Page 25 - 2013 AMA Spring

First view of road head camp with chachakumani in the distance
affected a few overnight – puffy eyes and headaches. The research phase completed, it was time to attempt the mountains and so half of the team stayed to tackle Mount Chachakumani (6039m) with an early rise of 0200 whilst the other half went down the mountain to attempt Pata Patani (5450m) from base camp.
Those who stayed to attempt Chachakumani woke up at 0100 and had a few mugs of mate de coca to warm up. Crampons and harnesses were donned and four teams roped up and left up the glacier at 0200. Unfortunately some team members’ boots were not sufficiently warm and teams started to turn back in order to prevent cold injuries developing. Two of the four ropes, led by local Bolivian guides summited soon after sunrise. The altitude could really be felt, each step of the final summit push a struggle.
After photo opportunities and a quick snack on the sharp summit arête, ropes descended quickly, exhausted, down to base camp. The ten team members who had descended and attempted Pata Patani all succeeded in conquering it via a previously unclimbed ridge after an 8 hour day.
The culmination of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in the UK coincided with a rest day for the whole of Team 1 and the arrival of Team 2 in La Paz. A night of festivities in the
mess tent celebrated the occasion with a Diamond Jubilee dinner, speeches, fines, port, champagne and sang God Save the Queen. The porters thought the team rather odd! Flt Lt Bonnie Posselt had cleverly brought Union Flag bunting out in her bag - we felt like we were back at home! The following day, some team members returned to high camp to climb Chachakumani. Others left base camp to recce other routes to previously unclimbed peaks. Plans were hatched to return the next day with a forward base camp and attempt to fly the RAF ensign at the top of the peaks.
Unfortunately six inches of unseasonal snow fell overnight and all woke to a whiteout preventing any further climbing due to ava- lanche risk. Those who had ascended to high camp order to climb Chachakumani walked around on the glacier but returned to base camp to meet up with the rest of the group. A mammoth snow man was built to guard the mess tent and many card games were played. The snow fall abruptly brought the mountain phase to a premature end.
As Team 1 made their way back to the road head with the snow melting as fast as it had fallen, they crossed paths and exchanged vital mountain equipment with an excited Team 2 who had arrived from La Paz having followed a similar acclimatisation and research phase. Team 1 travelled down to Coroico (via La Paz) in thick rain- forest some 2500m lower than La Paz on the edge of the Amazon basin. Fourteen of the team took up the option of cycling down the world’s most dangerous road (made more famous by features on
Base camp set in the hanging valley
Top Gear) for 63 km with spectacular drop-offs and amazing scen- ery. All survived and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Sadly not everyone survived the local cuisine from the hotel in Coroico and many started the long road home with D or V, or a combination of both! The realities of travel...
It was a fabulous 3 week expedition with a significant number of participants gaining AT awards (summer, winter mountaineering and rock climbing foundations).
Team 2 arrived in Bolivia excitedly having partied away the Dia- mond Jubilee weekend and having read of the exploits of Team 1 on the blog. A similar itinerary to that of Team 1 was followed with research followed by mountaineering phases.
The team gelled quickly into a close knit unit. Team bonding exer- cises were in abundance none more chilling than the dip off the boat back from Sun Island on Lake Titicaca where Team 2 resem- bled a group of lemmings plunging into the icy waters.
The trip to the mountain phase was greeted with excitement after several pleasant evenings out exploring the delights La Paz had to offer and we briefly met a jaded and bearded (not all!) Team 1, hastily grabbing extra warm kit and useful information on the hills to come.
The team moved from the road head to base camp and on to high camp with little evidence of the snow that curtailed Team 1 other than the the now skinny little snow man guarding the mess tent. The first wave of attempts of Chachakumani would leave straight from high camp so the ropes were assembled based on those who had acclimatised best.
Chachakumani’s 900 metres of vertical ascent was all completed on the glacier, this being the first opportunity to get crampons on in this environment for a number of the team. Whilst not highly technically demanding, it proved itself to be a challenge for even the more experienced group members. Deep soft snow made the going tough for the lead ropes and proved a long slog and some hidden crevasses meant there were a few morale-sapping descents before reaching the summit. The rewards were spec- tacular views at the summit, a narrow and exposed ridge. A sec- ond wave of teams also summited a couple of days later benefiting from the tracks and navigational information left by the first groups.
Pata Patani was a rocky ridge line which provided numerous sec- tions of fun scrambling, a few with some significant exposure. Every member of Team 2 summited the mountain, with ropes again led by a combination of qualified expedition personnel and local Bolivian guides.
With the main objectives complete attentions turned to some of the unclimbed peaks surrounding base camp. A number of the rocky
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