South America, Peru, Tayapampa, Jancarurish and Other Peaks, 1980

Publication Year: 1982.

Tayapampa, Jancarurish and Other Peaks, 1980. Our expedition consisted of Franz Scheikl, Dr. Martin Donner, Rüdiger Pinter, Herbert Schütter, Hans Gregoritsch, Sepp Halzmann, Willi Trinker and me. We drove to Base Camp at 13,375 feet in the upper Tayapampa valley on July 9, 1980. On August 14 Gregoritsch and I made a new route, the east ridge, of Kaikuraju. The peak was first climbed in 1965 by Ames and Mautino. We climbed two rock steps and a final 50° snow slope. This peak is east of Jancarurish and separated from it by a marked col. In Yuraq Janka, John Ricker gives an altitude of c. 5185 meters, but judging it from neighboring peaks and from our aneroid barometer we are sure it is 5350 meters (17,553 feet). On July 17 Holzmann and I and on July 20 Scheikl, Pinter, Trinker and Dr. Donner climbed Tayapampa (5675 meters, 18,619 feet) by its south ridge. On July 16 Schütter and Gregoritsch and on July 21 Pinter and Trinker ascended Jancarurish (5601 meters, 18,376 feet) by its north ridge. On July 19 and 20 Holzmann and I made the first ascent of the west face of Nevado Safuna (5410 meters, 17,750 feet), which falls 3000 feet from the summit to Pucacocha. It was difficult to reach the glacial basin below the face. We had to climb the right (south) side of the 350-foot cliff of the rock ridge which descends from Pucarashta to Pucacocha and cross a waterfall. From the base of the wall we climbed first the less steep face and then a steep sérac zone, in which we had very difficult ice work with perpendicular and overhanging passages. At 16,400 feet we reached a small plateau that led to the summit wall. We climbed that up a 50° ice hose which led to the col between Pukajirca Oeste and Safuna. We climbed the snow ridge to the top. From July 22 to 24 Gregoritsch and Schütter climbed the mile-long ridge between Allpamayo and Pucarashta. They climbed over six small but marked summits with rock up to UIAA Grade V and extreme ice climbing. Scheikl, Holzmann, Dr. Donner and the Peruvian V. Huamán on July 27 climbed a prominent 16,400-foot rock peak on the northwest ridge of Tayapampa Norte I. We made an unsuccessful attempt on the unbelievably steep west face of Pukajirka Norte I. After three days we had to give up at 18,700 feet, three-quarters of the way up the face after members of the team were injured by an ice avalanche.

Hans Bärnthaler, Steirische Naturfreunde, Austria