Ausangate, Southeast Ridge 1980. With Peruvian Erasmo Aparicio, I made a new route on Ausangate, the southeast ridge. This 500-meter- high snow and ice ridge and face averaged 50° We belayed in the upper portion because of bad snow and ice conditions. From a camp at the top of the face, we climbed two pitches of moderate ice and cornices to reach the easy but soft-snow-covered summit ridge. We completed the ascent in three days in June 1980 round-trip from our Base Camp in the meadows of Pampacancha. The route is probably the easiest and most straight-forward route to the top of Ausangate. The difficulties were in the 1000-foot snow-and-ice face at the top of the spur (50°) and one patch of steep ice (70°) on the ridge. The original route on the south face looks long and complicated. The routes on the north are more difficult. We were fortunate to have been able to re-connoiter the mountain and acclimatize well during a three-week Mountain Travel trek around the mountain, which I helped lead.

Steven R. Brewer