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The Cordillera Blanca is a mountain range high in the Peruvian Andes, and the Cordillera Blanca Expedition 2000 is a small independent group of young European climbers who climbed there in summer 2000.
The Cordillera Blanca stretches from the centre of Peru most of the way up to Ecuador. Its centrepiece is the Peru's highest mountain, Huascaran (6,768 m, 22,204'), just a few minutes from the busy principle town of Huaraz where we were based.
Flanking the famous Santa Cruz valley is the elegant and monolithic Alpamayo (5947m, pictured below). Following the runnel just right of the highest point on the glacier, the Ferrari route is steep with 350m of >60o ice to contend with. This was our second objective.
Also climbed were Artesenraju (5999m), Caraz I and Paron Grande. Antoine has compiled a list of the climbs in the range from the best available guide book Climbs of the Cordillera Blanca of Peru by David Sharman.
Who?The expedition originally consisted of six members, then dwindled to three but finally settled on four people, all loosely connected by the Imperial College Outdoor Club, London and by having drunk a lot in each-others' company since. They were:
Age: 27ish
Nationality:
Luxembourgish
Lowdown: Has climbed (solo!) in the Cordillera Blanca before, plus several seasons in the Alps. Currently building a road in Laos.
A fearsome and fearless alpinist with balls of steel but sadly feet of ice.
Age: somewhere between 26 and 31.
Nationality: English
Lowdown: The closest member to being famous, Phil has climbed in Nepal, the Karakorum and Pamir. Made the first ski-traverse of the Caucus Mountains. Has spent the last three years in Antarctica, practising his ice technique and crashing skidoos.
Age: 27, or is it 28?
Nationality: Français
Lowdown: Climbed the 6250m Parchamo in the remote Rolwaling valley in the Nepal himalayas in 1998. All sorts of stuff in the Alps, but not, sadly, the Meije.
Having abandoned a PhD in Theoretical Astrophysics is now earning pots of cash at autonomy.com.
Age: 24
Nationality: English, but not proud of it.
Lowdown: Also ascended Parchamo. Has led a couple of 4000ers in the Alps, completed a few season's ice climbing without significant injury
and thinks ski-mountaineering is the answer to everything.
We left the UK on 27 June 2000, to arrive at Lima via Atlanta early the next day. The return flight was on 10 August, arriving home early on 11th. Why so many 'early's?
We were a lightweight alpine-style outfit (isn't that what we said last time?), although the 64kg per person luggage allowance on Delta Airlines was nearly our undoing. We based ourselves in Huaraz, Making various excursions.
There is a convenient road running the length of the Cordillera Blanca. From there, a donkey and a donkey-driver (ariero) are usually needed to carry food and some kit and look after base camps while we were away climbing.
Kit-wise, we took two Quasar tents, a large cheap and cheerful basecamp tent, three MSR stoves, ice gear but not rock gear, plastic boots and standard alpine clothing supplemented by a bit of down (Special thanks to Rab for their generous expedition discounts).
Hmm... I'll think I'll plump for the communing with the eternal oneness of the soul and the earth. And a fine bit of climbing on a fine extended holiday.
Pretty good. Read my expedition diaries.
Jeremy Thomson
