Bolivia - Pomerape - Parinacota - Sajama - Villa Sajama

Bolivia

Villa Sajama

Sajama (21,463’)

Parinacota (20,807’)

Pomerape (20,413)

Overview

Difficulty Rating: Pomerape, AD; Parinacota, PD; Sajama, D
Experience Level: Advanced Beginner
Duration: 16 days
Climbers: 4
Guides: 2
Land Cost: $3500

Expedition Goals

Volcan Pomerape is a relatively difficult climb. This mountain, along with Parinacota, makes up Los Gemelos — The Twins.

Volcan Parinacota offers an easy climb on a beautiful mountain. If the day is especially clear, we can see the Pacific Ocean from the summit.
Nevado Sajama is Bolivia’s highest mountain; an isolated, symmetrical volcanic cone near the border of Chile.

Nevado Sajama is a more technically challenging ascent than its easily climbed neighbors, primarily due to its higher elevation and steep ice cap.

Prerequisites

Participation in this climbing expedition requires advanced beginner to intermediate mountaineering skills. You must have a good working knowledge of the techniques for staying warm and dry while climbing and traveling in extremely cold conditions, and the proper use of ice axe and crampons. Additionally, you must be comfortable moving over steep snow and ice up to 65-degrees, following grade 3 ice, and be proficient in commonly accepted belay techniques. High altitude experience up to 14,000 feet, glacier travel experience, and technical ice climbing experience is recommended. For reasons of personal and team safety and success, it is imperative you arrive for this climb in excellent physical condition.

Itinerary

Day 1 — Arrive in Bolivia; transfer from airport; hotel check-in. Arrive in El Alto (13,123’), where an Expedition-Logistics guide will be waiting to greet you. After a gear inventory and hotel check-in, take some time to relax or explore the city. This evening, get to know your guides and teammates at the welcome dinner and expedition briefing.

Day 2 — Casual wake-up; acclimatization in La Paz; administration & logistics. We will be closely monitoring everyone’s health, as the partial pressure at altitude in La Paz (11,900’) is quite low and mountain sickness is a very real possibility for team members who’ve traveled from significantly lower elevations. To begin the acclimatization process we’ll wander the hilly streets sightseeing and shopping. In particular, we’ll check out the Mercado de las Brujas, or Witches’ Market, on Calle Linares, where we will find real witches selling magic spells and potions, folk and herbal remedies, and handcrafted jewelry. The Witches' Market is also offers one-stop shopping for your last-minute purchases of dried frogs, owl feathers, or dried llama fetuses (you know, for good luck). Throughout the day we’ll catch glimpses of Illimani, which dominates the view from town.

Day 3 — Early wake-up; transfer to Tiahuanaco ruins; overnight in Copacabana. Today we’re off to visit the Tiahuanaco ruins. This ancient city is Bolivia's most significant archaeological site, and a portal through which to view the ancient Amyara people and pre-Inca culture. The Tiahuanaco settled on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca in 400 B.C. The city developed into a major ceremonial center, and was built with many terraced platforms, pyramids, courts and urban centers dispersed over two and a half square miles. The ruins include elaborate courtyards, giant stone figures, and the Gate of the Sun, which is thought to have been an observatory and solar calendar dating to 600 B.C. We overnight in Copacabana (12,500’).

Day 4 — Casual wake-up; visit Isla del Sol; return to Copacabana. Today we continue our acclimatization while navigating the high seas of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world and a sacred place to the Incas. In the morning we visit Isla del Sol, which was an Inca huaca, or holy shrine; the very place where they believed the world began. Later in the day we land on Isla Suriqui, where we explore Inca ruins and observe local villagers going about their lives in ways not far removed from that of the ancient Incas.

Day 5 — Early wake-up; transfer to Villa Sajama. This morning we drive to the village of Sajama (13,944’), a small collection of one-room, tin-roofed adobe homes just inside the boundary of Sajama National Park. The 4-5 hour journey along the Arica - La Paz Road, a major route for commerce, will give us a sense of how truly desolate the Cordillera Occidental region is. After registering at the ranger station and checking into alojamientos – guest-houses offering straw mattresses and 12-volt lighting – we’ll take the rest of the day to explore the village, soak in the nearby hot-springs and prepare for tomorrow’s move to Sajama basecamp.

Day 6 — Casual wake-up; trek to Parinacota/Pomerape basecamp. After breakfast we load our gear on mules for the approach to basecamp. There are 4x4 services available, but hiking in is more beneficial to the acclimatization process. Leaving the village and crossing its namesake river, we trek across the altiplano of Sajama National Park. The park is home to one of the world's highest lakes, Lake Chungara (15,584’), as well as a rich wildlife habitat, with alpacas, vicunas, relatives of the llama; flamingos, chinchillas and vizcachas, rabbit-like rodents with long tails. We eventually reach a valley of black volcanic ash and sand, which serve to lend a stark, barren, almost moonscape feeling to the terrain as we sink ankle-deep with every step. As we ascend this old lava flow it slowly chokes down until it is eventually no more than a couple of arm-widths across. We continue our upward progress, eventually arriving at the saddle between Parinacota and Pomerape and set up basecamp at (16,000’).

Day 7 — Alpine wake-up; Pomarape summit; return to basecamp. Pomarape is a straightforward peak, the only difficulties being altitude and the ever-present cold wind. After a few hours traversing across 30- 35-degree slopes and dealing with the occasional penitente, we find ourselves on the summit. Afterward we descend to basecamp to recuperate and prepare for tomorrow’s ascent of Parinacota.

Day 8 — Alpine wake-up; Parinacota summit day; return to basecamp; transfer to Villa Sajama. Much like yesterday’s ascent, there are no real technical difficulties on this peak except for altitude and the cold wind. Parinacota is made up of an older, larger dome – which appears to have collapsed toward the southwest, obstructing drainage within the local area and resulting in the formation of Lake Chungara – and its replacement new dome. Seepage of water through the collapse debris also feeds numerous smaller lakes in the area. On the summit, we stand at the edge of a crater of about 980 feet in diameter and several hundred feet deep; this is the new cone that formed after the older dome collapsed some 13,500 years ago. Pristine lava flows cover Parinacota's western flanks, a testament to volcanic activity of recent times. Parinacota straddles the border between Bolivia and Chile, and standing on the summit you can essentially have one foot in one country and the other in the next. We descend from the summit and return to basecamp, where we pack up and meet our drivers for the trip back to the village of Sajama, arriving by early afternoon. After lunch we retire to the hot-springs for the day.

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Dates

Sept 3 - Sept 18, 2010

Expedition Code

BVPP-10-09030918