In mid-July I wanted to climb Sajama with a Russian person but we were advised against it by two people who knew the current conditions quite well. So we went to Illimani instead, with a guide. I had climbed Illimani in 2015 alone but I was happy to go there again because it is a pretty and very high mountain and the symbol of La Paz. I also believed that it could be in an ok shape because the route is on the side of the mountain that is more in the shadow. So I thought it might not be all ice.
The climb was not successful but still the trip was pretty nice. 4 days. It was fun to see the place again and to pass all the features along the route that I had seen the year before. Somehow the rocky ridge to high camp felt more difficult than last time. It would be a nightmare with a little bit of wet snow there.
On the third day we woke up a 1 a.m. I had actually slept better than I expected and the tent was quite warm, I didn't need to sleep with my big jacket on. Last time I went without a tent. That does sound a little rough now. The camp was at 5490 m. The beginning of the climb was a steep ridge that was rock and sand. Normally it would be snow but this year (2016) there is no snow on the mountains. I didn't like that ridge either. Just like the ridge below the high camp, one mistake could have extremely serious consequences. You could fall and not be able to stop or not be stopped by rocks and go all the way down for an eternity. With snow it is a lot easier. This year it has not rained or snowed much and since about October there has not been enough water for the city. Many have been weeks mostly without water.
The we put on boots and crampons. From there the ridge continued but it was not very hard. However it was all ice. Luckily the ice was in forms of medium sized penitentes so it was not so hard to stay upright. We were very slow, going roped up. The Russian complained for at least an hour because her rented boots were too big, feet were hurting, walking with the ice axe was hard and whatever. Finally there was a section with snow. Good snow. One of us almost didn't see a crevasse and that caused a moment of mild exclamation marks. It was still dark when we had to cross a narrow ice bridge. The Russian was ahead of me but stopped right after crossing the bridge and I had to stop in the middle of it. I don't think she even realized where we were. The guide yelled at her and we kept going.
Then the ice got more slick and the slope got steeper. I had to be really careful. Falling was definitely a quite big possibility. Pretty quickly I started to have doubts. I was afraid of falling myself and also afraid of the Russian falling. Since we were connected by a rope, one of us three falling would have taken everybody down and the guide was a bit nervous too. It would have also been very difficult to stop oneself from sliding: a self arrest on almost slick ice must surely be almost impossible even when the slope is not very steep. I didn't think it was going to get any less icy higher up and I knew there were a few 40-50 degree sections ahead. So I decided to unclip myself and go down. We were at 5920 m of altitude. It was an easy decision even though I was not tired physically because we had been climbing so slow.
I started going down and in a few minutes met the only other 2 people on the mountains, 2 nice Colombians. After a little chat they decided to go down as well, but I think their decision was based on both of them being quite fatigued at that point.
On the way down I noticed that the guide and Russian had stopped on what looked a steep slope. Time went by and I got to the high camp but they didn't move. I'm sure they were still for an hour and a half and I was a little bit worried, but at the same time I was very relieved that I was not there. I never got a full explanation of what happened but they didn't get any higher than that. I think they were stuck at about 6000 meters before finally coming down.
It's interesting to think about what had I done if it was just me? Had I turned around? I think when you are alone, you are more focused on keeping going and "doing it" and getting to the top. It makes sense that in a group you feel safer, but at least in my case I think it's easier to give up and get comfortable when I am with others and things get difficult. When I am alone, I'm usually a little more demanding.
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