UKC

I'm going for a 6 week trip to peru. Does anyone have experience / knowledge of any established areas / good rock climbing potential.
I know of Hatan Machay, which sounds pretty interesting.


Cheers

In reply to heallan: Hatun Machay is definitely worth a trip, pretty cheap to stay up in the refuge there and reduced fee if you bolt some new routes (huge potential). Need to acclimatise before heading up as it's pretty high (4200m??) and you can throw out your normal top grade for the first few days whilst you adjust, fortunately there's some really good quality stuff inn the 6's.

In reply to StuLade:

Whereabouts is Hatun Machay in Peru? What's the nearest city?

In reply to heallan: There are quite a few other places around the Huaraz valley with established routes. Some of the many treking agencies in town will be able to give you info if you ask around although not much seems to be written down (as far as I could find anyway).
I think Andean Kingdoms is the one with most info about Hatun Machay, they run trips up there at very reasonable prices, otherwise its a combination of buses and taxis to get there.

In reply to Cusco: Hatun Machay is south of Huaraz, it's a 2-3h drive from there. It's definitely worth a trip, some good lines already bolted and lots of potential. Plus the refuge is super friendly and the view on the Huayhuash is hard to beat: http://www.aperturefirst.org/index.php?showimage=956 and http://www.aperturefirst.org/index.php?showimage=852

In reply to heallan:

If you're into big wall, there's also El Esphinge (The Sphinx), in the Cordillera Blanca, not too far from Artesonraju. Quite a few routes already, I think the easiest line goes free at F7a (but don't quote me on that).

In reply to Alex Buisse:

Fantastic pictures Alexandre. Did the Huayhuash circuit 6 years ago and it was incredible. The photos bring back some memories.

I wonder whether I can slink off north for a week when visiting the in-laws...?!

In reply to heallan:

http://toposperu.com/

hth

In reply to Cusco:

I unfortunately couldn't do the Huayhuash circuit, for lack of time. I only trekked Santa Cruz for acclimatization, then went for the top of the big hills (Yannapaccha and Chopicalqui).

I've just put up a new photo of Hatun Machay, if you want an idea of what it looks like: http://www.aperturefirst.org/index.php?showimage=1074

In reply to uncontrollable:

That's a great website! The complete Hatun Machay topo is on it (http://toposperu.com/huaraz/hatun-machay/ ). My friend and I got our asses seriously kicked on route #30, "F*cking Israelis", way sandbagged for a 6b+.

Thanks for the info everyone!

Does anyone know if a guidebook (in Spanish or English) is purchasable?


H

In reply to heallan:

I could not find any
But if you only interested in particular areas why not print of from the homepage mentioned above. It's probably the most up-to-date you can find.

In reply to uncontrollable:
http://toposperu.wordpress.com/
this is the older version I guess but a bit easier to navigate

In addition. has anyone personally bolted routes in hatan? Do they have drills and bolts etc up there already?

In reply to heallan:

Dusty sport routes on dodgy rockpiles available within Lima and a mix of dusty trad and sport up at Canchacalla about 90 mins from the capital.

If you speak any Spanish get down to Basecamp climbing wall in Miraflores, Lima. Pound on the door till someone opens it as they keep it closed now even when they are open because their business license is as a "members club". Once you are in you can climb. It is 15 soles for non-members and there is usually a good vibe on a Friday night with bouldering, tunes and drinking! Manolo or one of the guys can give you advice on areas to climb.

However, the best website for finding info has already been posted - toposperu. As far as I know there are no rockclimbing guidebooks to Peru.

Hatun Machay is a good set up for sports climbing and there is plenty of rock to go at there. Huaraz is your best bet for finding bouldering, sport, trad, big wall, alpine/andean!

Huayllay in Cerro de Pasco is supposed to be excellent rock climbing. Think the weather for climbing is July/August.

In reply to heallan:

As said best place for info is toposperu.

Hatun Machay is the best place for sport climbing, certainly in the Huaraz area. As mentioned Andean Kingdom is the place to go for this, they will also be able to give you good info for other places the area too. Montrek also have a folder full of topos that you can photocopy. If you meant guide for Hatun Machay then don't worry there are free copies to use in the Refugio there.

Huayllay is kinda cool, topos are avaliable there from a lady in the village. You'll need Spanish to get by there. Hot springs closish to the climbing as well. We felt it was a place to go with a drill more than just to go climbing but good none the less.

As mentioned there is also La Esfinge, we climbed the '85 route. Lots of different topos around with lots of different grades, I felt it went at about 6b/6b+. It's fairly easy climbing with just a couple of little passes. The hard bit really is route finding above the bivi ledge but just go up.

Photos of Peru climbing

http://picasaweb.google.com/nawface/PeruClimbing#

Mixture of Yuracmayo, Huayllay, Hatun, and Llaca (another place near Huaraz)

http://picasaweb.google.com/nawface/LaEsfingePeru#

The season there is the English summer months. Have fun