This was my first international climb. I traveled to Peru having hired Peruvian Andes Guides to potentially climb Urus, Ishinca and Toclarraju. I left on Monday 06/20/2016 and arrived in Huaraz at 7am on Wednesday. My stay for the first week was at the Morales Guest House. Hisou Morales is the owner of the guide service. I found the guest house to be very comfortable and accommodating. The 2 peruvian girls that worked the kitchen and tended to the rooms were very friendly and nice. The views from the roof patio were amazing. I have never seen views of mountains reaching so high in to the sky.

I arrived early to ensure proper acclimatization. Having never climbed this high, I was nervous of how my body would react to the altitude. This week I went on two acclimatization hikes. The first hike was to Laguna Llaca in the Llaca Valley. This was a beautiful hike to 4520M or 14,599'. This was higher than I had ever been. The landscape is this region is extremely beautiful. The fresh glacier lakes are a brilliant blue/green. The next day I hiked to Laguna 69. This was a much more difficult hike and was far more populated. The destination and landscape was probably some of the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen. My high point for this day was just over 15,000'!! The trek up was fairly taxing due to the altitude. At times you feel a bit nauseous and definitely out of breath. I was pleasantly surprised at how well I adjusted to the altitude. Both days I spent hiking with 3 trekkers that were also acclimatizing and using Peruvian Andes Guides. At about 14,500', Lisa 54, went into atrial fibrillation. This was rather scary being at such a high altitude and not wanting anything to happen of any severity. After about 5 minutes she took a beta-blocker, which corrected her heart rhythm. We continued to our destination.

On our way day, Julian 74, sat down out of exhaustion and passed out. He was definitely having issues with the altitude. The three that I had been hiking with were getting ready for a 15 trek. Julian actually had to leave for home due to complications. I'm glad he was ok.

We left for base camp on Monday the 27th. This was a fun day. Meeting the other climbers and hiking to base camp as the donkeys carried the heavy loads. Upon arrival to Ishinca base camp we were welcomed with beautiful views of Tocllaraju. We bedded down after dinner at around 7pm to get some rest for our early rise.

We woke about 3am to breakfast in the kitchen tent. After about an hour of eating and preparation we left for the trailhead. Immediately the eight climbers and 3 guides were spread along the trail. This trail went straight up. And I mean straight up! It offered no relief. There was one guide and two climbers (mom and son from Canada) above me with the rest of the party fairly far behind. I felt great as I traveled through the 15,000' zone onto 16,000'. I looked at my altimeter at about 16,200' and was astonished by my altitude. At this point you could really feel the altitude. My anxiety was much higher at this point. With a pounding heart, all alone in the dark on a foreign route on a foreign mountain in a foreign country gets a man thinking. I just kept thinking break 17,000'. At about that point I met with the other climbers and guide above me to strap on crampons and rope in together. The route continued to move straight up. Once we were on the glacier, which was simply a solid piece of ice, we continued stepping straight up the mountain. We traveled for approximately 45 across the glacier to a resting spot where the climbing continues on rock. We were able to drop our crampons and pack at this point. The views of the surrounding peaks were amazing. My favorite from the viewpoint was Ranrapalca.

It took us about 30 of scrambling to finally top out at 17,782'. I had reached the summit. I did get fairly emotional at this point (as usual) because of the elation I felt. It was a great feeling. We had a snack and snapped a few pics before turning back for the descent.

Once we got down below the glacier and unroped I hightailed it back to base camp. This route was so steep that I knew it was either long-term pain or haul ass and get it over with. I made it back to base camp at about 11:30am. My two climbing partners arrived about 1/2 later. The remaining party members arrived hours later (3-5 hrs). Of the eight climbers, 7 saw the summit. What a great day!

The next day was a rest day for us. We enjoyed a great breakfast and decided to all meet in the Refugio for some wine. All but one climber and all 3 guides enjoyed a few hours and 4 bottles of red. We had a great time together drinking and listening to music. The plan was have dinner and head to bed getting rest for an early rise for Ishinca.

We had planned on waking at 1am. At about 12:30am I suddenly woke with a pounding heart (145bpm) and high anxiety. I immediately knew I was having an allergic reaction to gluten. I crawled from my tent in shear terror awakening a couple guides and my new friend Maria (nurse from Canada). She felt my pulse and immediately knew something was wrong. I crawled back to my tent, with their help, to retrieve my xanax. I knew this would slow my heart rate and settle my head. It took much longer than usual for the symptoms to abate. There were a few moments where I was really scared. Having an attack at such an altitude in the middle of the night and in the middle of nowhere is very scary. After 3 doses of xanax I finally was able to find comfort. Maria had me climb in her and her son's tent. There I fell asleep until morning. Unfortunately because of this incident, I was unable to attempt Ishinca.

All 7 climbers that left for Ishinca found the summit and returned at different times during the day. It was a much different climb than Urus. They all said it wasn't near as difficult and Urus. I was upset and mad that I didn't get the chance to join them. I learned a few lessons in regards to my diet.

To be continued...
Summary Total Data
Route Conditions:

Maintained Trail, Unmaintained Trail, Snow on Ground, Scramble, Exposed Scramble, Glacier Climb
Gear Used:

Ice Axe, Crampons, Rope, Ski Poles, Guide, Porters, Animal/Pet, Tent Camp