Guided ascent to Alpamayo and Quitaraju summits

We meet at the airport and transfer by taxi to your hotel in Miraflores neighbourhood. Its location is ideal to discover Lima. There are great restaurants, shops, bars and museums. Dinner not included.

Transfer in the morning to the bus terminal. After 7 hours (lunch included, on the bus) we get to Huaraz, the capital of Ancash. It’s a center of South American mountaineering. We check in at the hotel. Dinner not included.

We leave in the morning for the Willcacocha lake (3725m), at the Cordillera Negra. The Cordillera Blanca extends in front of us in all its glory. We return to Huaraz in the mid afternoon. Dinner not included.

Transfer to the Ulta valley, where we start the trek. The imposing summit of Huascaran (6768m) dominates the landscape. It’s the highest tropical mountain in the world. We meet the mule drivers at this point.

We go up the Quebrada Cancahuapampa through fields of wild lupins and a forest of quenoals, to reach the Yanayacu pass. The name of this pass means “black waters” in Quechua. We descend to the Ichic Ulta valley until Keshu and set camp.

We go through the villages of Machco, Chalhua and Colcabamba. We go up the Huaripampa valley , where we see the locals in their regular activities. We set camp at Cachinapampa in front of Taulliraju (the ice rabbit).

An easy ascent going through fields and magnificent quenoals forests. We reach the Tuctupampa camp during the day. We can climb until the Pucaraju pass (4640m) – optional.

We follow a marked path to gain altitude fast. We reach the Punta Unión pass (4760m) with magnificent views over some giants of the Cordillera. It’s definitely worth the effort! Then we descend on the western side of the Cordillera. We reach the Almpamayo base camp in the afternoon.

A demanding ascent until a moraine at the foot of the glacier. Once equipped and roped we have 400 extra meters to reach the pass (5500m).

We leave when it’s still night to arrive first at the foot of the “normal French route”. We ascend until the summit, then descend abseiling. We get back to the camp early in the afternoon.

Resting day.

We leave at dawn. Upon reaching the summit, the views over the Santa Cruz massif are impressive. A long descent abseiling takes us back to the camp.

We descend to the base camp and rest.

We continue our descent in the Santa Cruz valley. We set camp at Llamacorral.

We follow the river in a valley with a tempered microclimate. The vegetation is dense and varied. We reach Cashapampa in the late morning. Transfer to Huaraz. Dinner not included.

Transfer to Lima. Overnight in hotel. Lunch included, on the bus, dinner not included.

You have the day off in Lima until the transfer to the airport.