UKC

Can anyone recommend me some attractive peaks to do solo in January - February in Ecuador, Peru or Bolivia please? As high as possible, up to PD+ but without glacier travel. Thanks!

In reply to Jake80:

Ilinizas Norte.

Easy scramble, day route, 5000m+

In reply to Southern Man:

Sorry, that's in Ecuador, Avenue of the Volcanos region.

In reply to Jake80:

I know you didn't want glacier travel, but I have soloed Condoriri, Pequenyo Alpamayo, Huyana Potosi, Illinizia Norte and Cotopaxi. There are mega highways up the popular ones so it's obvious where the crevasses are. If it's a partner problem (mine was,) try posting here, on summitpost and leave notes around the place saying that you are looking for partners.

In reply to Jake80:

Conditions in most of Peru and most of Bolivia are not good for climbing during that time of year. It's peak season in Ecuador - but new regulations mean that you have to hire a guide. I'm not sure how rigourously these conditions are enforced - but it would be difficult to sneak up without a guide as the hut guardians may report you.

Give some thought to the mountains of the Atacama in Southern Bolivia - plenty of 6000m walk-up's which aren't glaciated and can be climbed any time of year, and the mountains around Arequipa in Southern Peru - again, no/ tiny glaciers and you can climb them any time.....the only problem being that, if you're going solo, these mountains are totally deserted - so you'll have to self rescue if you have an accident.

In reply to Jake80:
Volcan Licancibur, sw corner of Bolivia. It's easier to access it from San Pedro de Atacama in Chile (well, it was in 1997 at least). It's a long slog up volcanic rubble, but the summit crater is definitely worth a look.

In reply to THE.WALRUS:
It's peak season in Ecuador - but new regulations mean that you have to hire a guide. I'm not sure how rigourously these conditions are enforced - but it would be difficult to sneak up without a guide as the hut guardians may report you.

What's the threshold for this? Is it for 6000m plus peaks?

In reply to Scomuir:

Yeah - still easy to access. Probably best to hire a 4 x 4 and a driver from San Pedro to get you to the start line.

If you pay him a bit more, he'll hang around at basecamp to give you a life back when you return......or raise the alarm if there's a problem.

In reply to Southern Man:

This is a new idea, brought in following an accident on Illiniza Sur a couple of months ago, so I'm not really sure how it's going to work.

There's only one 6000m peak in Ecuador (Chimborazo), so I imagine the regulations will come in for all of the glaciated peaks, and any mountain with technical problems or scrambling.....i.e pretty much all of the mountains that you'd be interested in.

All of the big mountains, except Antisana, have manned refuges serving the normal routes - so it would presumably be possible to enforce these kind of regulations.

You can bet that the guides would have an eye out for non-guided climbers, too.

In reply to THE.WALRUS:
More or less what we did in 1997. Got driven up to the base, and camped there overnight. Did Licancabur the next day. We'd arranged for the guy to come back the following day, but when he hadn't appeared by lunchtime, we walked back to the border post, and hitched back down to San Pedro. Luckily, we'd only paid for the outward journey.

In reply to Scomuir:

Sounds like the standard Bolivian approach to business, and a great trip!

One of my favourite parts of one of my favourite countries....

In reply to THE.WALRUS:

Ah I didn't realise Cayambe and Cotopaxi were less than 6000m.

Does it have to be a IFMGA guide I wonder, or some Ecuadorian certification? Some bloke tried to pass himself off as a 'guide' to me when I was out there, but it was fairly obvious that he'd never been on a mountain in his life. Lots of opportunity for scamming by the sound of it - not to mention being absurd in the face of the real hazards that exist for tourists outside of the mountains in Quito for example.

Still, it's there country I guess.

In reply to Southern Man:

'their'

In reply to Southern Man:

As I said in the other thread, in Peru it's common to class yourself as a guide using any old card as proof. Americans get letters from their Alpine Association to say the same. I don'y know if this'll work in Ecuador, but it may be worth a shot.

In reply to Southern Man:

The qualification in Ecuador is ASEGIUM [Asociación Ecuatoriana de Guias de Montaña], rather than IMFGA - is a highly respected qualification, certainly not Mickey Mouse.

There are plenty of faux guides and scammers out there....

In reply to Jake80: Chachani and El Misti are easy walks and can be done solo from Arequipa year round. Pomerape and Parinacota in Southern Bolivia are supposedly quite easy as well but a bit harder to get to.