In September 2021, I climbed a route on the east side of Nevado Veronica (5,911m) that joined up with the normal route at the shoulder on the northeast ridge around 5,500m. I had considered climbing the ice directly on the east face, but my client wanted to finish on the northeast ridge (AAJ 2022).

In April 2023, Humberto Rada, a young Bolivian living in Lima, and my local friend Leo Rosalio joined me to climb the direct line on Veronica. We used the same camp as in 2021. On April 29, we left at midnight. Instead of going through the broken lower glacier, we accessed a ramp and chute that got us onto the upper glacier, right below the east face headwall. Now we were in the sun and had great snow conditions.

From below, the top-out had looked straightforward, but a hidden bergschrund cut off the summit slopes. I explored out north but was blocked by huge seracs. We followed the bergschrund south and rounded a corner that brought us to the final slopes. At noon we reached the summit.

We descended the upper northeast ridge to the glacier, rejoining our ascent tracks at dusk. The rest of the descent in the dark was slow and tiring, but we made it back to camp at 11:30 p.m.

— Nate Heald, Peru