Negruni Group and Illampu, Cordillera Real. To help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Regensburg Section of the German Alpine Club, we seven left for Bolivia on July 8, 1971 along with Christl Pfnür of Berchtesgaden. The Regensburgers were Arved Jechalke, Walter Ochs, Helmut Seebauer, Fritz Weikl, Werner Wimmer, Heinz Zembsch and I as leader. After a week’s acclimatization in La Paz, which was also used to clear sea baggage through customs, we headed for a week in the Negruni group, where we made 23 first ascents, often with difficult ice problems. On July 20 we headed for Sorata and helped in the rescue operations of the Munich expedition on Ancohuma. We continued on the next day to Base Camp, driving up the Hichucota valley past the lakes, Khara Kkota and Khotia, to the southern end of the Lago Jankho Kkota at 15,325 feet. Camp I was at 16,300 feet, northwest of the lake. Camp II was at 17,000 feet in the cirque west of the lake. All were first ascents except for Pacokeuta (RAK 18), where we found a cairn. The numbers refer to peaks marked on the sketch map. Peaks RAK 1 to 8 were climbed from Base Camp, 9 to 15 from Camp I and 16 to 24 from Camp II. Many altitudes are taken from the Bolivian map, Sheet 5945 IV, Series H 731. We made the following ascents: P 5560 (18,242 feet; RAK 1) via east ridge by Jechalke, Pfnür, Zembsch, Putz, Ochs, Seebauer on July 23, 1971; Culin Toja (17,612 feet; RAK 2) via north ridge and traverse to P 5340 (17,520 feet; RAK 3) via northwest ridge by Ochs, Seebauer on July 25; P 5500 (18,045 feet; RAK 9) via southeast ridge, Jiskha Pata (18,072 feet; RAK 10) via south face, P 5540 (18,716 feet; RAK 11) via north face and Jachcha Pata (17,795 feet; RAK 12) via north face by Weikl, Putz on July 26; P 5458 (17,908 feet; RAK 16) via east face and traverse over P 5570 (18,275 feet; RAK 17) via northwest ridge, Pacokeuta (18,337 feet; RAK 18) via northwest face to P 5570 (18,275 feet; RAK 19) via west face by Zembsch, Pfnür on July 26; Wila Llojeta (17,205 feet; RAK 5) via south-southwest ridge and traverse to P 5200 (17,061 feet; RAK 6) via west ridge by Ochs, Seebauer on July 27; Jankho Huyo (18,084 feet; RAK 13) by southwest face, P 5520 (18,111 feet; RAK 14) via southeast ridge and P 5470 (17,946 feet; RAK 15) via northwest ridge by Weikl, Putz on July 27; P 5620 (18,439 feet; RAK 20) via southeast face, P 5604 (18,386 feet; RAK 21) via southeast ridge, P 5660 (18,570 feet; RAK 22) via northwest ridge and P 5620 (18,439 feet; RAK 23) via southwest ridge by Zembsch Pfnür on July 27; P 5240 (17,192 feet; RAK 7) via south face and P 5250 (17,225 feet; RAK 8) via west ridge by Ochs, Seebauer on July 28; P 5620 (18,439 feet; RAK 24) by Zembsch, Pfnür on July 28 and P 5346 (17,540 feet; RAK 4) via southwest ridge by Ochs, Seebauer, Jechalke, Putz on July 29. On August 10 we left La Paz via Sorata by truck and got to the Candelaria Mine (13,300 feet) the next day. We continued on for a day and a half with five porters and llamas up the trackless slopes on the south side of the Coocó valley to Base Camp at 14,750 feet west of a brook that descends from the Ancohuma Glacier. Camp I was at 16,800 feet at the edge of the glacier that descends east from Illampu. Our plan was to divide there and for one group to climb the north ridge and descend the south ridge, which the second group would prepare as they ascended it. The south-ridge attempt failed because of illness. They did however achieve some success. They established Camp II at 18,900 feet an hour below the col between Illampu and Huayna Illampu. After Seebauer and Weikl were driven back from the east face of Huayna Illampu (19,767 feet) by an ice terrace and overhanging rock, on August 18 Seebauer and Pfnür found a route on the northeast face to complete the second ascent. Penitentes, rotten rock and cornices made the climb difficult. The same day the same pair climbed P 5910 (19,390 feet), a lovely snow pyramid south of Camp II up its knife-edged west ridge, a first ascent. Meanwhile the north-ridge party, Zembsch, the Bolivian Ernesto Sánchez and I, set out for the northeast ridge of Illampu. This is 1¼ miles long, mostly above 19,700 feet, knife-edged, corniced, beset with gendarmes and ice towers, with ice up to 55° and 60° and with rotten ice and rock. Our first problem was to cross the broken Illampu east glacier, which took a day. On August 17 we made the second ascent of Laramcota (19,160 feet) and continued over the peak to the col northeast of the Pico del Norte. On the 18th we made the second climb of the east ridge of the Pico del Norte (19,784 feet), the fourth ascent of the peak, and bivouacked just beyond in the Japanese col. The previously unclimbed northeast ridge leading to Illampu Norte (20,640 feet) was very difficult; we had to bivouac three times and did not get to this summit until August 22, the sixth day after leaving Camp I. Rotten snow, steep angles and huge cornices prevented decent protection and called for caution. We also had difficult rock pitches, daring rappels and balancing acts on sharp snow ridges. Finally at 4:15 P.M. we stood also on Illampu’s highest summit (20,873 feet), a sixth ascent and by a new route. By radio we discovered the south-ridge party’s failure and therefore descended via the west col to Ancoma, bivouacking on the way.

Anton Putz, Deutscher Alpenverein