El Misti (climb and fly)

El Misti, the guardian of Arequipa, has been at the back of my mind since my first week in Colombia, when Johanus (a young German acro pilot) planted the seed of flying from it.

It looked like a fairly straightforward climb so me and Matt planned to climb it alone. The logical reality however was that it worked out quite a lot cheaper to do it with a guide so up we signed and set off around 9 the next day with 2 American guys and an Austrian girl.

An hour and a half's drive got us up to the starting point at about 3500m and we hiked up a steady incline, passing through shrubby ground with a surprising amount of beautiful flowers (and annoying bumble bee sized biting flies with massive mosquito like snouts) and up beyond the plant line to base camp at 4700m. Took about 5 hours. I was lugging my glider up so it was quite hard work with my 20 odd kilos, but with a leisurely pace and hourly breaks it didn't prove to be so bad.

Base camp

Pichu Pichu in the last of the sun

Venus above the lights of Arequipa

Arequipa was beautifully lit up at night and the views over to Pichu Pichu and Chachani were lovely.

The wind was howling though and ripped right through the tents making sleep difficult. The air temp wasn't that cold but it felt so with the wind.

We were up at 2am and off by 2.30, our group already down to 3; with "the sickness" (as our guide put it) claiming Kyle and Claudia.

We set off at a snails pace and frequently stopped for breaks where there was shelter to get some respite from the wind. It was cold, mainly due to the wind, and with the slow pace hard to generate any warmth.

We plodded on through the night, eventually losing  Fernando to the sickness too, to just leave my self and Matt to push for the summit. I felt in pretty good shape the whole climb; the Bolivian mountains must have done me some good. It took us 5 and a half hours to get to the top and we summited at 8am, the last section taking us up along the edge of the crater and into a viscous, biting wind.

First glimpse of the top

It was nice and sheltered just below the summit however and we chilled out for almost an hour, enjoying the warmth of the morning sun and the amazing view down into the crater and beyond.

5820m

Looking NW towards Chachani

Coming down was easy and a lot of fun, skiing the direct route down a steep sandy scree chute.

Skiing the scree

Back at base camp we had a bit of time to relax before packing up; then as everyone else headed back down the mountain I picked up my glider and went looking for a good takeoff. The wind had dropped sufficiently but was coming from the west, quite gusty at times, so not ideal. 

I got off though without too much stress and managed to gain some height soaring up a small spur that was catching the wind. I was then able to fly over to the western side of the mountain hoping for a smoother ride. It was a little smoother, but with some strong gusts coming through and it was certainly never comfortable. 

I got up to about 5000m before I flew out into the valley to land, not wanting to miss my ride home. The glide out was a lot more relaxing and a chance to enjoy the view of the 3 volcanoes. With the lack of sleep and tricky conditions it perhaps wasn't the most enjoyable flight, but certainly memorable and mission accomplished!