In reply to matnoo:
> I have scottish (winter+summer), alpine (summer) and Norwegian (winter) experience, fit (but will be fitter!), and have the right kit. Ive lead a decent number of winter, mixed and ice routes as well as lots of mountaineering stuff.
In that case, you have far more experience than I had when I went to the Blanca. We spent 3 weeks there, and did 3 peaks, and had a great time.
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> 1.Whats good about the andes?
In addition to all that has been said above:
The Sharman book says the Cordiallera Blanca is 'as if the european alps had been liften up 1500 metres, with cable cars and overcrowding banished overnight'. I would add to this that the weather is generally more stable (during the Andean winter of May - August), and the whole trip makes for a much more interesting cultural experience.
> 2.Whats bad?
There is limited rescue (I saw no evidence of this at all, but I have heard rumours that a service exists) the mountains are more remote and higher and hence difficult to get to (ie take more time to get to) However, all this means that they are more rewarding and less busy when you do climb them, so I would be tempted to say there's nothing bad!
> 3.How much is it going to cost? (just a general idea)
I spent about £500 on flight and about another £500 while I was out there (6 weeks ish?, includng buying a bit of kit) but I wasn't particularly frugal!
> 4.How long do i NEED out there?
Like I said, We spent 3 weeks climbihg. We got avalanched on the way down from our last climb (a pretty rare occurance in the Andes) so we decided to do touristy stuff instead, but you may not. You could do some trekking peaks (eg Pisco, Urus, Ishinca) if you only had one or two weeks, but I reckon you need three to get acclimatised enough to do any real climbing.
> 5.Anything else I should know?
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Fly in to Lima, get to Huaraz as quick as you can to start acclimatising. I know some guys who got a taxi from Lima airport to Huaraz (!) the night they flew in. They reckoned it was about the same price as a bus ticket each - but the amount of kit you have may be prohibitive!
Buy a couple of snow stakes once you get to Huaraz - they cost about $3 and it means you don't have to carry them or dead men on the plane (I found the snow conditions made stuff like this pretty useful).
When you get to Huaraz, take a day or two to acclimatise and buy supplies, then head straight up to base camp on one of the trekking peak areas (eg Ishinca). You'll meet loads of people who know about conditions etc.
Stay at Hostel Espana in Lima, and eat on their rooftop cafe. Stay at Hostel Churrup (cheap) or Edward's Inn (more expensive) in Huaraz. Edward is an experienced climber who speaks Englaish and gives good advice.
Definitely learn some Spanish. You can get by with sign language, but you'll get much more out of it if you can speak the lingo. I met an (Australian) gentleman while I was out there who had been travelling round S America for a year, and had only picked up "dos cervesas, por favor" and "donde esta la casa de putas", but for climbing it helps if you can at least ask about conditions etc!
Have a great time!