In 2018, Juan Gabriel Estellano and I made the first known ascent of Picacho Kasiri's south face (AAJ 2019; the name of the summit is taken from IMG map 5945-II). We returned on March 12, 2020, to attempt the complete traverse of the Kasiri massif from west to east. We parked Juan Gabriel's minibus at the base of Picacho Kasiri's south face at 4,170m, then hiked up to the col between Picacho Pucusani and Picacho Kasiri, where there is a little lagoon and mesmerizing views onto the Amazon Basin. This col is worthy of a trip on its own.

We started up the west ridge of Kasiri, at first difficult hiking, then scrambling, and eventually real rock climbing that we pitched. Juan Gabriel had forgotten his harness, so he improvised with a long Dyneema sling. It wasn't very functional. As a guide, I know there are better ways to make one with the climbing rope. However, as a guide I was never trained in the art of convincing a climbing partner that this alternative would be better!

Two pitches before the summit, we joined the route we’d opened in 2018. The climbing was never harder than F5, but we were using mountaineering boots, a single rope, and little protection. All this made the damp and less than solid rock rather interesting. We'd hoped to break through the mist into sunshine, but as we reached the main summit we were hit by a heavy hailstorm and decided to retreat without completing the planned traverse over Kasiri East, following the descent to the north that we had taken in 2018. We had left La Paz at daybreak and were back at dusk. 

In 2018, Roberto Gomez and I had made the first known west-to-east traverse of Picacho Pucusani, descending from the col with the little lagoon, and thus completing an ascent first attempted more than 35 years previously. [In 1982, Oscar Fernandez and Stan Shepard were forced by bad weather to retreat from partway up the west ridge. In AAJ 1983, Shepard noted that the principle summits of this group had already been climbed by easy routes from the north, and that Kasiri was sometimes referred to as Rodolfo Gutiérrez.]

– Alexander von Ungern, Andean Ascents, Bolivia