South America, Peru-Cordillera Blanca, Huandoy Oeste, North Face

Publication Year: 1986.

Huandoy Oeste, North Face. I joined British climber Alan Hinkes for two climbs. We made a two-day ascent of Huandoy Norte by its northwest face for acclimatization. After a rest day, we camped at a small lake below the north face of Huandoy Oeste. We climbed the left edge of the obvious rock wall to camp in a bergschrund. The next day we traversed out above the first wall and wove a pattern through numerous small rock faces (5.7). Thin ice, in places up to 75°, required mostly ice-screw belays. We topped out at 6:30 P.M. on July 18 above a huge cornice that looked more like a giant Nautalis shell, with mushrooms and sugar snow. We descended the east face by headlamps and abseiled twice over crevasses on snow bollards. We got back to the bergschrund camp at 10:30 P.M. with the help of our altimeter. On the last day three pitches of full-length abseils put us on the glacier and back in Base Camp at one P.M.

Steven Untch, Unaffiliated