Pico del Norte Ascent

Departure in the morning from La Paz. Drive to Titicaca Lake. Then drive down to the village of Sorata, nested in a valley floor, at the foot of Illampu and Ancohuma massifs. Then, we go up east to a plateau overlooking Sorata (4650 m.a.s.l./15255 feet). We go down to pass around the Illampu massif and arrive at the village of Ancohuma at (3850 m.a.s.l./12630 feet of altitude. We finally follow an aerial track until the village of Cocooyo. Camp at the village.

Smooth departure North West, towards the end of the Cocoyo valley, at the foot of the Khorvasini pass. We cross the river on a makeshift bridge, before forking on our left (South west), in a perpendicular valley going up to the bottom of Illampu massif. We climb smoothly in this lush valley along a stream. After 2 hours, we arrive at the end of the valley, blocked by a rocky barrier with a waterfall ( 3900 m.a.s.l./12795 feet). From now, we climb on steep sections on the right hillside, to the north-west, to go around the waterfall and reach the plateau above, at about (4200 m.a.s.l./13780 feet) of altitude. We go up another valley south, on the left. Once at the end of this valley, we’ll have to climb another rocky barrier on our right (To the south-east), to reach another plateau and further on to our base camp in a vast meadow, after wading across some streams. Another route consists in crossing a chaos on the left, to avoid the streams. Camp in the meadow at 4450 m.a.s.l./14599 feet) of altitude.

We start straightforward south-west on the slope. Steep climb to a plateau at 4865 m of altitude / 15 961 Feet. From there, we continue north-west on our right through a rocky chaos. Difficult progression until 5020 m.a.s.l./16470 feet of altitude. Then we keep on climbing west on the moraine, until the edge of the glacier. Camp below a gorgeous cirque, at 5230 m.a.s.l./17160 feet of altitude.

Ascent quite technical with sections on rocks (D/IV). Smooth departure on the ice tongue. Progression to the north-west in middle of seracs and basins until the foot of Gorra de Hielo at about (5400 m.a.s.l./17716 feet) of altitude. Here, you can choose the “direct route”, a wall of ice and snow (75º / 80º) which leads directly just below the summit. In this case, you climb straight north. Otherwise, you can go north-east on the right, to reach the summit ridge (Oriented north-west). The progression there is slower, due to tricky sections (narrow ridges, unstable snow, and tricky rocky sections). We finish with a 65º slope to reach the summit. It takes 1 hour more than the direct route. Descent on the normal route on a ridge oriented south-west. We arrive then on a glacial plateau at 5650 m.a.s.l./18536 feet of altitude. We rappel the 75º/80º wall and reach the ice tongue. We walk south-east and return quietly to the camp

Day of rest.

Technical ascent, with technical rocky sections (D+/IV). Departure on the same route as for Gorra de Hielo ascent, to the morth-west. After 1h30 we arrive at the foot of the 2 peaks, and continue on our left, on steeper slope, to reach the 100m cliff at 5550 m of altitude. Tricky pass of the rimaye on an ice bridge, then we climb the 75º/80º wall to reach the glacial plateau ( 5650 m.a.s.l./18536 feet). We’ve been walking a little bit more than 4 hours so far. We go on north-west on a ridge oriented west, which leads to the summit. After passing snowy slopes with a maximum inclination of 60º, we arrive at a long rocky section. We have to climb 150 m of height difference on this narrow and exposed ridge. Some areas are very tricky and have unstable rocks (Level 5 on rocks). The climb finishes on a snowy slope (50º/55º) to finally arrive on a summit plateau at the top of North Peak. We have to cross the plateau to the south-west to reach the highest point ( 6030 m.a.s.l./19784 feet), after 8h of effort from the camp. Descent by the same route to the camp.

We go down by the same route as for coming up. We descend on the moraine and cross the rocky chaos. Then, we descend to the base camp in the meadow.

The descent is done on the same path we use to come up. We cross the stream to reach a pass. A steep descent leads us to a valley until the top of the waterfall. Tricky descent to the foot of the rocky barrier, then easy walk to the bottom of the valley. Night in the village of Cocooyo.

We depart from Cocooyo to reach Sorata first. Lunch break before returning to La Paz.