Nevado Churup (a.k.a. Tsurup, ca 5,495m) was one of the few mountains visible from Huaraz that we had yet to climb. A classic in the 1980s and ’90s, when there was much more snow and ice, it has faded into the background due to rising temperatures, the exposed rock so rotten that it is virtually unclimbable.

On May 28, we climbed a line starting toward the right side of Churup’s southwest face. What we assumed would be a routine acclimatization climb turned into an arduous endeavor due to the lack of snow and the mixed terrain. Our route angled left toward the summit, gaining about 650 meters of elevation over roughly 1,000 meters of climbing distance. To descend, we made eight to ten dangerous rappels off chossy rock, going straight down the southwest face from near the summit. The round trip from Laguna Churupita took 17 hours.

We graded our route around M5+ V+ 65° and named it Hacia Rutas Salvajes (“Into the Wild”). The route is dedicated to our friend Marta Jimenez, an alpinist and BASE jumper who passed away during a jump in 2025, and with whom we enjoyed some time in the mountains of the Cordillera Blanca in 2024. [Editor’s Note: The southwest face has been climbed by numerous lines, starting with the 1972 ascent by Ron Fear, Bill Lahr, Michiel Malotaux, and Rick Ridgeway. The 2025 route appears to be the farthest right on the face.]

—Eneko and Iker Pou, Spain