In 2014 and 2015, Quique Apolinario Villafan and I explored the Pariacaca Mountains, which sit east of Lima and west of Huancayo, the largest city in Peru’s central highlands. A decade later, a coworker from Huancayo suggested I climb in the Cordillera Huaytapallana to the east of the city.

Quique and I made plans to climb in the Huaytapallana in May, but first we visited Huayllay National Sanctuary, about 250 kilometers north of Huancayo, where we spent several days rock climbing and exploring the interesting volcanic formations. Most of the climbing is sport, ranging from 5+ to over 7a.

From there we took a bus to Huancayo, where we were met by Ruben Flores, a member of the Huancayo Mountaineering Club. Another club member, Freud Baldeon, suggested we climb Nevado Verdish-Ventanilla (5,397m, -11.8771, -75.0528), since the rapidly shrinking glacier on the range’s tallest peak, Nevado Huaytapallana (a.k.a. Lasuntay or Jallacate, 5,557m), was soon to be closed due to environmental concerns. Baldeon made the first ascent of Verdish-Ventanilla in 2017, but his glacial route—to the left (east) of the one we would climb—is no longer feasible due to global warming.

Early on May 13, Freud, Quique, Ruben, and I were driven by 4x4 to a base camp at 4,709 meters, northeast of Verdish-Ventanilla. The following morning, around 1:30, Ruben, Quique, and I left camp to begin our ascent. We navigated several moraines before reaching the glacier’s toe at 4,931 meters. We had to route-find around many crevasses, but upon reaching 5,100 meters we followed a clear path (as steep as 50°–60°) to the summit.

We named the route Aychana (PD+) after the village below the mountain, whose people gave us permission to establish our base camp. [A full trip report with maps and photos can be downloaded here.]

—Frank Nederhand, USA