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Bolivia

Bolivia covers an area of 1, 098, 580 square km (424, 164 square mile) - ie almost fives times the area of the island of Great Britain. Over 66% of the country’s population are indigenous Indians who speak the native American languages of Aymara or Quechua (the language of the Incas). The other main language is Spanish. Bolivia is a land of contrasts. Lonely Planet describes Bolivia as:

“the hemisphere’s highest, most isolated and most rugged nation. It’s among the earth’s coldest, warmest, windiest and steamiest spots... “

The Andes

Tracing the Pacific coast of South America, the Andes form a chain of mountains more than 7000 km  (4300 mile) long, running through 7 countries - Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. The heights of many summits are still  not fixed. Any minor differences do not change the fact that there isn’t much oxygen about at  such altitudes!

The Mountains (Click the small pictures for enlarged view)

After an initial acclimatisation period in the city of La Paz (3360 m) and around Lake Titicaca (3812 m), our acclimatisation and will continue on the 5100m rock pyramid Pico Austria and its immediate surroundings.  

The beautiful, 5337 m high Pequeno Alpamayo heralds the start of the more challenging and satisfying climbing. Immediately following the ascent of Pequeno Alpamayo we will move on to our main objectives - Huayna Potosi (6094m) and Illimani (6462 m).

Both of these impressive mountain masses are visible from La Paz. Both mountains provide excellent snow and ice climbs with the most challenging being the summit attempt on Illimani. The route to the summit involves 50° - 60° ice climbing at an altitude of over 5,800m . There’s a lot of work involved in  ice climbing at such altitudes, and its a long way down !

PICO AUSTRIA

Pequeno Alpamayo

Huayna Potosi

Illimani

© Ted Bradley & Mountaineers for Cancer Care 2009  - unless otherwise stated

A1 -  Photograph by Jens Sondergaard

A2 -  Courtesy of La Paz Tourist Board

B1 -  Photograph by Marc Cussenot

B2 -  Photograph by Marc Cussenot

C1 -  Photograph by Vladimir Dinets

C2 -  Photograph by JQ Jacobs