Tis’ the season to plan your next adventure (at least for those of you dreaming of a trip to Peru’s Cordillera Blanca), but with so many classic climbs and treks available, how to choose and how to know that what you’ve decided upon is actually right for you??

Here’s a quick comparison “chart” of the most popular climbing routes & itineraries (trekking to come in the next blog) in the Huaraz area to help you begin to narrow things down. As always, more information is only an email away (info@skyline-adventures.com) or for those of you who enjoy surfing the web, our blog-site is full of highlighted trips, literal praises for the Cordillera Blanca and Huayhuash, Huascaran National Park insights, altitude information, and more; if you’ve got the time, read and enjoy!

Pisco / Chopicalqui:

Final push to the summit of Chopicalqui

Trip Length: 14 days Lima to Lima

Difficulty: Pisco (PD) 5752m / Chopicalqui (AD-) 6354m

Prerequisites: None. Great for novice mountaineers and a favorite of old salts (not necessarily old in age) alike!

Highlights: A stellar combo trip for those seeking low technicality on world-class mountaineering terrain. Pisco serves as a great introductory or refresher climb for those with or without previous alpine experience and also acts as a great acclimatization peak. Chopicalqui’s southwest ridge offers a moderate climb with just enough exposure to keep climber’s adrenaline levels up, without crossing the line of “technical” and thereby scaring novice mountaineers away.

Alpamayo/Quitaraju:

Alpamayo as seen from Highcamp

Trip Length: 15 days Lima to Lima

Difficulty: Alpamayo (D) 5947m / Quitaraju (D-) 6036m

Prerequisites: Previous climbing experience and comfort in exposed terrain. A 6-day Skyline Adventures mountaineering course is a great way to get prepared in minimal time.

Highlights: The Cordillera Blanca is home to several mountains known ‘round the world’ for their stunning beauty and exceptional climbing. Alpamayo is one of these illustrious peaks. Just short of 6000 meters, Alpamayo’s French Direct route is indeed an exquisite climb, with snow and ice slopes up to 70 degrees, fantastic views, and a picture-perfect (literally) summit. Quitaraju’s north face offers nice 40-55 degree snow climbing, and tops out after a short traverse of the mountains knife-edge summit ridge. This itinerary is dramatic, technical, and exciting and often calls climbers back to the Cordillera Blanca if they were unable to give it a try on their first trip(s) to the area.

Tocllaraju (with Urus /Ishinca):

Descending Toclla's NW ridge

Trip Length: 15 days Lima to Lima

Difficulty: Urus (PD-) 5495m / Ishinca (PD-) 5530m / Tocllaraju (AD+) 6032m

Prerequisites: None. A great itinerary for those seeking a good progression and a partly technical summit of a 6000 meter peak

Highlights: One of the most popular itineraries in the range, the combination of Urus, Ishinca, and Tocllaraju makes for a phenomenal climbing itinerary with minimal approach time. The basecamp for all 3 routes lies at the head of the Ishinca valley, a 4-5 hour mellow hike from the trailhead in the small village of Pashpa. Urus is a fantastic peak for acclimatization as well as for refreshing and/or learning the skills you need for glacier travel. Ishinca follows, offering a higher summit and a slightly steeper climb. These two are great predecessors to Tocllaraju, the grand finale of the expedition. The northwest ridge of Tocllaraju offers a pleasant combination of rolling, non-technical terrain and sections of steep climbing where the skills you have practiced on the other two mountains will be called upon.

Huascaran (with Ishinca / Tocllaraju):

Huascaran... seen from, EVERYWHERE!

Trip Length: 19 days Lima to Lima

Difficulty: Ishinca (PD-) 5530m / Tocllaraju (AD+) 6032m / Huscaran (AD-) 6768m

Prerequisites: More than technical experience, this itinerary requires a high level of fitness in order to meet the physical demands of two long ascents.

Highlights: Three well-known peaks combine to create a perfectly balanced expedition with an intelligent progression that leads safely to the top of Peru’s highest mountain, Huascaran Sur. Ishinca’s northwest face provides a nice non-technical warm-up climb with a 45 degree slope just below the summit. Follow-up this climb with an ascent of the normal route on Tocllaraju’s northwest ridge to gain more altitude and to test out your skills on steeper, more exposed terrain. Huascaran, unlike any of the other ‘trade’ routes in the Cordillera Blanca, requires the use of several high camps in order to acclimatize well and give the summit a proper shot. You’ll move from a basecamp at 4150m, to your first glacier camp at 5200m, then through the legendary “garganta” or “throat” of the mountain to your final camp at 6000m located in the saddle between Huascaran’s two summits. The climb to the summit from there is non-technical, however, the highest altitude in the country will test your limits with each step you take.

There are many more routes to choose from here in the Cordillera Blanca, but in the interest of time, space, and attention span I’m only including these four popular packages here. A similar formatted trekking comparison blog is coming soon so for all the World’s hikers… stay tuned!

Your friends at Skyline Adventures!