Exploring the Cordillera Blanca’s high altitude playground

August 6, 2014 Trip reports altitude junkies, andes, cordillera blanca, huaraz, huascaran, ishinca, palcaraju, pasang ongchu sherpa, peru, phil crampton, ranrapalca, tocllaraju, trekking, urus este 5 Comments

Peru’s Cordillera Blanca mountain range offers a veritable playground for the mountain lover, be they a trekker, alpinist or high altitude snow plodder, with glorious scenery and a range of different climbing. Here’s what happened when I went there last month.

Peruvian icefall doctors: a case study

July 24, 2014 Opinion and advice andes, cordillera blanca, mountain safety, pasang ongchu sherpa, peru, phil crampton, tocllaraju 0 Comment

The photograph below shows Pasang Ongchu Sherpa crossing a ladder over a crevasse on Tocllaraju in Peru. A Himalayan veteran with multiple ascents of Everest and Manaslu to his name Pasang is no stranger to using ladders to get across crevasses, but even he looked a little nervous crossing this one.

Adiós Leo Rasnik, guide of Aconcagua

July 17, 2013 Reviews and tributes aconcagua, andes, argentina, aventuras patagonicas, climbing fatalities, cordillera blanca, leonardo rasnik, mountain guides, obituaries, peru, seven summits, south america, tocllaraju 6 Comments

It’s time to say goodbye to another friend from South America who has lost his life in the mountains. The Argentine climber Leonardo Rasnik was found dead in the Peruvian Andes on Thursday. He was assistant guide when I climbed Aconcagua in 2010, and a more cheerful and enthusiastic human being you couldn’t wish to meet