Page 9 - 2006 AMA Summer

In September I took a small unit trip to Trek in the
Cordillera Blanca. While acclimatising in Huaraz myself and Tom Millward went to explore some of the local boulders. I had read about the Huanchac boulders on a website prior to leaving UK so
I was keen to give them a go as they had been described as “the centre of the local scene”. I was also determined to remain climbing fit while in Peru and planned to climb every day if possible!
A short taxi ride from Huaraz (£0.15) gets you to the small hamlet of Huanchac. My initial reaction was one of disappointment - I am not a boulderer - I much prefer big long routes requiring lots of shiny gear! These granite boulders are big but after wandering around one for five minutes and not being able to even get off the ground I was beginning to think it was a wasted journey. Of course the altitude didn't help (3200m) and we had just completed a marathon journey just getting to Peru. We persevered and eventually got off the ground and on top of the first boulder, just to the right of a blue slab, only V1 Ish going up - V5 ish coming down. The lack of a big mat was certainly restricting our enthusiasm for bouldering even with the landing areas reasonably flat.
We wandered over to another cluster and found lots of chalk marks but very little in the way of hand holds! Although we did another few laps around the base, walking that is.
A little further on and the best of a bad bunch. A huge
jap*
£
A knarly crack going at approx V4 - no bouldering mat!
boulder which offered an easy scramble up and down and the best of the achievable problems. The large crack, although difficult to start, gave an amenable M2. Further right there were some very interesting looking lines but just too high to even attempt.
Discretion being the better part of valour, we left after only two hours of exploration, our tails well and truly between our legs. My aspirations for the coming weeks certainly dampened.
As for the rest of the trip we managed to complete the Santa Cruz trek and a lesser know trek across the Passo Huapi 5090m. All self supported. In addition we experienced earthquakes, avalanches and every type of weather imaginable. As for my climbing shoes, they remained in Huaraz for the duration of the trip!
Boulders at Chacas
ARMY MOUNTAINEER 7