In June this year I was walking/trekking with another person from refugio Huayna towards Tilata, but very soon it was evident that reaching the mountain was not really an option that day.
July 5th I left home at 5.45 in the morning, took a minibus to Plaza Villarroel, and then orange and red cable cars to be in El Alto at 6.31. Next was a short, mile-long taxi drive to a street close to Plaza Ballivian, from where minibuses (at least sometimes) leave towards Zongo. The minibus left at 6.45 and at 8.10 I got out at 4290 meters elevation.
A very steep, grassy slope starts right next to the little road. It felt desperately cold outside after sitting in the minibus, but in 5 minutes it felt ok. The morning was perfect, as usual for this time of year, with blue skies and no wind. I had decided to move fast but without getting lactic acid in my legs. First I followed a little river that has nice waterfalls. Soon I reached a flat meadow where some cows and llamas were starting their day. I got up a little hill to find another flat meadow, and soon there was a third one. All of these would be perfect for camping, because the surface is soft with very short grass. It would be like sleeping on a soccer field with high mountain views.
From 4700 up there was a 200 meters high steep and rocky slope, but it was still easy. Finally before the glaciation starts there is a gentle rise with nice rocks that are almost white. All in all the approach was much easier than I remembered. I got to the glacier at 5015 meters in an hour and a half, with 1.24 of moving time. In 2015 it took 2.22 of moving time.
I didn´t expect Tilata to be the most thrilling climb, but it surprised me in a positive way. Once I arrived at the glacier, there was a frozen pond, and everything else was still frozen as well. This side of the mountain was still in the shadow at 10 in the morning when I started with boots and crampons, after a little break. As this year is a dry one, the glacier was bare and surface was hard ice. I was glad I had sharpened my crampons before this trip, because otherwise it would have been difficult and risky to climb. Low on the glacier there was a quite steep section that offered more challenge than I had expected, given the icy conditions. Then came a not so steep section with very hard snow, and the rest of the slope up until the summit ridge was moderate. The left side of the glacier was very icy all the way up, as I would find out while going down.
The summit ridge started from 5300 meters and led to the top at 5343 meters. The ridge is made up of big blocks of almost white rock. The other side of the mountain was totally free of snow. During snowy years it might be covered.
I was on the summit at 11.22 and was surprised it only took 3 hours 9 minutes total time.
Going down was fast too, even though I had to be careful and slow because of the icy parts. I was back at the road at 1.14 PM so the whole climb took 5 hours and a minute, with about 1050 meters of elevation gain.
After just a few minutes a minibus passed, but it was full so I started walking up the road. 5 minutes later I was surprised to see another minibus coming, and I got the last available seat. I got out while still in the countryside outside El Alto, to walk and run 25 minutes down to the closest Puma Katari (the La Paz city bus) line. I needed two comfy and spacy bus rides to get home. I was at home at 4.15 so this was a quick trip especially considering that I used public transportation, for the first time for a real climb! I would say Tilata is a perfect first-ever climb for someone with at least some fitness, especially when the conditions are good.
