Climbs of the Cordillera Blanca

Climbs of the Cordillera Blanca by David Sharman. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780952358206.

Cordillera Blanca is the worlds highest and most glaciated tropical mountain range. It is a paradise for high altitude climbers as it offers a wide range of peaks and routes in all difficulties. Topped by 6768m high Huascaran there are 25 6000ers and more than 50 peaks above 5500m within this range, amongst them beautiful Alpamayo and "Paramount peak" Artesonraju. Climbing season runs from May / June to August / September. It provides long periods of dry and sunny weather only interrupted by one or two less stable days, which however may force you to wait in your tent before the summit bid. Formed by the movement of the South American continental plate against the Pacific plate, C.B. is mainly one long mountain chain less then 100 km off the Pacific coast. It is intersected by many formerly glaciated U-valleys which bring nearly all base camps within a days reach from Huaraz. All mountains are usually climbed by small teams in alpine style using one or two high camps. Besides burros (donkeys) which may help you carrying your backpack to the base camp (mostly around 4000 - 4500m) there is no need of expedition infrastructure with porters, multiple camps or fixed ropes.