South America, Bolivia, Pupuya Group, Cordillera Apolobamba

Publication Year: 1966.

Pupuya Group, Cordillera Apolobamba. Our group consisted of Keisuke Miyasaki, Shigekazu Jodai, Shigeyuki Okajima, Terushige Ohta, Hidekazu Ninomiya and myself as leader. We all belong to the Asano School Alpine Club in Yokohama. On May 12 we left LaPaz for Pupuya. Heading east from there we crossed the range just south of Cololo (or Cachuca, 19,408 feet; first ascent by Germans Karl and Wimmer on July 23, 1957). Base Camp was at 15,000 feet on the eastern slope. On May 20 Miyazaki, Okajima and Ohta made the second ascent of Cololo from a high camp south of the peak. On May 25 Miyazaki and Ninomiya climbed Huarín* (or Hualin, 18,045 feet) while Jodai and I ascended Chuquillo II* (17,881 feet). Both lay south of Base Camp. (First ascents are marked *.) From Camp I west of Base Camp, on May 27 Miyazaki and Okajima climbed Chuquillo I* (18,242), which lies south of Camp I and southwest of Chuquillo II. From May 30 to June 2 with three bivouacs, Miyazaki, Ohta and Okajima made a long traverse from south to north along the main ridge of the range; they climbed Acamani (18,590 feet) on May 30, Cabayani (18,720 feet) on May 31, Canisaya (18,714 feet) on June 1, Casarara* (18,702 feet) and Huelancalloc (19,148 feet) on June 2. The first three were second ascents, having been climbed by Ichiro Yoshizawa’s expedition in 1961 (A.A.J., 1962, 13:1, pp. 253-4); both the Germans and Japanese had climbed the last-named. On June 5 Okajima and Ohta climbed Corohuari* (18,597 feet), south of Huarín, while Miyazaki and Ninomiya climbed Coruquini* (19,062 feet) ; just east of Huelancalloc. We returned to LaPaz on June 13 and left for Illimani on the 19th. We placed Base Camp at 14,750 feet, Camp I at 17,700 feet and Camp II at 19,350 feet on the west of the peak. On June 22 Miyazaki and the Bolivian Rony climbed Illimani’s south peak (21,201 feet). On June 25 Miyazaki, Jodai, Okajima and Ohta climbed from Camp II to the north peak (21,103 feet). We were the third party on top of the north peak and the first to cross from the west ridge.

Junichi Makiguchi, Asano School Alpine Club