Final Email from LP

After 5 months in La Paz, its time to depart with fond memories and sore muscles. This one is long - no life lessons or anything - just a quote and a story i want to remember in a few years and maybe some of you will enjoy.

In the last couple weeks, I have been tying up loose ends and knocking out a couple final experiences.

The most exciting of which are in the pictures below. The weekend before last I had the pleasure of entertaining Kayvan and a couple from San Francisco (Tom and Shannon). Kayvan, Oliver and I made the most of the weekend by hitting a glacier at the base of Huayna Potosi for a mountaineering type course. We spent the day in an amazing setting playing around with crampons, ice axes and running around on ice walls with our guide Ivan. Finished the day on a 20 meter 80-90 degree vertical wall. It was a huge rush. Especially after starting the day just learning to walk and trying out waddle/squat manuevers. The course was a practice run for the real deal... which will take up the bulk of this email.

After what we considered careful consideration, Oliver and I decided to for-go hiring a guide and just rent gear and do the one day hike with Brian (experienced climber in Bolivia for four years). We were under the impression Brian was not only familiar with the equipment and well equiped but also experienced at Hyuana. On two of three accounts we were wrong - as we would find out.

Anyways, after a couple hours of sleep Wednesday night - Oliver, Brian, Sean and I pulled ourselves out of our cozy beds at 1am for the hour drive to Huayna Potosi. By 3am we were on the mountain and heading for the summit. Instead of doing the climb in 2 days (normal) - Brian convinced us that leaving in the middle of the night and knocking it out in one day was reasonable.

As I said we began the climb at 3am. It was dark and cold but amazing to be on the snow and beginning something I had been dreaming about since seeing the first snow-capped peaks of Bolivia in the Cordilla Real on the bus ride in from Peru (January). By 7am the sun was out and we were climbing our first face. It was about a 15 or 20 meter wall. Pretty easy - with many footholes to help out. However, due to some lack of communication - I somehow ended up free climbing half the face while a real guide yelled at Brian at the top (for our lack of safety standards / basic intelligence). This would be the first of several heated moments.

In any case - we were well on our way at this point having begun at about 15,500 feet and heading for 20,000 (actually 19,970 - but 20k looks cooler so let me run with it). After the confrontation with the guide - we roped together and began walk single file about 5 meters apart on a line (safety for hidden crevaces). Sean was draggin ass a bit so things slowed down at this point. We made the base of the summit a little later than planned (about 10am). It is suggested to hit the top of the summit no later than 10am because the sun starts to melt the snow and increases avalanche risk and reduces ability for spikes, stakes, screws, axes to hold in the softening walls.

However, given our enthusiasm and over-confidence (and the fact that the summit was covered in fog so we didnt no what we were getting into) we all decided to head up. The four of us on one rope with 3 stakes and 3 screws were fired up. Sean's energy back at this point.

Brian went first placing stakes, Oliver, me and Sean followed in that order. The climb began at about 50-60 degrees and was fairly simple. However, after about 30 minutes the top was nowhere in site and the wall was now very steep possibly 75 degrees and snow/ice was getting soft. Brian had already placed our only three stakes before the midway point of the wall and screws were now useless.

For the next 15 minutes I became acutely aware that my energy level was becoming very low and we had a long way yet to go and this was now an unsecured free climb. The four of us grew very quiet. The final 15 minutes were pure hell. No choice to go up - no safety - and no energy left. It was slow going and if any of the four of us slipped everyone would have fallen straight to the bottom.

At this point we could see the rounding of the top and it was clear we had embarked on a 100 meter wall without adequate equipment and 7 hours after we had begun the climb. No one was talking - everyone was just focused on getting to the summit.

With about 5 meters left - Brian was on the summit, Oliver was very close and I was dying. I laid against my ax for about 3 minutes realizing that there was nowhere to go but up - i had hit the physical wall. With some serious yelling from Oliver and the others - I looked up one last time. I basically ran the last 5 mtrs as my left boot fell off my foot (not all the way off - thank god) and I dove onto the summit. We were all spent and in sheer joy. We were perched on the top of Huayna Potosi on a narrow snowy ledge (about 10 feet across) and sheer cliffs of ice and snow on either side with an indescribable view of Bolivia, Lake Titicaca, Peru, etc.

Safely atop the summit I was immobile for several minutes while Sean put my boot back on. The climb had been an amazing experience. Although free climbing the summit with no security was a stupid/dangerous idea. And using all your energy going up is the first rule of climbing not to break because you have got to have some for the climb back down.

The four of us were perched on top of the world - feeling an intense rush - when Brian brought us back to reality. The snow was getting softer by the minute, the stakes are in the wall near the bottom and we are all tired as shit. Basically, we are not in a good situation. Using an ice ax as a belay from the top with Oliver manning the station we began to head 100 meters straight down (Brian, Sean, me and Oliver last). Once Oliver was on the wall we were completely without security again. If anyone slipped we were all to put our axes into the wall and self secure - the rope uniting us for safety would most likely become a link to create four deaths instead of one - it was very unlikely the wall would hold any of us if someone fell - it was way too soft.

We slowly made our way down the mountain all dependent on each other to be careful and the snow to hold. It was getting warmer and softer by the minute. (btw - the stakes were no longer any use either - we found out when we got down to them) In any event, after slipping a half foot here and there and Oliver taking the highest dump I have ever heard of about 20 meters from the bottom of the cliff face at 20,000 feet - we were all safely at the base again exhausted and happy to be alive.

We still needed to descend from about 20,000 feet and it was now 11:30am and the sun was our enemy. Exhaustion was the biggest issue - as we had enough rope and stakes to be fairly secure for the descent. I did fall the final 6 feet of the last cliff face due to poor directions from Sean who guided me to a part of the face with next to a crevace but all was cool and it was kind of fun. At 5pm we made it back to the jeep after 14 hours on the mountain and at 7pm i was laid out on my couch with room service from the Ritz on the way.

So with that - I am happy to be alive and ready to go home!

That's it,
NJG

With nothing more original to say - and at the risk of having my boys call me a homo here are a couple of cool quotes which also help describe what I think I got out of my trip.

"When making a decision of minor importance, I have always found it advantageous to consider all the pros and cons. In vital matters, however, such as the choice of a mate or a profession, the decision should come from the unconscious, from somewhere within ourselves. In the important decisions of personal life, we should be governed, I think, by the deep inner needs of our nature."
-- Sigmund Freud

"We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter's evening. Some of us let these great dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nurse them through bad days till they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true."
-- Woodrow Wilson