Page 16 - 2011 AMA Summer

Spr Pluskota ascending the mixed North West ridge
vately hired minibus complete with driver who, contrary to what we were told in La Paz, had no idea of where we were going and spoke no English. After a roundabout trip the group arrived at their base camp location by lake Janco Cota. After a day spent acclimatising and practising some crevasse res- cue techniques, the group attempted their first peak, Wila Llojeta (5244m). It proved a straightforward climb consisting of a scree ridge followed by a short glacial climb to the sum- mit. The peak did however claim the first victim of the trip; Spr ‘Fos’ Foster went ‘man-down’ on the descent and on return to the base camp it was assessed that the group, less Spr Foster, would be fit to attempt to climb Janco Huyo (5512m) the following day.
Following an early breakfast the group set off in its two sepa- rate rope teams. One would attempt to summit along the East Ridge and the other along the South. Following a long day the team on the East Ridge successfully summited Janco Huyo which afforded some excellent views across the Cordillera Real and down into the low lying jungle region of Bolivia. As they ascended, the team attempting the peak from the south found that they could not access Janco Huyo and so opted to ascend the nearby Jancha Pata (5424m) instead. Unfortunately Sprs Coe and Johnson were both suffering the effects of altitude sickness, and neither of them were able to complete the final 150m to the summit.
The teams descended back to base camp for a final night before heading back to La Paz to reorganise. On return to La Paz it was decided that due to the number of altitude victims
The group (L-R Lt Somodi, Spr Settle, LCpl Simcock and Spr Pluscota) on the Janco Huyo summit (5512m)
‘plan B’ would be brought in to play. This involved travelling into Chile to climb Volcan Guallatiri (6068m), a peak of lower altitude than was originally planned, before moving back into Bolivia to attempt Nevado Sajama. With the new plan set into motion the various administrative tasks were divvied up amongst the group to facilitate the Phase 3.
With all the administration complete the group set off for Chile in two heavily laden 4x4’s. After a night stopover en-route the group crossed the border into Chile and made the short trip the base camp of Volcan Guallatiri. After setting up camp the group settled in for a few hours sleep before a 0300 wake-up to attempt the peak. Just after getting into their doss-bags a large rock-fall nearby had everyone up and alarmed; after inspection however, it was decided that unless it happened again we would stay put. The following morning the group set-off in its separate teams and again the teams would suf- fer mixed fortunes. After four hours one team had to turn around for safety reasons, as they found themselves high up an unstable volcanic slope. The other team made it to the top, however, it proved to be an extremely arduous climb given the difficult terrain, summed up by Spr Coe declaring, in his dul- cet Bradford tones, “it was the hardest thing I’ve ever f-ing done!”
Following mixed success in Chile, the group crossed back into Bolivia and had a rest day in the village of Sajama. There was a lot of organising to do as mules would be required to trans- port food and equipment from the village to the base camp of Volcan Sajama, and from there porters would be required for
14 ARMY MOUNTAINEER