Illimani (climb and fly)

Had a nice rest day back in La Paz on Sunday then were off again on Monday morning to climb Illimani. The drive to the starting point was about 3 hours and took us down and through a big canyon with some impressive rock stacks.

Our cook this time was Pedro's dad and we had 2 donkeys to take our gear up to the low camp. Again, it was an easy first day and we arrived at camp after about 2 hours: a big flat bottomed valley, full of llamas, with Illimani towering above us.

Had a relaxing afternoon and a little scramble up the hillside for sunset.

Day 2 wasn't too arduous either and a four hour hike got us to the high camp, up on the ridge line and just on the edge of the glacier (admittedly it looked harder for the 2 porters carrying most of our gear).

The team sets out

nice colours in the rock

There were a few small flat areas on the rock, squeezed between the cliff edge and the glacier to pitch our tents. Our chosen area wasn't quite big enough for the tent so our first hour at camp was spent landscaping the mountain to extend our camping spot. Its a really cool camping place, perched on the edge of the cliff looking out over the glacier and secondary peaks of Illimani. Most of the afternoon was spent just gazing out at the beautiful view.

We stayed up until the sunset over La Paz, then the cold forced us into bed whether we wanted to stay up or not. With a good sleeping bag and all my clothes it was still cold, but did actually warm up by the time we had to get up at 1am. It's hard to sleep at 5400m so getting up was actually a bit of a relief.

sunset with the summit behind

We were off by 2am after a hearty breakfast of bread and jam and enticed by the prospect of flying from 6000m I was carrying my glider for the first half of the climb (Pedro didn't offer this time). It was hard work. The combined effects of the altitude, lack of sleep, poor breakfast, not much food the day before (dinner was soup with some pasta in it - not the high carb foundation I wanted before attempting a hard climb - my one gripe about our tour) and the extra weight of my glider meant I had a hard time of it. I was glad to deposit my glider just below 6000m.

The climb itself was straightforward and not really that interesting - just a long slog up the glacier and nothing technical - and we reached the summit of 6440m at 6.20 am. Slightly early for the sunrise so had to kick around for 20 mins trying to stay warm while we waited for the sun. The view was alright though.

a

at the top in the pre-dawn, the lights of La Paz behind. 

always time for press-ups

the sun finally catches up

In the shadow of giants

We were back down to my glider around 8 but the northern side of the mountain was still in shade and the very light wind still katabatic (i.e. flowing down the mountain side). So no good for taking off.

We sat down to wait for the sun to hit the slopes (and warm things up enough to change the wind direction) but were soon getting cold. Pedro then had the inspiration to let us try a little ice climbing on a nearby ice face...so we did! And it was good fun. Hard with the altitude and lack of technique, and the short climb of 5 or so metres had me and Malcolm blowing. Nice place to give ice climbing a first try.

After that play around the wind (or what wind there was) had switched sufficiently for me to think about flying. The slope was quite steep and with a firm snow pack I needed Pedros help just to stop my glider sliding down the slope. I was quite nervous about the whole situation; with big crevasses waiting below there wasn't much room for error.

Like a true Brit in the mountains I tried a reverse launch but with no wind and deep snow just fell over. Then had the better idea of a forward launch on the tracks where the snow was compressed. So with Pedro holding my wing I went for my first forward launch with my current glider, on a glacier, from 5940m.

the launch zone

It couldn't have gone better and I glided off for an incredible flight out over the glacier, peering deep down into the mesmerising blues of the crevasses and ceracs below, and a little explore of the mountain valley. Not a lot of lift around but managed to sustain my flight for half an hour before landing back near to base camp at around 4400m.

High camp below

Altitude, climbing, paragliding... I was exhausted by the time I landed!

With a bit of time to kill while I waited for the rest of my team to catch up, I had a lovely refreshing wash in the river, then basking semi naked in the warmth of the sun, fell into a pleasant slumber on the grass. Malcolm and the team made it down in a few hours and immediately suggested I might want to get out the sun or cover up. Good advice - I was scorched, although the pain didn't hit till the following day!

chilling with the llamas

Had some lunch at base camp (more soup, joy!) then carried on back to our starting point at the village, getting back around 3. We opted to go back to La Paz rather than camp another night but with a bit of time to kill waiting for our taxi rounded the trip off with a few celebratory beers in the grassy plaza.