On October 18, Gregg Beisly, Robert Rauch, and I headed to the southwest face of Serkhe Khollu with the intention of climbing steep ice right of Tiers of Pachamama (AAJ 2012). We found somewhat less ice than expected, and so decided instead to follow an obvious thin line of ice to the left. This resulted

in a five-pitch mixed route that we called Los Sospechosos de Siempre (The Usual Suspects, WI4 M5). It was a fun route, without any real rockfall, with an interesting exit pitch that was mostly rock.

Gregg went to the summit following non-technical snow and ice, while Robert and I descended from the ridge via the normal route. We were back in the car before dark, after leaving La Paz around 6 a.m. This route is just another example of the great potential for mixed climbing at a decent elevation within a day of La Paz.

Although the right side of the broad southwest face always seems to have some snow and ice, it appears the left side only ices from late August through October. We climbed Tiers of Pachamama in early September of 2011, and we noticed that in mid-October 2013, while climbing Los Sospechosos, the crux pitch of Pachamama had already gone.

Chris Clarke, Bolivia