Alpamayo

Overview

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An alpine ascent of 'the world's most beautiful mountain' is a superb technical challenge

Introduction

Alpamayo is a steep, perfectly formed ice pyramid situated in the heart of Peru's Cordillera Blanca. Its impressive shape and spectacularly fluted ice face ensure that it remains a coveted summit for aspiring alpine climbers. On this expedition you climb the south-west face by the French Direct, on mostly 45° snow and ice (approximately 10 pitches of climbing above the bergshrund). Team members must be comfortable climbing Alpine AD or Scottish III.

Join us on Alpamayo

• 'With flights' prices are with KLM. Less expensive fares are available - please contact us for a quote.
• Alpamayo is climbed alpine style using Peruvian IFMGA guides at a 1:2 ratio.
• Early season expedition when there are fewer teams on the mountain.
• Acclimatisation in the Ishinca Valley.

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Experience Required

Alpamayo is attainable by those who have climbed Alpine routes of at least AD and/or Scottish III. You need to be confident doing multiple abseils/rappels.
This expedition is graded ... read more about grades

Our Alpine Ice Courses and our Alpine North Faces courses would provide good preparation for Alpamayo.

Additional Information

If you wish to discuss any aspect of the expedition or your suitability for it, please phone +44 (0)114 276 3322 or contact us.

Dates & Prices

Date	With Flight	or Meeting in	Availability
Sat 1 Jun – Sun 23 Jun 2024	UK	Lima	Trip Guaranteed Book now »
Expedition Leader: Damian Aurelio Vargas	£5,395	£4,295
Sat 7 Jun – Sun 29 Jun 2025	UK	Lima	Trip Guaranteed Book now »
1 place left with £100 early booking discount	£5,395 £5,295	£4,295 £4,195

Our Trip Guarantee

This expedition is available to book in GBP, USD and EUR.
Click to Change currency for prices on this site.

Group size: 4 – 10 people.

Single room supplement: £400

For comparison, this expedition starts from £195 (GBP) per day (price Without Flights).

With Flight pricing

Our 'With Flight' price includes an Economy class return airfare from the UK. The cost is based on a group fare that we have already reserved, or individual seats that we have budgeted for. Note that in some circumstances, the earlier you book, the less expensive the airfare and the 'With Flight' price.

Know Before You Go

Jagged Globe supports the British Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) 'Know Before You Go' campaign. We recommend that you read the FCDO Travel Advice for Peru on the FCDO Website.

What the price includes

• Economy class return airfares from the UK (unless land only.)
• UK Air Passenger Duty (excluded if joining land-only and you make your own international flight arrangements).
• Good standard hotel (3 star) accommodation in Lima on a bed & breakfast basis.
• 2 group road transfers between Airport and hotel, connecting with flights (excluded if joining land-only).
• 2 nights’ hotel accommodation in Lima, on a bed and breakfast basis.
• 5 nights’ hotel accommodation in Huaraz, on a bed and breakfast basis.
• 15 nights’ accommodation in tents on a full-board basis.
• All road transport by private vehicles as described in the itinerary.
• All porterage costs.
• All costs for Peruvian IFMGA-qualified Mountain Guides and local helpers.
• Jagged Globe kitbag or fleece.

What the price does not include

• Visa fees.
• Overseas airports taxes not paid in advance through the international airline ticket.
• Extraneous hotel bills (e.g. bar and laundry).
• Travel insurance.
• Lunch and evening meals in Lima and Huaraz.
• Additional hotel nights in Huaraz if the programme is changed.
• Optional sightseeing trips.
• Tips.

Tailor-made option

We can organise this expedition on a ‘tailor-made’ private basis for groups of friends, families, clubs, charities or any other group. Depending on your mountaineering experience, you may want a Jagged Globe leader or go ‘self-led’ with the assistance of local guides. The cost of going private can be surprisingly reasonable, particularly if you take the self-led option. Please contact us to discuss the itinerary and your preferred dates. We will then send you a quote, with no obligation.

Insurance

You will need a travel insurance policy that caters for the activities you will undertake on your trip with Jagged Globe. It is a requirement of our booking conditions that you have such a policy. For a list of insurers who specialise in mountaineering, trekking and skiing, please see our Travel Insurance page »

Itinerary

Here is an outline itinerary for this trip. A more detailed day-to-day itinerary is available as a downloadable PDF »

Outline Itinerary

Day 1:	Fly to Lima (1,548m) Overnight hotel.
Day 2:	Drive to Huaraz (3,050m) It is an 8-hour drive from sea level desert to Huaraz at over 3,000m. Huaraz is a bustling town with an economy largely based on agriculture and mountaineering. Overnight hotel.
Day 3:	Rest day in Huaraz Having come from sea level to 3,050m, it is important to have a rest day today. Overnight hotel.
Day 4:	Walk from Huaraz to Languna Chirup (4,400m) Today's acclimatisation walk takes you high to a beautiful lake and includes 6 hours walking for the round trip. Overnight hotel.
Day 5:	Drive to Collon, trek to Ishinca Base Camp (4,270m) A 30-minute drive to Collon from where you walk with the help of burros (donkeys) for four hours to base camp. Urus (5,420m), Toclaraju (6,032m), Palcaraju (6,110m), Ishinca (5,530m) and Ranrapalca (6,162m) stand aloft the rim of the cirque.
Day 6 - 9:	Acclimatisation and ascents of Ishinca (5,530m) and Urus Este (5,420m) Both climbs can be done from the valley floor, with Ishinca being an easy glacier climb, and Urus Este being more technical, with steeper climbing and a couple of rock steps just below the summit.
Day 10:	Return to Huaraz Overnight hotel.
Day 11 - 12:	Drive to Cashapampa and the Trek to Alpamayo Base Camp (4,300m) You leave Huaraz after an early breakfast and drive to Cashapampa at the start of the Santa Cruz trek. You trek for four hours to Llamacorral on the first day, the following day you arrive in Alpamayo Base Camp by mid-afternoon.
Day 13:	Rest day at Alpamayo Base Camp (4,300m)
Day 14 - 15:	Climb to Col Camp (5,300m) From base camp, the route takes a moraine ridge and crosses rock slabs across the edge of the glacier to reach Moraine Camp (4,880m). This camping area is very limited and you may opt to climb all the way to Col Camp in one day. The route above Moraine Camp continues over ice and moraine before a 300m snow couloir leads to the Col.
Day 16:	Alpamayo summit day (5,947m) The route from the col crosses the snow bowl and climbs up to the bergschrund below the South West Face. After crossing the bergschrund, you are on the main face. There are ten pitches of steep ice, mostly 45°, leading through runnels and flutings, past abseil anchors to the summit ridge. The final couple of pitches steepen up and overall, the climbing is around Alpine AD, Scottish Grade IV or WI3. It should take approximately 7 hours to reach the summit.
Day 17 - 18:	Spare days
Day 19 - 20:	Return trek and drive to Huaraz
Day 21:	Drive to Lima Overnight hotel.
Day 22 - 23:	Fly home

PLEASE NOTE: Please note that this itinerary is a guideline only. Although every effort will be made to adhere to it, unforeseen circumstances may force changes to be made at the last moment. Please be prepared to be flexible if necessary.

Optional Chopicalqui 6,345m

Day 21 Drive to the Llanaganuco Valley, trek to Chopicalqui base camp (4,000m) Today, you'll be driven north to the Llanaganuco Valley, where youíll start the trek to Chopicalqui Base Camp, which is 30 minutes from the road head.

Day 22 Trek to Chopicalqui Moraine Camp (4,900m) In the morning you will be met by our transport and driven a very short way to the roadhead where the trek in to Chopicalqui begins. After a short while, you trek through base camp, but as the team are now acclimatised, youíll continue along the valley towards Moraine camp. The route to camp weaves along a moraine ridge to finally climb steeply up to a plateau. This ëEagleís Nestí is located just below the glacier, with tents pitched on platforms amongst rock slabs and some steep rock walls.

Day 23Move to High Camp (5,350m) Setting off early, the route to high camp crosses jumbled blocks, before you can get onto the glacier. Roping up is necessary as crevasses are ever-present. The climbing is on easy-angled snow slopes, weaving around crevasses and short ice cliffs against a backdrop of impressive rock scenery. High camp is located in a flat area below the south west ridge proper.

Day 24Summit day, Chopicalqui (6,345m) From high camp you will follow snow slopes up onto the initially, broad and undulating south west ridge. The first crux of the route is often a steep, 70∞ snow slope approximately 100m from the summit. Depending on the snow conditions, overcoming this can be extremely hard work. As you get closer to the summit the ridge becomes narrower. The final section just below the summit typically has a large ice wall, which can be as steep as 85∞. The views from the summit of Huascaran and the surrounding peaks of the Cordillera Blanca will be cherished for a long time! The descent involves downclimbing and some short abseils, to return to Moraine camp.

Day 25 Spare day

Day 26 Descend to base camp and return to Huaraz Having descended to Moraine camp, you will return to the roadhead and drive back to Huaraz. Overnight hotel.

Day 27 Huaraz to Lima by road You spend the last night of the expedition in Lima when you will have the evening free for last minute souvenir hunting.

Day 28 Depart Lima You may just get a farewell view of our mountains as you cross the Andes for the last time and head home.

Day 29 Arrive London

Price £1800 per person

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• Alpamayo 2016

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