence Day. As such Huaraz has been very busy. Indeed, a few of us had the opportunity to witness a very unusual parade. The military led the march. All the military men and women marched with the "goose step" (kicking up their straight legs while marching). Following the soldiers were the firemen, doing the same step. Then came some scuba divers...they too were doing the goose step with their flippers on. And then finally came all the local climbing guides. They all had ropes over their shoulders, ice axes in their hands, and helmets on with headlamps illuminated. This was one of the funnier things I've seen in South America!

In any case, everybody is currently packing for our trek into the Ishinca base camp. Today we will trek into the valley where we will spend the next ten days climbing and enjoying the beautiful backcountry scenery of Peru.

Until next time,

Jason D. Martin