South America, Peru—Cordillera Huayhuash, Puscanturpa Group, 1981

Publication Year: 1983.

Puscanturpa Group, 1981. (A brief report in A.A.7., 1982 on page 182 was unfortunately not totally correct. The following was received too late for publication last year. See photos of Puscanturpa Norte and Sur in A.A.J., 1975, Plates 59 and 60.) Our group of 14 from Varese had its Base Camp at the head of the Quebrada Huanacpatay at 15,425 feet, reached in four days from Chiquián since the shorter way through Cajatambo was interrupted by spring floods. Our principal objective was a new route on the north face of Puscanturpa Norte (5652 meters, 18,591 feet). We worked on the lower part of the route on August 8 and 9 and after a storm, Luigi Ossola, leader, Franco Facchinetti, Attilio Farè, Enrico Palermo and Carlo Vedani completed the climb on August 14 and 15, 1981. The face is 2500 feet high. They climbed the left side of the face to the left of the great cleft. The lower part was relatively easy (UIAA III and IV), the middle was of great difficulty (11 rope-lengths of UIAA V and VI and one of A1 and A2), and the last 350 feet were of scree and easy snow. We made two other one-day climbs from Base Camp. On August 14. 1981 Dr. Paolo Facchinetti, Ambrogio Cremonesi, Mario Bramanti, Fabio Della Bordella, Giuseppe Picone and I made a new route on the south face of Puscanturpa Sur (5550 meters, 18,209 feet). From Cuyoc Pass we ascended the right side of the face and then followed the wide southeast ridge to the summit. On August 17, 1981 Ossola, Cremonesi, Marco Broggi, Picone, Luigi Tessari and I climbed Puscanturpa Central (5442 meters, 17,852 feet). We started under the northwest spur of Puscanturpa Norte, climbed the west face of Puscanturpa Central on snow to a col and ascended the snow-and-rock north ridge, which rose in three steps. All were new routes. Puscanturpa Norte and Sur were third ascents of the peaks and Puscanturpa Central was the second ascent.

Livio Visintini, Club Alpino Italiano