I immediately wanted to be there giving an assault on the beautiful summit. This expedition also involves climbing the Alpamayo at 5947m, a more technical climb graded AD, involving prolonged front-pointing at amazing altitude.
So last night I sent a text to my girlfriend asking for her permission to go. I got it later in the night. Today is monday, my boss was back from holiday and I cheekily asked if I could get 3 weeks leave starting this Friday. Given the holiday planning of our whole team and the current status of my projects, this could work. I called the agency organising the expedition, the guy said a dropper left one place empty for this expedition, he checked my climbing history, and said he would get back to me about flight availability. He rang me later in the afternoon with the good news: for "only" 130€ extra, I could be in. Compared to the costs of flying, hiring the guide, buying the gear, this was a detail so I asked him to send me a final proposal. He needs my final confirmation and payment by tomorrow 12pm. For an insight into this expedition click on:
http://www.terdav.com/Produit/Fiche/ASC084/alpamayo-5947-m-%E2%80%93-chopicalqui-6354-m
In the mean time a checklist was running through my head. Kitbag and sleeping bag both suited for high altitude, I can probably get from a colleague. Boots... Bummer I need some boots. So after work I went to this place the colleague recommended in Ludwigshafen, clearly stated the objective: I'm going to Peru climb Alpamayo three days from now, I kind of need some boots. I had already had a brief discussion about boot models with my mountain guide, so when I pointed at one of them I looked like I knew what I was doing. Then I looked stupid when I didn't know which socks I would take. Now with two pairs of socks on, I started trying out some astronaut-like boots. both of the makes and models I wanted were not available in my size, and the other ones were not fitting right either. Tried about 5 pairs, some with additional saules, but some hurt and some were too wide.
I decided to not take a flyer with my feet's safety. On the Mont Blanc last year I understood that cold could be stronger than me. My left big toe is just about back to normal sensation (no worries it didn't look or feel bad, just weird). At 6000m, when front pointing for hours and hours, if the toes hit the front at every banging of the crampons in the ice, you finish with broken toes or something. If the shoes are too tight, you finish without toes. If you haven't had the time to practice with your boots, wear them to walk around and climb, it hurts so bad you can't finish and have to turn around half-way up. Not good enough. You'll always hear stories of people venturing in mountains with insufficient equipment and still succeeding, but nobody relates the embarrassing losses of toes, fingers or more which happen all the time at 6000m.
Would have been beautiful to embark on such a trip at such short notice, but anybody with an ounce of wisdom would not do it. Today's learning point is: equipment for summer mountaineering in Chamonix has nothing to do with winter mountaineering or high-altitude expeditions.
The Alpamyo and Chopacalqui remain interesting objectives. My guide confirms the Alpamayo would be an appropriate challenge for me, not overly difficult but a good start for 6000m climbing. Let's say the Mera&Island Peak idea might well have revealed disappointing. South America might be better suited for technical 6000m mountain climbing. However July/August is the season, but I'm not free in August. September is slightly late, still a couple of options in Bolivia (for a next post!), October woudl be Nepal. To be continued....
Alpamayo, not overly technical, but at almost 6000m that will be enough of a challenge for me!
No comments:
Post a Comment