Ski Mountaineering in Peru's Cordillera Blanca: Yanapaccha, Vallunaraju, Pisco, Ishinca

In June 2022, Thomas and I took the School for International Expedition Training's 12-day high-altitude ski mountaineering course in the Cordillera Blanca led by Josh Beckner. We flew into Lima and then took a bus to Huaraz where we stayed for a week to acclimate. We hiked up to Yanapaccha base camp and spent several more days acclimating and practicing skills on the glacier. Once acclimated, we skied Yanapaccha (5,460m/17,910ft) on June 24 and Vallunaraju (5,686m/18,655ft) on June 28 as part of the course and then continued to Pisco (5,752m/18,871ft) on July 1 and Ishinca (5,530m/18,140ft) on July 4 after the course. Many thanks to Josh for leading the course, Thomas and Daniel for being great partners, Cirilo for his amazing papas y huevos, and Luchito the donkey and Rosita the horse for carrying our gear to Ishinca base camp!

0:00 Yanapaccha
4:55 Vallunaraju
8:19 Pisco
11:21 Ishinca

Music:
Carrot Green - Cordamar
Ensemble Pachamama - Invencion
Carrot Green - Encanto
Liberato Kani - Kaykunapi