Peru and Ecuador Summits Reached!

Peru dis­patch from Ale­jo and Joshua:

Arteson­ra­ju. Jonathan Wal­ters photo

This sea­son begins with two expe­di­tions; one to Yana­pac­cha and Pis­co and the oth­er to Yana­pac­cha and Arteson­ra­ju, one of the most stun­ning peaks in the range. After a great job with the acclima­ti­za­tion hikes for both teams, MM guide Joshua Jar­rin report­ed that he, Jonathan and Robert reached the top of Yana­pac­cha sev­er­al days ago. They had to deal with a heav­i­ly-crevassed glac­i­er in the low­er part, two pitch­es on a steep snow ramp, and a sharp final ridge. After five hours on this scenic climb they reached the sum­mit. Two rap­pels were nec­es­sary for the way down. A super fine day! Jonathan, Robert and Joshua went back to Huaraz for the night and are now in the Paron Val­ley, look­ing for­ward to Artesonraju. 

Jonathan and Joshua on the sum­mit of Yana­pac­cha. Jonathan Wal­ters photo

Mean­while, Nathan and Zach made a sum­mit attempt on Yana­pac­cha and Ale­jo report­ed that they almost reached the sum­mit but it was a bit late, and snow con­di­tions were not the best, so they went down. After their attempt they moved to their next objec­tive — Neva­do Pisco.

Stay tuned!

On Yana­pac­cha. Jonathan Wal­ters photo

Ecuador dis­patch from Ossy:

Ossy called in from the sum­mit of Cotopaxi where he and a moth­er and son team, Leslee and Roland, reached the sum­mit this morn­ing. At 15, Roland is the youngest per­son Ossy has guid­ed to the sum­mit- way to go Roland! They made great time and reached the sum­mit in 6 hours and 15 min­utes from the hut in per­fect weath­er with not a sin­gle cloud in the sky! They are now on their way to Quito and Ossy’s hotel, the Hacien­da Rumilo­ma, where they will enjoy the famous hos­pi­tal­i­ty of the staff and the amaz­ing food — a well-deserved treat. Con­grats to them!

Leslee and Roland at the sum­mit of Cotopaxi! Ossy Freire photo