When we arrived in Arequipa we pretty quickly decided we wanted to do a peak. There are two prominent volcanoes just outside the city - the cone-shaped Misti and the 6000M Chachani. Misti is the more popular climb due to its classic cone shape and the fact that it is an easier, less technical climb. We opted for the challenge of Chachani.
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We were picked up at our hostel by the guide service at 8:30 AM and brought to their headquarters where we were outfitted with a tent, sleeping bags, ice axes and trekking poles. Initially we thought we would also need crampons, but in recent years the glaciers have completely receded andd there was very little snow on the peak that day. This came as a smal disappointment to us as we were hoping for some technical climbing. Arequipa's extremely dry climate means Chachani is one of the few 6000M peaks in the world to not have glaciers. Therefore it is also one of the easiest 6000M peaks in the world.
We loaded into an old Landcruiser and started the two hour drive to our drop-off point. Only the first half hour of the drive was on paved roads. The dirt 4x4 road was very dusty but provided spectacular views of neighboring Misti.
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We were dropped off at about 4800M of elevation and hiked up to base camp at about 5100M. It was a relatively easy hike even at that elevation.
We set up our tents and then, as a group, set up the communal kitchen tent. Our guide, Ivan, then made us a very nice checken, vegetable, rice and fried potato dinner and described what the rest of the trek would entail.
At around 4:30 in the afternoon, we retired to our respective tents to try to get some sleep before our 1:00 AM wake-up call. At over 5000M of elevation, however, no one really slept.
We "woke" at 1:00 AM, had a light breakfast and some tea, packed up and started our climb at 2:00 AM. The first stretch was straight uphill, but we all fared very well with only our headlamps to show the way under the moonless sky.
A traverse across a col provided the crux of the climb. It was, in fact, very straightforward scrambling and not technical at all. There was a steep drop-off to our left though and Ivan had us break out our ice axes in case of a misstep.
After the col we came to a saddle and switchbacked up a secondary peak. We had a great group. In addition to Leslie and me and Ivan, our group consisted of two others. Jasmine is from Switzerland but living in Peru. John is from New Jersey, but is working with the Peace Corps in Lima. We were all in pretty good shape and, of everyone, I was probably the most effected by the altitude. Still, we made great time! Ivan has been guiding this peak for 15 years and his all-time record from base camp to the summit is four hours 15 minutes. Our group did it in 4:45. Ivan says most groups take six to seven hours.
Near the top of the secondary peak we traversed across and down to another saddle below the principle peak. Another set of switchbacks and we crested the summit - 6075 meters (19,977 feet)!
The sun hadn't been up for long at this point but we stood admiring the beautiful views for a while, snapping pictures before starting our descent.
Many sections of the descent consisted of practically skiing straight down on the volcanic sand. It was actually quite fun, if a bit grueling on my knees. After a nearly five hour climb, the descent took only two hours. Back at base camp we rested for a bit with some hot tea and waited for our ride.
Although the 6000M of elevation should not be taken lightly, it was one of the easiest peaks I've ever done. Still, it was a lot of fun and pretty cool to have cracked the 6000 meter mark!
Hi, I liked reading your blog. In fact me and my girlfriend want to go climb chachani after reading this:) Do you have any contact information to the guide you went with? Hope you have the time to answer me. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteMy email is: Lars_andre_84hotmail.com
Best Regards,
Lars Andre (Norway)