Chachacomani, Chearoco and Other Peaks, 1984 to 1989. The American Alpine Institute has conducted a number of expeditions into the Chachacomani- Chearoco massif over the past few years. We normally approached from the east into the Echsococho valley. A number of ascents of Chachacomani (6066 meters, 19,902 feet) were made. Usually we ascended the east face to the middle of the northeast ridge, which was then followed to the summit. However, on August 1, 1989, John Culberson, Geof Bartram, Larry Hall and Matt Koehler climbed a new route on the southeast buttress. This is the most difficult route we have done on Chachocamani. There was 70° ice and 5.7 rock. On August 5, Culberson, Bartram, Hall, Koehler, Mark Adams and Richard Reidy ascended the southeast face of Chearoco. It is probably the route by which the British Reading University Expedition made the first ascent of the peak in 1962. In 1985, Germans Georg and Josef Seifried climbed the southeast face, which they gained from the south. Our climbers have also ascended a number of the 17,000- and 18,000-foot peaks northeast and east of Chachacomani near Achapampa. An unnamed one just south of Achapampa was climbed in September 1985 by Bartram, Bolivian Mario Clemente and me via the west ridge and an ice couloir. Clemente is a llama-packer, who knows this region well and has been an enormous help to us. In 1986, the peak southeast of Achapampa, Cerro Wampa, was climbed by Bartram, Chris Copeland and eight clients up its rather gentle eastern face. The second ascent was made on July 30, 1989 by Bartram, Culberson, Koehler, Hall and Adams, who climbed the 65° to 70° south face. The same team, plus Reidy, then made the first ascent of Coco Rico, which lies southeast of Cerro Wampa.

Dunham Gooding