South America, Peru, Cordillera Blanca, Huandoy Group, Huandoy Este, Attempt on East Face of Huandoy Norte
Huandoy Group, Huandoy Este, Attempt on East Face of Huandoy Norte. In early August John Hudson and I, carrying three days of food, climbed 3000 feet up the glacier and then up the couloir between Huandoy Norte and Este to bivouac in the col. Heavy rockfall immediately after our ascent confirmed suspicions that the couloir was safe only early in the morning. The next day a snowstorm prevented work on the east face of Huandoy Norte. The third day we climbed rapidly up the left margin of the face on fourth-class leads on both hard névé and blue ice. At 19,500 feet, still 1000 feet below the summit, I became extremely ill; this forced a reluctant retreat. The remainder of the climb would have consisted of moderately steep ice and several pitches of rock on the summit pyramid. The next day, on eight raisins apiece, which only made us hungrier, we climbed Huandoy Este by its west ridge.
Roman A. Laba