N.Z. Andes Expedition Climbs 21,500ft Peak

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30499, 22 July 1964, Page 18

N.Z. Andes Expedition Climbs 21,500ft Peak

[Specially written for the N.Z. Press Assn, by DON MACKaY, a member of the New Zealand expedition now climbing in the

Andes.J BASE CAMP (Bolivia), July 20. Most of our expedition’s equipment arrived in Peru at the end of February and I arrived at the end of April, but I was two weeks obtaining duty free entry for our gear. In that fortnight I had a daily routine of visits—to the Ministry of Education (through which the application was launched), the the Ministry of Finance (which was to pass the resolution granting the application), ! the the Customs agent in the port of Callao (who was try-

ing to arrange the release of the equipment), and to the British Embassy (which was trying to needle someone, or everyone, into action).

Although one of the greatest appeals the Andes have for New Zealanders is their accessibility—few big mountains in Peru or Bolivia are more than a couple of days’ march from a road—when man-made tracks near these mountains he also created bureaucratic barriers between the foreign climber and his goal. It was not that the ; Peruvian Government disliked mountaineering expeditions by foreigners it was Just that one or two underlings were “book-bound.” i Came ‘he day when the 'equipment was free and ! before anyone could changei 'his mind, I loaded it on a bust and headed hot-foot for Bolivia. Ed and Jean Cotter, from . Gore, and Harold Jacobs, from Te Anau, arrived about the time the equipment was liberated and they briefly visited the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu on the way to Bolivia. By May 22, all the ; party except the leader, Mike; Nelson, who had been, delayed m Buenos Aires, I were at La Paz with all our food and equipment.

TRYING DAYS I Lack of oxygen—La Paz is (12,500 feet above sea-level—- : made our first days rather i trying. We returned, con(siderably the worse for wear, 'after a day with the local alpine club on their skiground, Chaealtaya. uncomfortably situated at 17,500 feet.

We spent a week acclimatising and organising in La Paz and on May 26 we drove north across the high, dry Altiplano, which closely resembles the Mackenzie Country, for 60 miles to Warisata, near Lake Titicaca, where we hired donkeys and headed into the short, round foothills before the Cordillera Real, the Royal range of half a dozen icy 20,000-footers. It was only a short day’s journey to base camp, but the blackguards we had hired as mule-drivers knew all the old customs and a few new ones. So they struck for more money a couple of miles short of the camp. Conciliation proceedings, if you could call them such, took longer than a waterfront dispute and we arrived at the base camp more than a day behind schedule.

Base camp was idyllic. In the flat, wide, swampy valley at 14,000 ft an ancient moraine gave us a dry site for our four tents. A warm spring gave wonderful bathing nearby. SECOND HIGHEST Our main objective, Ancohuma, is Bolivia’s second mountain, 21,500 ft. In Amayra i Indian it means “white water.” But there was a lot of work ( to be done before we were fit (and sufficiently acclimatised 1 to tackle such a big peak. Up the valleys were a number of good-looking lesser peaks which sketchy maps and scant records showed had not been climbed. So we pitched a tent at the head of the val-; Iley and in the next 10 days' climbed five, each just over,' l or just under 19.000 ft. None was technically very difficult, but they were satis-: Tying climbs, which neverthe-' less, used all our physical re-1 sources.

' Mike joined us for the last two of these exercise climbs and we then felt ready for Ancohuma.

! We studied an air photo- ; graph of Ancohuma. viewed jher from neighbouring peaks, 1 and did a long reconnaissance, so we had a fair idea what i we would be in for. We need;ed two camps above base and i food for five days, but needed Ito worry little about bad weather, for a pattern of clear May and June days in that part of the world is established. We had to lift 3001 b of food and equipment to camp II at 19,000 feet before we could work our mountain and the four-day slog up two miles and 1000 feet of gentle glacier in powder snow was harder work than most of us could remember. Finally, the four of us. Mike, Ed., Harold and myself. ! had established our camp: within striking distance of the! |summit. The Bolivian nights! are long and to make good ; use of the darkness we dosed; ourselves with sleeping pills! to be fresh for the morrow. [ Our start, on June 12, was not early, for our strength would run out before the day-; light. Steps we had previously; kicked in the soft snow, in; readiness for our start, had drifted full over-night MADE GOOD TIME

However, we made good time up a broad snow basin and soon sidled on to the hard, steep, easy-travelling snow at its head.

Then a ridge like a buckled knife-edge, which soared up iSOO feet, became a broad I shoulder of the mountain.

We stopped briefly for a lunch of peanuts and chocolate at the foot of the shoulder and then plugged onward taking two, and sometimes three breaths to a step, until the snow firmed and the broad summit was ours. The time was 1.45 p.m. The view had lost some of its magic. As we got higher other peaks lost their distinction in the patchwork of rock and ice below us. But to the east was Illampu—a finer peak than ours, if somewhat lower. We searched for signs of a Japanese expedition then reported to be attempting a climb there, but without success.

Below us in the valleys the pastel shades of the Altiplano grasslands, the volcanic rock outcrops and the gentle blue of Lake Titicaca made as fine a picture as I have ever seen.

We planted a substantial marker at the highest point of Ancohuma so that a final survey could be made from below and the exact height of the peak established. BACK AT CAMP In our descent, made on the south face, the snow was soft on top and very steep. We travelled quickly and in an hour and a quarter we were back at camp 11. exhausted. but with our climb accomplished. The next day, June 13, was to have been a day of rest. But Harold insisted in leading us up Houkana, a “mere” 20,500 ft, and in four hours we were again reduced to a state of collapse.

We still had food left, there was plenty of time, the weather was kind and there were peaks at hand offering to be climbed. But we had run out of steam and. packing up the gear we could not afford to abandon, we staggered back down the driftedin tracks to Camp 1 and so to base.

That was yesterday. Today Mike and Jean have gone to climb a handy snow peak. And in between large meals the rest of us are preparing to strike camp and move on, into Peru.