Altitude : 6,024m. (19,759 ft.)
Route : Normal route, Southeast Face
Level of Difficulty : D (Difficult). Snow and ice climbing, with an average sustained slope between 45º and 60º and a final stretch at 75º.
Suggested climbing season : The best time for climbing is from the second week of June to the second week of September.
Duration : 4-day expedition
Description :
The normal Artesonraju route is one of the most popular in the Cordillera Blanca. The southeastern route's level of difficulty changes as the season progresses. At the beginning of the summer, it is not unusual to find deep snow, accumulated on the trail as well as on the snow plate, which makes progress and the ascent much more demanding. Obviously, the route is free of snow sticks, anchors, rappel anchors and footprints. As weeks go by, snow conditions improve. It begins to solidify, thereby making the ascent safer and less strenuous. It is important to know that it is often necessary to dig deeply in order to obtain an appropriate spot for securing the rappel anchors. It is also common to have to downclimb the wall after having been unable to find snow appropriate for the rappel anchors.
First Day: Early in the morning, we will set out to the northern area of Cordillera Blanca, until we reach Caraz, where the road towards the Paron Valley begins. The trip will last a few hours. As the road enters the valley, we see an abundance of quenual trees on a zigzagging path on the slopes of unexplored rock walls. At the end of this route, there is an Electroperu office located across from Lake Paron . Once we arrive here, porters will transport the loads to the Artesonraju base camp, which will normally take a couple of hours. On our first day of approaching the mountain, we will walk through a dusty path that goes along the northern area of the Lake Paron . While we hike, we have incredible views of the Garcilazo Pyramid (5,885 m., 19,300 ft. ), the absolutely enormous west wall of Chacraraju, (6,112 m. 20,047 ft. ) the impressive north plate of Huandoy North (6,395m. 20,976 ft. ) or Huandoy East and the two Pisco peaks. We continue until we reach an open plain, from which we can appreciate the enigmatic beauty of the Artesonraju pyramid, where we can set up the base camp.
Second Day : From the base camp, there is a path that goes up along the crest of a moraine. It passes by Lake Artesoncocha , on a trail that rises continuously until it reaches some frozen cascades. At the upper part of these, we can see a serac barrier. We walk along a sandy trail, until the moraine camp, at 4,800 m. (15,744 ft.). We continue crossing the moraine until we arrive at the glacial area. From here, we can see the Artesonraju southeastern slope, the Gacilazo Pyramid to the south and a mountain called Paron in the distance. We go up the glacier until we leave behind an area filled with seracs and rock on the southwest wall. Later, we ascend towards the southeast face where crossing some crevasses becomes unavoidable. A short distance away from the bergshrund, we set up High Camp at 5,200 m. (17,056 ft.) and get ready to leave for the summit the following morning.
Third Day : The journey to the bergshrund will lead us along an unavoidable slope, on which crevasses tend to complicate our progress depending on the severity of the winter. This bergshrund, a common obstacle, is usually overcome by going up the left side, taking a rocky massif located at the base of the great wall as a point of reference. There are small vertical ice walls located nearby, which will allow us to cross the great bergshrund and settle on the large southeast wall. This route averages steepness between 45º and 60º, which remains constant during most of our journey to the summit. The slope becomes more pronounced during the last two pitches, making it a physically and psychologically demanding climb, due several sections with loose snow as well as the great distance from the glacier base. The slope decreases considerably near the summit and reaches its highest point along a wide ridge. The summit is simply impressive and beautiful, due not only to the extraordinary panoramic view of the surrounding mountaintops and steep walls, but also because of the adrenalin that flows through our bodies as we climb this wall. Undoubtedly, it is a unique experience provided by a marvelous display that can rarely be found in other spots in the world. The descent is done following the same route; since it is the best and safest option, by setting up anchoring points to then start the first rappels which will continue for several hundreds of meters. At the end of these, we will cross a crevassed area to later head towards the moraine camp where we will spend our last night.
Fourth Day : We begin our last day, during which part of the baggage will be transported by porters down the same road we took at the beginning of our expedition. This time, however, it will only take us a few hours to arrive to our destination. We begin our way down towards the Electroperu office, leaving behind the beauty of the Paron Valley . At the end of the walk back, we will take a transportation service in order to return to Huaraz.
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