Tilata Climb

A day after a climb in December 2015 I trekked to the Tilata glacier, but didn´t go any further. Legs were heavy from the previous day´s climb, it was a little foggy higher up, and I thought my climbing buddy was still going to get there if I waited, which didn´t happen. So after a while I went down.
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.

Serkhe Kollu 5546 meters in April

On April 19th me, my wife, my brother in law and his friend left La Paz at 5 in the morning aiming to climb the 5546 meters high Serkhe Kollu close to La Paz. It was a Friday and a national holiday. We had rented snow climb equipment for them the day before. This was my second time on this mountain.

We drove to represa Incachaca and took a right there to drive up to 4530 meters on a tiny dirt road that forces the driver (I drove) to concentrate quite intensely. From the top we had to drive down for about 15 minutes to represa Hampaturi, which is at 4270 meters if I´m not wrong. There had been a rockfall, but luckily we were able to drive over the rocks on the road. Then we passed the third and fourth reservoir/represa of the morning, and after maybe an hour and 25 minutes of slow driving we got to the last one close to Serkhe Kollu at 4810 meters of altitude.

The morning was clear and totally calm. I was carrying a thermometer on my backpack, and it was showing about 2 Celsius above zero, but maybe it was too close to me to show the actual air temperature. At about 9 in the morning it got cloudy as we were looking for a spot where to get on the glacier that had steep borders at its low end. But higher we had sunshine and blue skies on our left and dark cloud on the right.

I think it took up to 3,5 hours time elapsed to get to the first glacier. It didn´t rain much during the rainy season, so the mountains are quite bare without much snow. After the first glacier there was a long section of rocky terrain until we got to the second one that leads to the top. The first time I climbed Serkhe Kollu I climbed a much more difficult route on the main face and descended the easier route we were on now. In 2015 there was much snow from about 5000 meters all the way to the top, but now I think the first glacier started at about 5250 meters.

I had been sick 2 times before this climb and was out of shape, so it was actually quite hard for me to get up to the top even at slow pace. Right after the climb I got sick for the 3rd time, and then once more. The route presented some little difficulties on rock. It is much easier if covered with a lot of snow. The steepest parts on the upper glacier might have been 40 degrees which is nice.

The snow was of good quality. It was more firm than soft, but not icy. I was really glad that all 4 of us made it to the top. We were at home 13 hours after leaving.

Yolosa - La Cumbre 2018 and other races

In June I focused on very hard cycling workouts and got in a very good shape but then got sick and didn´t race. In the beginning of September I went to Chile to participate in 2 cross country skiing FIS races. I waited until the last moment to book flights and everything because I had some doubts about the weather there. It looked like it was very warm there but I was told that at least 2 of the planned 3 races would be held. After Olympics race in February I took 2 days off and then skied 14,5 hours in a week. Then once in Bolivia in June.

On my first day in Termas de Chillan I went skiing in classic style but was told that there was not enough snow for making classic style tracks. It was quite difficult to figure out where the loop was because it was basically made on very easy ski slopes for beginners. Higher on the mountain the actual ski slopes were very snowy. From my hostal I had to hitch hike 15 minutes to the ski center, and paid a transportation service to take me back because after one hour of trying to hitch a ride I got a little frustrated. At that time there was almost no traffic going down from the ski center.

On the second day some Argentinians took me to the race site. The race was 10 km skate style on a very icy track with a lot of sharp turns. It was the most difficult or unpleasant skiing I have experienced. In the daytime the snow was totally soft and apparently the track was prepared in the evening. Then in the night it got frozen. Maybe the groomer would not have been available in the morning... I think it was actually a good thing we didn´t have to compete in classic style on that icy track with so many sharp curves, because classic skis are more difficult to maneuver. In this first race I got 4th about 1.50 back. I got a ride back to the hostal on the back of a pick up truck of some skiers.

The third day the Argentinians took me up again. The second race was also 10k skate style. The course was modified from the previous due to lack of snow. There was not much left than a layer of ice. It was really warm and some skiers competed in t-shirts and shorts. I really hope that the next years will be better, with more snow. I got 3rd but again about 1.50 back with a different winner. I expected to be a lot closer to the leaders in both races but with these results achieved my best ever FIS points. I didn´t plan to compete in the final day´s sprint races, which they also managed to organize. I got a ride back with some people who were helping with the race. That night I got to Santiago and spent the night on the floor of the airport and flew back to La Paz the next morning.

On September 16th I did my first cycling race in about 7 months. It was a time trial with all the best cyclist from La Paz area present and I won the 38 minute race by about 40 seconds. A week later I got fourt in a 46 minute uphill cycling race.
On the first Friday of October I swam for the first time in 5,5 months while participating in a local triathlon. It started with a 1000 meter swim in a pool at 3250 meters elevation. In the previous 11 months I had only swam 3 times and managed a time of 15.14 with a wetsuit on, which I was quite happy with. Last year I swam 14.34 while in a decent swimming shape.
The next day included an uphill mountain bike that took about 44 minutes and an uphill run of 40 minutes. These went really well and my bike+run time in the race was 2 minutes faster than the previous year despite now winning by 10 minutes vs 4 minutes last year, with the same person in 2nd place.

October 21 I participated in a 134 kilometer road race close to La Paz. To sum it up: After 52 kilometers I got away from the small front pack to chase 2 strong guys from Oruro. 10 kilometers by myself and the front tide started feeling bumpy and I had to stop. The inner tube was not correctly positioned and was coming out. I had to let all the air out as the pack flew past me. I was inflating the tire when a car came by and they inflated the tire with a floor pump. I lost about 3:30 minutes because of that and ended up time trialing all the way to the finish line by myself and finished 5th only 30 seconds from 3rd place. So the last 82 km I rode hard basically by myself. In addition to the race, I pedaled for 1,5 hours that day.

Then on October 27th was the highlight of the cycling year for many riders: Yolosa -La Cumbre with 3430 meters of absolute elevation gain from 1220 up to 4650 meters. This is the most spectacular race I can imagine, and also the hardest. I had done about 6 weeks of cycling focused training and wattage was better than ever so I was confident.
Last year I was 6th overall. This year I got 3rd with a time of 4.15 that was 14 minutes faster than last year. After about an hour I ended up riding with a guy who has won 100% of the many local uphill races in recent years. With no exceptions. But I was confused because he was supposed to have started 5 minutes earlier as he was in an older category, and I hadn´t even noticed if I had really passed him or if he had missed the start and was actually passing me. I thought it was not possible that I was already 5 minutes ahead of him. But we rode close to each other for maybe 15 minutes and then he fell back.

Foto Edgar Machicado

Soon I reached another very good local rider who had started 5 minutes ahead of me. Only 4 weeks earlier he beat me in a shorter uphill race, but now could not hang at all. I concluded I was having a good day and rode quite hard the first half until the beginning of the paved section. 3,5 hours in I passed the last rider who was still within my reach; looked like the best two riders raced each other extremely hard from the start all the way up. I looked down every now and then and was quite sure that there was no one from the younger category coming within 5 minutes, so I would be 3rd overall. The last 40 minutes it was raining and really cold and I was not able to use my fingers to shift the gears. I think almost all of the participants got to the finish line almost petrified because of the cold rain. After finishing I waited up there for a few hours with my family, waiting for the awards and the rain just continued. It must have been very hard for those who finished in 6 to 9 hours.

Foto Edgar Machicado

Winter in La Paz, Bolivia

The weather here in La Paz from May until the end of August was very cold but I am not sure if it was colder than usual.
Back in January I ordered 3 outdoor thermometers (2 from China and 1 from Hong Kong) and hoped that at least one of them would eventually make it to my living room. In the end I got one of the three. I got tired of going to the post office every month to ask for the other 2 and a book and maybe some other stuff. The answer is always the same "It´s already here but we need to process it. Come back in 2 weeks". The postal service is definitely one of the many negative things about living in Bolivia.
So I started using the thermometer sometime in June. The HORRIBLE TRUTH is that in the mornings the temperature in my living room was typically about 6 or 7 degrees (43F). Typically the temperature would peak at 14 or 15 degrees (58F) in the afternoon. I remember at least one day when the temperature in the living room did not reach 10 degrees (50F). I don´t know how it´s possible to survive that. There is just no escaping that kind of cold.
Suddenly, in the beginning of September the temperatures started to increase. At first 10 degrees in the morning felt like a salvation. Sometimes it was 12 degrees, and in October and November 15 or 16 is the typical living room temperature at about 8.30 in the morning. One time it was as high as 18.
In the daytime the inside temperature has been 18-20 or even 22,5 like today. (Edit: it´s been over 25C inside after writing.) I am typing this in a t-shirt and I´m not wearing shoes. So the conclusion is that in La Paz October and November is the summer time while people say it´s spring. It´s almost impossible that the rainy season from December to March is as warm as October and November have been this year, based on my experience.
We had a house built in the city of Cochabamba where the climate is super nice year round, but we simply prefer living in La Paz, at least so far.
In May it rained a lot and snowed a lot at higher elevations. The biggest snow came on June 9th. There was a solid snow pack from 4200 meters up for several days. I managed to go skiing only once on June 17th. I no longer have a car so I asked a taxi driver family member to take me to 4430 meters for 2$ and from there I walked up to 4830 where I skied for 1 hour 20 minutes. The place was an undulating mountain top and I made a short loop there. Then I walked down and ran/walked 6 km to 4200 and took a 15 minute minibus ride back home.

This area was very exposed to the sun and the snow was melting fast. Some days after skiing I went looking for a skiable area on the shady side of the mountains a couple of times but didn´t find any suitable (flat) area where I wouldn´t have to ski on a 20 degree slope.
There were also other heavy snowfalls but I was really busy with work and other things so in the end I only skied once even though it would have been an exceptional Bolivian ski season for someone with a lot of time and the freedom to take a car and head up to the mountains when the conditions look favorable. But it´s funny that many times when I go up to 4600 meters on a bike, it surprises me that there is no snow, and as many times it surprises me that there is snow! So it´s not a very predictable thing after all. Within the city of La Paz the weather is also quite unpredictable because it´s situated in about 5 valleys with most likely the biggest altitude differences in any city in the world, maybe 950 meters / 3100 ft.
Also climbing mountains would have been really good this year but I didn´t climb any. In September the mountains still looked very snowy.

Cross country ski training in La Paz

Since a few months I don´t own any motor vehicle. I had a 1990 Suzuki Vitara for over 3 years. It gave me plenty of trouble but luckily it didn´t fail on the longer trips to the mountains. Once last year however when I was coming from a mountain the brakes stopped working. I was at 4600 meters and the brake pedal just went through as I was driving down a dirt road. The road was quite straightforward and there was little to no traffic so there was no need to panic. Turned out the brake fluid had leaked all over. After a while I decided to try to get to the end of the city using engine braking and hand brake, because I didn´t want to leave the car on the countryside. Slowly but surely I got to the urban area and left the car there and told a shop owner that I´m leaving my vehicle there because the brakes don´t work. Just like Americans, Bolivians don´t like "suspicious vehicles" and I didn´t want to come back to a burned car so it was better to let at least someone know it was mine. The next day I ended up driving behind a family member through the busy city streets to a place where there are a lot of car mechanics. I got stopped by the police but he hadn´t noticed I was driving strangely. Instead, he asked me if I was a killer who had just escaped from jail... I don´t think he was serious though. So in the end I drove without brakes about 15 kilometers of downhill, descending almost 1000 meters.

While it is obviously helpful to have a car, driving is La Paz is never easy or fun so I don´t miss it all that much.

But anyway, nowadays I walk over 6 kilometers or almost 4 miles each way to do roller ski training at least occasionally.

I leave on foot from where I live at 3860 meters and take a few very steep streets to arrive at the beginning of countryside in 10 minutes. The climb gets steeper and the pace here is about 25 minutes per kilometer. The steep part goes on up until 4200 meters elevation. From there it´s easier with some flatter parts too. The path leads up to 4500 meters on a huge, treeless meadow. Then I need to go down to 4215 meters on the other side, and then climb for a few minutes to arrive at a new, paved road with totally perfect pavement. The downside is that every few kilometer there are gravel sections. The road has not been completed and it´s not been opened to traffic officially, and it looks like it will take years until that happens. There is very little traffic. I would say one vehicle every 10 minutes, or less.

Depending on the wind, in the best case I can train on an out and back loop of 25 minutes. If the wind is "bad", it forces me to use a much shorter section of the road, because it could push me to a downhill with too much speed and onto the gravel. So the skiing happens at 4200 - 4270 meters elevation (up to 14,000 ft). Of course I would rather train much lower, but there is no other place this good, not even close.

Good thing is that thanks to the altitude, the climbing, and the weight of the backpack with roller skis, boots, water and everything, all of the walking counts as training. Today it took 1:28 to get to the ski area and average hr was 121. Skiing was 1:40 with avg hr 133, and return took 1 hour 10 minutes with average hr of 121 as well, including about 30 minutes of jogging. On a good day all of that is easier than it sounds and there is always a sense of freedom in walking up there instead of driving. By car it takes almost 50 minutes to get to the "venue" so walking adds a lot of time efficiency there. Doing hard workouts this way is a bit questionable because it would still require a long workout at the same time.

Even on a lousy day the views are nice.

Olympics

This is my fourth full day at Pyeongchang Olympic Village and it´s 4.30 in the morning so it´s a good time to write about how I got here.

Here´s the background.

I went to Bolivia for the first time in December 2010. I traveled there from the U.S. where I was studying. I had met a Bolivian person and our plan was to travel in Bolivia and some other countries together. And later in 2011 I moved to Bolivia and got married that year. I probably thought about the possibility of representing Bolivia at the winter Olympic games as I found out that after getting married to a Bolivian person I would need to live in the country for 2 years to get citizenship. But still at that time winter Olympic games didn´t feel more important than studying, so after 8 months in Bolivia me and my wife went to Oklahoma for 3 years. In 2012 we did spend 3 months in Bolivia during the summer break.

I used to participate in local cross country ski races as a kid so I knew how to ski, and I always knew there are participants from even the most tropical countries. I thought I could be one of them if I´d be able to spend a few years in Bolivia. Skiing wasn´t the only reason we moved there. For example we wanted our son (and daughter) to grow up in Bolivian environment and to learn the language. There was also a good business opportunity for us that we didn´t see elsewhere. I really wanted to climb the Bolivian mountains and in all ways it seemed like an interesting thing to do. Of course there are some drawbacks to Bolivia too, but anyways it has worked well. I have been working online while in Bolivia, sometimes full-time and other times part-time. Since June 2017 I have only been doing 10 hours a week and I do keep doing that these days too.

Then in December 2014 we moved to La Paz, Bolivia and I got citizenship in March 2017. The first time I contacted Bolivian ski federation was in August 2016 just to let them know about me and my plan. They said there were people who were training on roller skis. A year passed until I contacted the federation again and now I was a citizen.

I needed a license to be able to race. In a lot of countries you buy that online for about 50$ and nobody cares, but the Bolivian federation felt like they needed to organize a roller ski event after which they´d decide who´s worthy of entering real competitions. Bolivia does have some history in alpine skiing and before these Olympics 13 persons had represented Bolivia at the winter Olympic games, mostly in the 80s. Those times there were invitations to the winter games for the not so traditional winter sport countries, but that´s not the case anymore. That´s why there has been no Bolivian participation since 1992. There are annual snowboard and alpine competitions on a mountain close to La Paz, but it´s a fully natural site with no facilities or anything.

I didn´t have roller skis, but I was told that roller skates would be ok. So I bought roller skates for about 170 dollars and went skating 2 times before the event. In the end there were me and 2 other guys, who apparently had tried roller skis before but they were not very good at staying upright. The federation has about 5-6 pairs of roller skis and we tried them and after that I was told I would need to pay 250 dollars for the license and fill out a paper. They lent me ski poles so I could keep training. Before going to Finland in November I was able to roller skate with or without poles 9 times (skate style only) and I also did 5 hard uphill training sessions with the poles without skis for classic style (I know that non-skiers don´t get this).

To enter the Olympic games, I needed to do well enough in at least 5 official, international competitions that  were on the international ski federation (FIS) calendar. The FIS uses "FIS points". You get points from each race, and your FIS points are the average of your 5 best performances.

I knew that I was in the best cycling shape of my life in November. I have a power meter on my bike, so it´s very easy to follow my progress. So I was confident about my fitness, but in the end it turned out it didn´t really transfer over to skiing. Finland has a lot of high level races to choose from even early in the season, so I got there on November 20. I had time to do one real ski training on snow before a weekend of competitions. I managed to get my muscles sore from that first training and didn´t recover from that before the races. I did a skate style competition on Saturday and classic style race on Sunday. From there I just never really felt fresh during the 8 weeks I spent in Finland, but I thought that was ok because I was practically sure I could get the needed points anyway even if I wasn´t fully rested before every race. I believed it was better to focus on doing plenty of training. I did 6 races in total.

In skiing it´s very hard for me to actually know if I´m feeling good, normal, acceptable or bad. You can´t compare your performance in training much, because the snow and weather conditions change all the time. Some days I would do a 5k loop in 20 minutes at a basic heart rate, but if there were a couple inches of wet and heavy snow on the track, it could easily take 25 minutes, or even 30.

Then there´s technique. Mine does look good if you are not a skier, but when I go fast it´s not that great anymore. You just can´t replace years of ski-specific training in weeks. Especially during the first few weeks in Finland I felt it was difficult to focus on technique because of how the ski loop constantly goes over hills and has a lot of curves, and so on. Within the classic and the skate style there are about 3 sub-techniques that you use, depending on if you are on flat, on a slight rise or an uphill. I was used to more simple sports, like cycling, running and swimming. For example in freestyle swimming technique is very important, but at least you maintain the same technique the whole time!  My greatest weakness is ski-specific strength. In races going uphill my mucles would reach their limits, while I was still not breathing very hard. That felt weird. I have to say I fully expected to be more competitive at the races, but the main thing was qualifying for the Olympics, which I did achieve.

I did 6 races quite soon after getting to Finland, because I wanted to make sure I´d obtain the necessary points fast in case I would get sick or hurt at some point. I was not used to cold weather, or the Finnish germs or anything, and for example a pneumonia could easily take 2 weeks to fully recover from. My last race was in mid-December and after that I focused on training. The last week in Finland was very difficult as muscles were fatigued. I was back in La Paz on January 17th and there I did cycling and a total of 5 roller ski trainings on skis provided by the federation. Roller skis are more difficult to ski on than real skis, so I decided to do hard trainings on the bike. I was surprised that 10 days after getting to La Paz I was able to perform even better in a cycling wattage test than before going to Finland, even though I did not do cycling there for 8 weeks (only one 40 minute indoor ride).I even did one 31-minute uphill cycling race on February 4th before traveling 3 days to South Corea starting on February 6th. Obviously I don´t have expectations of placing high, but my goal is to prepare in such ways that on the race day I´d finally feel fresh and ready to race. So hopefully on 16th I´ll be able to beat a handful of other competitors at least.

Yolosa - La Cumbre: Bike race with 3440 meters of absolute elevation gain

Yesterday I raced a very special bike race. It's called Yolosa - La Cumbre or YLC and it starts from the jungle at 1220 meters' (4000ft) elevation and finishes 63 kilometers (40 miles) later at 4650 meters (15,250ft). The start is below Coroico town and finish close to La Paz. I am sure that there are only a few races, if any, with this much absolute elevation gain in the world. For a lot of cyclists around La Paz this race is the highlight of the year and now was the 12th time the event was organized.

On Saturday there was the first stage of the race, a short cross country race in Coroico. Somehow in my mind I had completely ignored this stage while thinking about the main race all the time for the past weeks. I took this first stage very easy and finished in 45 minutes and placed 99th out of 270. I kind of felt sorry for the not-so-good folks that pushed really hard and passed me, but I knew I was going to feel great the next day.

I didn't really sleep the night before the big race because there was a lot of noise in the touristy area of Coroico. Next time I need to make sure to be further away, but now I didn't really have time to look for a hotel before the first stage. I got up at 5.30 in the morning and after 6 I rode my bike down from Coroico at 1750 meters to Yolosa at 1220 meters. Women started first at 7. Then men according to age. At some point I looked at my bike and noticed that my bottle was missing. I was totally sure it should have been in the cage but I don't know what happened. Luckily right there was a tiny store already open and they had Powerade. I bought one bottle and drank all of it. Problem solved and now I got to start without the weight from a full bottle.

 I was in the elite category and we were supposed to start at 7.15 5 minutes after the last age group. As the last start was going on, I was alone behind everyone and people urged me to start, so I did. Apparently the elite had already left, but that was ok because the race used chip timing. So I had about 270 people ahead of me. I got into my own rhythm and passed people all the time for the first hour or more. There was enough room for passing and the speed was low so no problem. This is a one lane dirt road that has some quite steep sections, but for the most part it rises very gently. My seatpost slowly slipped down and I quickly stopped to fix it twice. While it was a little annoying, I tried to tell myself that it was only good to use different muscles as the seat height changed... I was on a friend's bike that weighed 14,8 kilos (32 pounds) with my pedals, but otherwise it was a great bike, almost new.

 It was a little bit difficult to decide how fast to ride. I thought I would finish in 4,5 to 5 hours. Riding as hard as you can for 4,5 hours may sound simple (and absurdly hard), but there is no real way to know how hard you should go for the first hour or two, for example. I only have a power meter on one road bike wheel, and also the changing elevation would play a role in power output. The first 1-2 hours at the low elevations felt quite easy and I was not breathing hard. Muscles slowly got more tired, and obviously in the end muscle fatigue was going to be the most important limiting factor, I thought. I ate a lot of Oreo cookies while slowly but surely gaining elevation on the green mountains. It's not like I have traveled the world, but I would say that this area between La Cumbre and Coroico is about as spectacular as it gets. The dirt road is carved into the side of a mountain, and there is a steep drop most of the way right there on the side of the road. There are also 2 or 3 waterfalls that fall over the road.

There were three hydration points on the dirt road. First I took two mugs of Powerade, and on the second station some water. At this point I was alone, just occasionally passing riders. There is no real vehicle traffic on this road and nobody except the organizers were allowed there during the race. The third hydration was close to the paved road and there were a lot of people watching. I had given a bottle of Gatorade to a buddy the night before so he could give it to me at this spot, and there he was. I was also handed a bottle of Powerade, which I drank entirely. I was in a good situation for the second half of the race which was on a paved road from maybe 3100 meters elevation up. I knew I was going to pass more competitors. Legs still felt good, I was thinking clearly, and I smiled to the people cheering me on.

I adjusted my seat height one more time and this time it worked for good. From the beginning of the paved road I felt like I really needed to start going hard. I have been training on this part of the course probably more than anyone else in the race because for me it's conveniently close, but still it requires a long ride to get to the race course. I felt like at home there. Someone told me that 17 riders had passed before me, and so I started pushing hard. I passed many, and all of them seemed exhausted and could not follow at all. This gave me a spark, but once I got to a spot well known to me after riding almost 3 hours, I kind of panicked because I thought I was barely going to finish in under 5 hours, or maybe in 4.50. That's when the race was totally on for me.

A couple of friends appeared in a car and they rode beside me on and off making all kind of noise, which gave me a boost. The last 2 hours of the race were really strong and at some point I believed I had a chance to go under 4 hours 30 minutes which felt like a big deal, so I kept driving as hard as I could. When I assumed I had maybe 25 minutes to go, I saw two racers in the distance. I didn't want to lose the opportunity to gain 2 more spots and tried even harder. Quite soon I passed them in the steepest part of the paved road and left them behind 15 minutes before finish line.

I got sixth overall in 4 hours 29 minutes. I wonder how much faster I could go on a bike that's 5 kilos lighter, or more... Dragging 5-7 kilos less for 3400 elevation meters should make a huge difference, but I guess I'm doing it right by having a light body weight and a heavy bike, not the other way around.

Winner was the icon of Bolivian cycling, Oscar Soliz. He has been the most successful Bolivan cyclist by a lot for about 10 years and he's the face of the sport here. For years Soliz has been riding for Movistar on continental level as a tiny climber and team captain, but for some reason he didn't make it to Europe. He did the Yolosa - La Cumbre in 3.51. Second place was Tinker Juarez from the U.S. in 4.08 and third was a local guy who rarely races with 4.10. Fourth was a Chilean racer, fifth another local and then me. In the combined results of both stages I was 7th overall. Would be very interesting to have power numbers from that race. Anyway despite the elevation changes throughout the course I believe I rode the later half at much higher effort. I think next time I'll ride a little bit harder on the dirt part.

Edit: At the end of November Oscar Soliz was suspended for cera, a type of epo. Ok then, we won´t be seeing him until 2021.  Or, in fact he might still show up to independent races like Yolosa-La Cumbre.

On the weekend of October 6-7 there was an interesting triathlon here in La Paz, organized by Club de Tenis La Paz. They also organized the olympic distance triathlon at lake Titicaca in March. This was the first time this race was put up. It featured a 1000 meter swim in an outdoor pool on Friday night when it was already dark. Pretty nice. The pool is a 25 meter pool in a garden-like setting, and there is also an indoor pool of the same lenght. The club is at 3250 meters elevation, which is over 600 meters less than where I live, so swimming felt "easy". There were maybe 40 participants, and four different swim starts. 2 swimmers per lane. The water was not cold, but the night was chilly and we were free to use wetsuits. I think my swim heat started at about 8.30pm and I managed a time of 14.32 which was surprisingly fast since I had been swimming very little. It was 2nd fastest of the night and I was one minute behind the leader.

The next morning at 8 we started cycling. In the past weeks and months I have finally focused on training instead of wanting to be at 100% for every possible race. In training I have done more hours and hard sessions have also been longer. During the race week I did 4,5 hours of cycling on Wednesday and 3:25 on Thursday. The bike was a mass start, even though it would have been nice to  leave one by one in the order of swim times. The triathlon was named Triatlon Xterra Hampaturi, and the cycling route was about one third pavement, one third stoned streets (very bumpy, much worse than cobbles), and then dirt roads. The course started from 3300 meters elevation (10,800ft) and climbed up to 3830 meters at transition. First two guys took off very fast, and it took me maybe 15 minutes to take the lead. I rode really hard the whole time and I am sure it was a much harder effort than in a typical on-road triathlon. Running shoes arrived at the transition in a bus. Before the start I said to a buddy that hopefully the bus arrives at transition before us. I got to the transition first, and about 20 seconds before the bus... luckily my rival was not in sight. Cycling took 47 minutes. I'm not sure about the distance but it was supposed to be 12 km.

Run started well despite riding hard. Legs felt light. This was a 6 km course, with the first 4 km rising slightly while there were also some downhills. After the first 2 kilometers there were no more houses and no people or traffic along the route. Then the little road got steeper, and the last 2 kilometers included as much as 250 meters elevation gain! The last kilometer was the steepest and I was only barely able to run. This was very hard, and the finish line was by the Hampaturi dam at 4245 meters elevation (13,927 feet). Run time was 38 minutes and I was a little bit surprised to finish 5 minutes ahead of the second place, so I won by four minutes overall. They gave me a watch that works like a smartphone. I haven't explored it much yet, but at least it works really well when calling from one room to another inside the house.

The next weekend on Sunday there was a race from outside El Alto to the legendary Chacaltaya mountain. This too was a mountain bike race but on dirt roads. We started from 4300 meters (14,100ft) and the finish was at 5220 meters (17,125ft)! It's not likely that there is another race in the world that reaches such elevation, so this should be the highest cycling race in the world. This race attracted some racers from other regions too, or at least I had never heard of a few fast riders that were there. I must say that doing competive endurance sports at 5000 meters is quite hard : )

Foto: Joel Zarate Alanz

 It snowed part of the way up but luckily the worst of that day's storm was further away. I finished in 1 hour 30 minutes and got 9th overall. It sure looked like for many racers their altitude genes kicked in since I could not keep up with some guys I typically beat. Or maybe it was because I had already been riding for an hour and 55 minutes before the start.

Today on October 22 I participated in my favorite local bike race. It's a road bike uphill race from 3760 up to 4660 meters (15,288ft). So this might be the highest road bike race in the world, while it does have categories for mountain bikes as well. The last time this was done was in June. I got second that time, but I had just recovered from bronchitis and was suffering from a stomach bug that bothered me for a few weeks until I finally took antibiotics for it. I like this race because I just need to roll downhill for 4 minutes from where I live to get to the start, and from the top of the mountain it's a breeze to get back home. This is also the road I train on the most when I ride outside. Also it's a lot like time trial and takes one hour or more, depending on the wind. This time the wind was a headwind while going up and my time was 1.04:50. I had a good day despite having ridden the indoor trainer 4 hours 20 minutes on Thursday (and 3 hours 40 minutes total on Wednesday) and pushed my record watts for the route. I got second overall out of 42. On the way down I hit 88,6 km/h (55 mph). It don't get no better than that!

Foto: Anniel Pelaez

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On August 20 I was in a cycling race and hit a dog after about 10 minutes. The streets in Bolivia are full of dogs, and you literally have to watch every step to avoid getting your shoes dirty. The race passed a small village and I came through a corner and then there was a very short downhill before equally short uphill. At the bottom there was a dog on the street. It looked like it was going to cross the street, but I think it got confused right at the last moment and I ran into it. There were racers around me so I would not have had much chance of swerving around the dog. It was quite a hit but luckily my glutes took the worst of it. With worse luck I could have easily fractured my hip. After a couple of minutes I decided to keep riding because my stuff was in a car on the way to the finish area.

I kept riding the trainer the next week and I did two swims that week too (with wounds covered as well as possible), so on Sunday road rash in my hip, elbow and ankle were like fresh. I wanted to race a time trial that Sunday because based on all the road races I had done around here, I thought I could be the best time trialist around La Paz. I ended up winning that race by 0,1 seconds even though muscles felt really heavy from the start.

With the wounds still open, I needed to rest so I took 2 days off, then did a short run on Wednesday and as running was still painful from the crash, I decided to rest 2 more days. At that point I also decided not to go to triathlon national championships that weekend in Santa Cruz. By now I was pretty sure there was a small tear in the affected mucle so I took it easier for one more week

Cycling national championships were supposed to be held at the end of May, and I was in very good cycling shape then, but the race got canceled because there is a new "rebel federation" that wants to take over. So then at the end of August national championships were announced for September 16 and 17 (time trial and road race). It is very typical in Bolivia to let people know about important races 2 or 3 weeks before. In the real world that would be about a year. But anyway, I was not asked to ride for La Paz in the time trial or in the road race where 5 riders from each department compete. Over the years in Bolivia I have learned to expect very little of anything or anyone, so this was not even a big surprise or a big disappointment. It did bother me a little bit that one guy who is always wayyy slower than me was there competing.

Highest Sprint Triathlon in the World

La Paz is in a valley, El Alto is above in the flat area. There is no other limit between the two cities, and El Alto is a bit bigger in terms of population and probably has more area too. About 900 000 people live in El Alto.

On Saturday August 12th there was a triathlon in El Alto. It was a sprint with a pool swim in a quite new pool. This was not the first time there was a triathlon in El Alto but first time I participated. The pool is at 4050 meters elevation (13,290 ft). El Alto´s city center is at 4100 and the highest, north eastern parts of the city reach 4275 meters (14,025ft)! So, I am confident that this is the highest  triathlon in the world.

In Bolivian triathlon the current situation is that there are three national championships every year, each of them being equally important. It´s a disgrace, but the olympic distance no longer exists in these championship races and all of them are sprints. One can not just sign up, but you have to be a member of a club and participate in a regional qualifying race to be selected to repsesent your area, which in this case is La Paz. Every time before regionals you have to provide copy of birth certificate, copy of id card, and a copy of medical certificate plus some money. You only get a license about 5 or 10 minutes before the nationals race from regional "authority" and right before the race the race organizers take it...

In May I participated in the national championships in Cochabamba as part of my return to triathlon. That was the first time since September 2015 but unfortunately I had not tightened my bike handlebar properly after flight and it was moving so I had to take the bike leg a bit carefully. In fact right after starting the bike leg I noticed that my rear wheel was rubbing against bike frame too so I had to stop to adjust it and that took way longer than it should. And still at least in the turn arounds I could hear the tire rubbing. These things never happened to me before... That race didn't go as planned and I ended up 4th in the elite and sixth overall. There are athletes that are training really well for the 2018 South American games that will be held in Cochabamba. I know that at least the second place guy has been training full-time for almost 4 years and others are pushing hard too.

So this race in El Alto was a regional qualifier. It was a regular, sunny but cold morning in La Paz, but up in El Alto it was very windy (and colder of course). In the end the organizers decided to shorten the distances and make it a run-bike-swim with a little break before the swim. They thought it was not worth it to expose people to the cold wind after swimming. At times the scene was much like in a sandstorm, but I didn´t think it was that bad. The triathlon at Titicaca in March was a lot worse in terms of cold. But as usual, I was the person with most clothes on and I am sure most people were not ready for those conditions.

The run was 4 kilometers and bike was 13 km. There were a few really good runners from the military team and they (4) left me far behind. As usual for running, it felt like I could not get the best out because of the altitude. I was about minute and a half behind the leader at the end of the run even though I am in a pretty good running shape.

The best runners from La Paz, El Alto, Oruro and Potosi who were born and raised at super high altitudes can maintain around 3.30 (a few even 3.20) per kilometer for a 10k running at 13 000ft.

Cycling went well and I caught everyone quite soon and in the end I was at least 30-40 seconds ahead of second place. After a short break we swam 500 meters in the pool. That was quite difficult after a maximum effort in the run and bike and I only managed 9 minutes. I don´t even know how the military men swam because I had to go home as soon as possible but later it turned out I won the "elite" category.

The next day I went to a cycling race outside El Alto with 3 other cyclists. It was a pretty competive 80km race. Obviously legs felt tired. It was windy again but not nearly as much as Saturday. I raced carefully and never responded to the crazy attacks at full speed. Instead, I kept a steady hard pace behind the lead group at least 3 times when they left me. About 10 km before finish line 10 racers escaped again but eventually I managed to join the top 5 just before the final 1 kilometer hill and took the lead briefly before 3 of them took off. I finished 4th.

Sajama solo climb: Straight from base camp to Summit

Sajama is Bolivia's highest peak at 6546 meters or 21,476ft. Obviously I had thought about climbing it countless times, and it's quite possible and even likely that Sajama is the highest I'll ever climb. While the idea of going to some 7000 meter peak or much higher is certainly quite attractive, I think it still makes more sense to climb the peaks here in Bolivia while I'm here. In one day I can get in some really good climbing from where I live, Also this is where I am familiar with and where some of the best (and maybe safest) mountaineering conditions exist. But any climb could be my last one, mountaineering is not something I have planned to do for decades ahead.

Edit: On the other hand, it would make a lot of sense to go and attempt a climb in the 7000-8000 meter range straight from La Paz, already fully acclimatized. Some nights spent at 6000-6500 on a Bolivian mountain would easily cut a week off a typical Himalayan expedition that are 4 to 8 weeks long with a lot of time spent on getting used to the altitudes because almost everybody lives at sea level.

In 2016 I planned to climb Sajama with a Russian person and a guide, but we heard that it was not worth it: As last year was very dry, there was no snow on the mountain. Only ice, and sand on the critical steeper section.

Now I finally decided to climb Sajama, by myself, and I knew the amazing snow conditions around La Paz would also extend to Sajama. And according to mountainforecast.com it was going to be very calm. To top it off, it was full moon only a few days earlier so the moonlight was going to be bright.

My plan was to climb from the base camp to the top in one push, because I don't like carrying a huge and heavy backpack, and I can never really rest and sleep while camping, so eliminating one night's poor sleep would be beneficial for me, I thought. So that would mean over 1700 meters of elevation gained. That would be the most I have ever done. I had done over 1500m at least three times. On my Illimani climb I went from 3880 to 5410 meters in less than seven hours of total time, carrying a full backpack, which is around 20 kilos with water and everything. That was 9,1km. On Mururata I gained 1650 meters in 4,5 hours total time over 11 km carrying a light backpack (4230-5880m). While climbing Maria Lloco I had to climb over 1680 meters, so surprisingly that was the day with most vertical meters gained. That time I went from about 4780 to 5250, down to 4710, up to 5550, down to 4730 and again to 5100 before getting back to the car!

I was determined to try the climb straight from base camp, but I was aware that I might not be able to do it. For example, I didn't know if the path to high camp was going to be soft sand. That would be exhausting. Or if it was going to include some rocky sections. That can be very slow if you have to watch every step you take. Sometimes it can be difficult to find the route, especially in the dark, and sometimes you just have a bad day and can't move fast. High ice pinnacles or nieve penitentes are typical for mountains in the Sajama area, and they slow you down a lot. Deep snow could also be a problem.

On Wednesday July 12th I had some things to do in the morning, and I hesitated leaving for Sajama because it was getting a bit late. I had prepared all my stuff in the evening, and at 9.30 I left but I still had to buy a warning triangle for my vehicle.

It took about 1 hour 15 minutes to get out of El Alto and at noon I was in Patacamaya. From there begins my favorite drive of about 170 kilometers or 105 miles to the Sajama village. This was the third time I drove that road. It reminds me a lot of Arizona deserts and redlands. There is very little traffic, and most of it is big trucks coming from Chilean ports. I was finally in Sajama at 3.20 and I was not sure if I should carry on because it was late. I drove straight through the village and north from there. Surprisingly soon I saw a sign that said "base camp". I had planned to leave my car there, but then I drove just a little bit further to turn around. I'm extremely glad I did that, because there was an actual little road going up the hill on my right. It took me 1,1km further towards the base camp! I didn't know that road existed, but it saved me precious time and energy. The road ended at 4420 meters.

I had to eat and drink a lot before leaving the car, and do some final preparations, so it was already 4.32 when I set off on foot. It was warm and sunny and the path rose only gently. It was a good path all the way, nothing like the approach to nearby Parinacota that's all very soft sand and volcanic ash.
I was carrying a backpack of 20 kilos (I weighed it), but I felt strong and walked the 4,56 kilometers or 2.83 miles to the base camp at 4810 meters in exactly 1 hour 30 minutes, including one stop. There were two tents in the camp. The sun went down behind the mountains at the very moment I got there, and the shadow moved incredibly fast. One of the tents was empty, but from the other I heard a language that was Russian or some Eastern European language. There was a Polish couple. The woman said their plan was to just go the high camp, but I saw at least one pair of crampons. It didn't even occur to me to ask why they were just going to the high camp, because why would I question their doings? Just trekking there is amazing when you are into it.

Only a few minutes after the camp site had fallen into the shadow, I saw that a tiny stream of water nearby was already partially frozen. The change from warm sun to very chilly temperatures was so quick it boggled my mind. That's the kind of stuff you see on TV!

The empty tent was a high cooking tent. I wasn't sure if I should use it. I only have a small bivy tent that's maybe 80cm high. So I decided to sleep in the cooking tent that obviously belonged to some group that was higher on the mountain. The camp site here is big and flat, and the best part is that it's very comfortable for laying down. Must be the best one I have seen in Bolivia.

At about 7.10 I was in the sleeping bag. Eventually I slept roughly from 11 to 1 a.m. After that I could not sleep anymore, even though my alarm was set for 3.15. I got up at 1.50 and started the walk at 2.15 a.m. That is the earliest I have ever started a climb. On my Illimani solo trip I started at 3.30. but that was from the high camp. First there was an almost flat plain, then a zig zag uphill, and another almost flat section. Some might have ignored these initial parts of the journey, but to me this was perhaps the most memorable part. From the beginning the moonlight was so bright that I didn't need the headlamp. I enjoyed these lonely moments in the middle of the night, knowing that I had taken a super early start. In the desert-like environment and the bright moonlight, the first hour with the gentle rise felt like walking on the moon. It was totally calm and quiet.

The path was easy to follow and the surface was good. At 5100 meters and at 5300 there are flat spots that can be used for camping. I might have used one of them had I known. From about 5200 the path zig zags up and it is steeper. In the first hour I gained 440 meters (4810-5250). In the second hour 386 meters (5250-5636).

I'm not sure if it was 4.33 or 4.43 a.m. when I got to the high camp at 5685 meters, but anyway it was still early and I was happy about the progress I had made and legs felt strong. At 5.12 I stopped to put on boots and crampons, to put more clothes on and to eat and drink for 31 minutes before setting out on the snow at 5.43. I switched on my headlamp for the first time that day! This is a ridge that does not have snow until this very high elevation, but on both sides there was snow at lower elevations. Compared to the ridge on Illimani, this was very safe.

Close to La Paz there is snow as low as at 4860 meters, but the Sajama area is a different story.

I could see two headlamps higher on the mountain, so at least two people had started from the high camp that night, although there were four tents. They were maybe an hour ahead of me. In the third hour I gained 314 meters getting up to 5950m. These times don't include dedicated stops when I also turn the timer off.

There was a steeper section at up to 50 degrees where the ridge joins a slope coming from below, but the snow was really good. From the way it had been melting and then frozen, it almost had like small steps, so I was not afraid of a fall. Later on the way down I saw that it would have been a really bad place for a fall: nothing would stop one for hundreds of meters. After the steep rise, you have to follow the upper ridge and there are about 3 spots where you have to be careful while passing some rocks, but overall it's not difficult or scary. I think these rocks can be avoided by not taking the first steep snow gullies that go up, but by continuing more to the right and climbing directly to the upper snow fields.

There were high ice pinnacles or penitentes from 6000 meters to 6150 meters so that part was super slow, but after that the snow was perfect. In the fourth hour I got from 5950 to 6144 m so that's 194 meters per hour. At times the angle was maybe 45 degrees, at times 30, until the final part that is around 15 degrees. There were a few crevasses but it didn't feel like a risky area. As usual I did carry a rope and wore a harness just in case. I never really got extremely tired, and just kept gaining altitude meter by meter. In the fifth hour, above the ice pinnacles I gained 292 meters from 6143 to 6435 meters elevation. Everything just went really well the whole day and I didn't get a headache at any point even after the climb in the evening. As I was reaching the summit plateau, I saw the 2 climbers going down. I got to the top of Bolivia at 8.35. It was like the best case scenario. 6 hours and 20 minutes from base camp to summit. That's 274 meters per hour and 318 meters per hour if all the stops are excluded. The summit is a flat area. I spent 14 or 15 minutes there and then started going down at 8.50. I was back in the camp sometime around 1 p.m. I think just before 1. View from the camp:

Ate a little bit, packed and slowly walked back to the car following people who had come down from high camp that day, including the two who made the summit that day. At maybe 3.30 I was back at the car. I gave a Colombian and a British climber a ride to the town. I like the Sajama town. I estimate that there are 50 houses, but it feels very empty and quiet, almost like a ghost town. In a way I admire the people who live in that hostile but beautiful environment and tolerate the cold nights at 4250 meters. Sajama area is very prone to high winds, and that's when it must feel like Siberia... I spent the night there in a nice new hostal at the very north end of the village. Only 35 bolivanos 5 USD. Went to sleep at 8.

A climb in the Hampaturi

On 1st of July I left at 5.30 in the morning for Hampaturi. I wanted to see if I could climb a pretty much unknown 5500 meter peak. It is between Serkhe Kollu and Hati Kollu. While there is some information on Serkhe and Hati (I have climbed both), this peak has nothing, not even a name, it seems, but according to Google Earth it's at least 5520 meters high. I was not sure if it had ever been climbed.

There are two ways to get there: The "road" that goes to Serkhe, or the "road" that goes towards Hati. From the road to Hati it would be at least 6km to this hidden peak's glacier, and from Google Earth I could not be sure if it was a walking path or a driveable path that goes there. It would have been a good idea to take a mountain bike ride there to find out. So I chose the road that I knew, the one that goes towards Serkhe Kollu.

It was cloudy in La Paz, and higher in the mountains it snowed. During the approach it snowed and the peaks over me were covered in fog. It was a very bad day for July, since it's almost always clear in June and July.

Longer story short: I got to a gully that had a wide but very thin ice fall right next to it at about 5400 meters. The ice was falling apart, and at least once every minute there was some ice coming down, but luckily in very small pieces.This was the sunny side, and there was a break in the clouds, so the wall heated up.  I had to do some rock climbing, but eventually the slick, wet and steep rock was too much. I was about 6 meters from what I think was a narrow snow slope leading to the summit, but I had to go down.

I traversed to another gully more to the southwest, and began going up again from 5220 meters. Eventually at 5420 meters I got to the ridge, and on both sides there was a peak. I went to the first one which was 5470 meters, and then the other that was 5484 meters. From there I could see that there was what looked like a cairn at the top of the peak that I initially wanted to climb. So it looks like it has been climbed before. When I saw that, I wasn't really so interested in finding out if I could have made it to that peak from where I was.

Climbing Pico Italiano 5756 m: New Route

I have been aiming to climb Pico Italiano various times, but each time for various reasons I had not been successful. On Tuesday, June 27th I left home at 5.10 in the morning and my goal was to climb a minor peak of over 5500 meters in the Huayna Potosi massif. A couple hundred meters after the Milluni checkpoint I took a slight left turn on to the road that goes to Tuni Condoriri. I had been on that road one time before, when I climbed Maria Lloco. I parked at 4785 meters elevation. Too bad that I don't have a picture of that, but it was quite awesome to be able to park so close to the snowy mountains. For the first time ever I put on my climbing boots in the comfort of my car! Then I walked 15 minutes on an only slightly rising path to the snowline at 4865 meters. The initial slopes pictured early in the morning:

The snow was firm at some spots, but all soft in other spots. I have a lot of experience on snow, but still I could not really understand why it was like that. The first slopes were gentle, finally rising at 30 degrees. Then I got onto a low ridge from which the views were really nice. The peak that I climbed is not in this picture, it's more to the left.

In fact, I climbed to both of these, kind of indistinct peaks:

Quite nice slopes.

The other peak in the background.

Once I got to the top at 5508 meters, Pico Italiano seemed to be quite close. I mean truly close. So I was curious about whether it would be possible to go down on the opposite side of the peak I had just climbed, and then get onto the western glacier of Pico Italiano. I took a break and considered my possibilities. It was already 11 am.

In general I think it's curiosity that makes me climb: I want to know what the mountain or route is like.

So I went down about 180 meters. As this was the sunny side, there was no snow. Luckily I didn't need to go any lower, and at 5330 meters I traversed for a while before getting on the snow again at noon. I thought 2 hours or in worst case 3 hours would be enough to get to the top at over 5700 meters. I didn't know exactly how high the peak was.

The route:

Boliviaclimbinginfo.org is a site with plenty of information on mountains and routes climbed in Bolivia. Not all routes that have been climbed in the past are recorded there, but mostly they are. According to their information the west side of Pico Italiano had not been climbed previously. It certainly is a remote corner of the area, and I'm sure that even the "normal" route to Pico Italiano  sees very few ascents each year despite its relative proximity to the very popular and even touristy Huayna Potosi normal route.

Unlike the route I had climbed in the morning that was snow that's normally not there, this was all glacier. First it was quite easy-angled, but soon I worked with both ice axes. There was what looked like a hidden bergschrund, but at least where I crossed it, it was full of ice and easy to get over. From there the angle was first 50 degrees and then I think up to 55 degrees. Quite steep. Because this is a slope that gets all the afternoon sunlight, the snow had pretty much melted. So there was not much more left than the ice, but luckily the surface had a nice crust. I was able to kick front points in enough to feel secure and ice axes went in nicely, but if the ice had been harder I would have been in for trouble. On my right there would have been an easier (not so steep) option... low part of the slope in the picture.

It took 40 minutes to get up that face onto easier ground at 5640 meters. The final, south face is quite steep but not too high. From the bergschrund it was 80 elevation meters to the top. The bergschrund seemed like trouble from distance, and I thought it was really big and covered in soft snow. I was fully aware of the option that I might not be able to cross it. But once I got there I discovered that it was in fact full of firm snow. Easy, no problem at all. Immediately after that the steep south face began. The snow was quite perfect for steep climbing, firm enough so that I could kick good steps, but soft enough to minimize the risk of falling because my feet went in pretty deep. I used ice axes by sticking them in bottom first. This part took about 25 minutes and the angle was 60 degrees.

It was a relief to get to the top at 2.15pm, but I really hoped that I wouldn't have to climb down the south face. It turned out that there was an easy way down on firm snow. I was super happy and made it back down the whole route in just over 20 minutes, almost running. So I went back to 5330 meters and then up to 5500 meters and further down super quickly to my car.

Climbing Charkirini (Charquirini, Ch'iyar Qirini) with a lot of snow

Sometimes I leave home by foot, go down a little bit and then walk up 35 minutes along a steeply rising water channel. The angle is around 30 degrees. This walk is good training, especially before doing a real mountain climb. Sometimes I do this two times, but usually I run 40 minutes up at 4180 meters where there is a flat path and no people. From there I can see the Chacaltaya area, and of course Illimani, Mururata and Hampaturi area. Almost always the Chalcaltaya is all brown and free of snow, but this year has been totally different. To the north-east of Chacaltaya there is a peak that looks like a pyramide. Since it is now covered in snow, I wanted to climb it.


On Sunday, June 25th I woke up quite late at 8.15 but that was ok because the route I had planned did not include glaciers. I drove up some roads that I was familiar with because I had been riding mountain bike around there multiple times. I took about 1 hour 10 minutes to get to the end of a road at 4580 meters. From there I started the walk at 10.40 A.M. and after 50 minutes I got to the beginning of snow at 4905 meters. The snow was quite good and firm, the weather sunny and calm. The angle was around 30 degrees, but at times 40 degrees. There was only one section where it was a bit steeper, and where a fall would have been bad because there was a cliff below. After that the angle was mellow again and the snow slopes were pretty.

After enough time plodding up, I got to the top at 5370 meters. That doesn't sound like a lot, but still it was a decent climb with 790 meters of elevation gain and it was on snow from unusually low elevation, especially considering that normally there is no snow on these mountains!

It took 2.25 hours of moving time to get to the top, maybe 3 hours total. From there I went down 70 meters and then on to another peak that was a bit lower. From there I found an interesting route to go down. It would have been an excellent route to climb up: a couloir with firm snow, 350 meters gained at steady 40-45 degree angle.

All in all this took only 5 hours 50 minutes car to car and the drive home took 1 hour 4 minutes. Nice!

A mountain climb in Bolivia.

In Novermber-December La Paz ran out of water because the year had been so dry. This year has been very snowy in the Bolivian mountains. In early March I happened to ride bike outside (I almost always ride an indoor trainer) in the highlands and noticed that all the mountains that usually don't have snow were now all white. Since then I have gone up from La Paz almost weekly for different reasons, and the mountains are still covered in snow.

At the end of May I decided to climb a mountain after about 9 months. Even in April and May it rained a lot and snowed in the mountains so it was a bit difficult to find the perfect time to go. Cloudy and rainy weather is not very nice for climbing, and there could be avalanches after it snows heavily. Especially around the last weekend of April it rained very much and it was cold. I usually don't watch the Bolivian news because there are so many bad things happening, but once during that weekend or the next Monday I saw the news and there had been a tragedy on Illimani due to an avalanche.

The last weekend of May was supposed to be partially sunny, so I made the decision to go to the Huayna Potosi area to try and climb Pico Italiano. I woke up early and left home at 3.48 in the night (morning) even though it was raining and foggy. I hoped it would clear up by sunrise. The drive was quite slow and on the small dirt road that rises from Autopista towards the mountains I could only see about 10 meters because of the fog. Higher, close to Chacaltaya I surprised myself by getting surprised by the snow that was on the road. After Milluni checkpoint it started to snow and the road was covered in about 5 cm of snow.

I started the walk towards the "normal" route on the rarely climbed Pico Italiano while it was still all dark, at maybe 5.40 A.M. Once on the glacier, there was a lot of soft snow. I had been on that glacier various times before, but this was the first time that it was covered in snow. The crevasses were covered in snow and it was difficult to see where they were. For some reason I experienced some mild snow blindness a couple of times: everything seemed just white. I proceeded slowly trying not to step in crevasses, but also the soft snow made walking there quite tiring. As it got warmer, my crampons started to ball up with the moist snow that made walking even more difficult. I don't know about the more modern equipment, but I once weighed my boots and they are 2,0 kilos or 4.4 pounds each with the inner boot, the boot itself and a crampon. That is quite heavy at least at the end of a long climb. I got my boots used from an agency in La Paz that rents equipment for guided climbs.

For a moment it was sunny, but soon extremely heavy clouds rolled in.

It took too long to get to the beginning of the narrow and steep couloir that rises 100 meters from 5400 to 5500 m. It also looked loaded with loose snow. It would have been very slow, tiring and also a bit risky to take that route so I decided to abandon the plan and just climbed to a very minor peak that was 5410 meters high.

 On the way down it snowed heavily the whole time. It had been so cold the whole day that I was only barely able to start my car. I got a bronchitis after the trip and spent 8 days resting.