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Cordillera Blanca Peru Trek or Climb
MM climber Kevin Huang recently wrote this great blog about his time spent with us in Peru this summer doing our Ultimate Cordillera Blanca Trek or Climb!
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F7890265166_9f0c07c1a8_b.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=871adfe4fc14da08cadb7384bd943ec8 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F7890265166_9f0c07c1a8_b.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=72ef27848e7b42012c66053e605d625f 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F7890265166_9f0c07c1a8_b.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=2629049069bce38806f1461f82082d4c 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F7890265166_9f0c07c1a8_b.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=6c1e1ec9c23459a35db20a540ce5f3a7 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F7890265166_9f0c07c1a8_b.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=87b9a0e15435fdbc48e1fad71e537b7f 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F7890265166_9f0c07c1a8_b.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=47cd781d6da921d0d90b6e68e43d5147 1024w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F7890265166_9f0c07c1a8_b.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=d316c2ceb3d84759d2b91e5bc296da99 1024w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F7890265166_9f0c07c1a8_b.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=281bba8f512d51a0fc4cde226cd38d4d 1024w)
Kevin on the summit of Maparju. Kevin Huang photo
“The entire trip took 19 days including travel time. And total of 14 days were spent high up on the mountains above 4200m elevation (it’s about 14,000 ft, almost top of Mt Rainier). I estimated total trekking distance covered was about 55 – 60 miles (88−100 kms). The highest camp was at 4,900m/16,000ft.
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Panorama of Toclaraju. Kevin Huang photo
“The oxygen in the air at the altitude is about half of what we have in Seattle! I was very lucky that I coped with the altitude pretty well during the entire trip. But I saw people have a very hard time and couldn’t eat, sleep and think straight with constant headache. And the only way out was to quickly go down to lower altitude. If you want to ask me what I remembered the most from the trip, I remembered –
“1) The smiles and the eyes of the local people (porters, cook and donkey drivers). They are definitely very poor in our standard. But their smiles were so bright and their eyes were so clear. And they looked so happy!
2) The climbs were much harder than Mt Rainier! I climbed Rainier several times via different routes. But I felt any of my four climbs in Peru was harder.
3) And the food! I love the food there. The alpaca steak tasted great! But I didn’t dare to try the local delicacy – roasted guinea pig!! Maybe next time.
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Stunning features of the Peruvian Cordillera Blanca. Kevin Huang photo
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Kevin Huang photo
Summary of the trip:
Air: Seattle -> San Francisco -> Lima (about 12 hours flight time)
Bus: Lima -> Huaraz (about 400km northeast of Lima, 8 hours), this must be the most comfortable bus ride I ever had. Double deck air conditioning equipped bus serving lunch and movies plus after meal Bingo game!
The Cordillera Blanca (Spanish for “White Range”) is a mountain range in the Ancash Region of Peru, about 400 km northeast of Lima (8 hour bus ride). It contains 27 peaks over 6,000 meters, and is considered as the most beautiful range in the Andes by many.
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F7946721114_abbdc6fa8e_b.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=a74054c5f6692f08cb8d8ed112b6f41d 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F7946721114_abbdc6fa8e_b.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=acfd88373291fa3f21c9936e89817052 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F7946721114_abbdc6fa8e_b.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=7eabbec2ddaec3ae4447902f74f9bbb2 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F7946721114_abbdc6fa8e_b.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=0f7f7593ad0338d263fa5f4eb2aebad1 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F7946721114_abbdc6fa8e_b.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=99b21148ed49d9e9466f95b0835139c5 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F7946721114_abbdc6fa8e_b.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=ba13bedba0c30ed15a73826665f24a27 1024w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F7946721114_abbdc6fa8e_b.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=0aae1819f1ea8fdd7aefd394f8d5d19d 1024w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F7946721114_abbdc6fa8e_b.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=554ccfbdaa3144a3f81155622d1370ef 1024w)
Toclaraju from Ishinca. Kevin Huang photo
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Huge black hole in the middle of broken glacier. Kevin Huang photo
This trek/climb trip included 14 days/5 camps above 4200m elevation traversing three great valleys in Cordillera Blanca: Quilcayhuanca, Cojup and Ishinca.
And I summited/attempted four peaks:
1) Maparaju — 5326m/17,470ft (summit)
2) Huapi — 5415m/17,761ft (stopped at about 30m to the summit due to broken glacier)
3) Ishinca — 5530m/18,138ft (summit)
4) Toclaraju — 6032m/19,870ft (turned around at 5723m due to whiteout condition)
Life is beautiful!”
~ Climber Kevin Huang
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Kevin Huang photo
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Large penitentes, very hard to climb, but good thing is that they always catches your rope. Kevin Huang