Ullakaya & Condorini Ascent

Departure early in the morning for a long trip north to the Apolobamba Cordillera. After following the Titicaca lake shore, many passes and bends leads us to the high plateaux at the foot of the Cordillera. Arrival in the afternoon at Charazani. You can relax in the thermal water (According to time available), before continuing to the village of Lagunillas. Then, we’ll go on in 4WD to the village of Kanisaya (End of the track) which also have a hostel.

The climbing is easy to a small hamlet of nice stone houses. An imposing rock barrier closes the valley. The day ends by climbing north a steep slope, over the rock barrier, to a plateau hosting a big lake, the Laguna Chuchuja. at 4230 m.a.s.l./13877 feet Camp at the foot of Akamani.

We start the day climbing north-west, above the lake, to a pass at 4420 m.a.s.l./14500 feet The path goes on west following the contour line, before descending in a large valley. We’ll have to wade across the stream (4235m.a.s.l./13894 feet), then turn right, to the north, and walk to the end of the valley. Awaits us a long ascent (North-west) going through different plateaux to a pass at 4945 m of altitude /16 223 feet. From there, appear the glacier massif of Ullakaya (5820 m.a.s.l./19094 feet). We’ll descend in the valley on our left, to the nice Kañuhuma Lake, an ideal place to set up our camp.

Climb in the valley below Ullakaya massif. We walk up on smooth slope, which becomes very steep in the scree until the edge of the glacier (5195 m.a.s.l./17043 feet). We climb on the glacier, and soon, the progression becomes difficult on a mixed terrain, along the rocky ridge. From 5300 m.a.s.l./17388 feet the progression is easier (45º max slopes). We go on our right to get around the rimaye. Progression on the ridge until a big crevasse at 5770 m.a.s.l./18930 feet. We have to cross a snow bridge and climb a steep cliff to reach the summit, 40 m above, at 5810 m.a.s.l./19061 feet. Arrival at the summit after 7 hours of effort. We descend on the ridge on the other side. It is a nice aerial ridge which leads to a plateau ( 5200 m.a.s.l./17060 feet) between two peaks that we reach after 1h30. Follows a climb on a smooth slope on a crevassed plateau until 5300 m.a.s.l./17388 feet at the foot of the mountain. Climb on steeper slopes (50º) until the ridges of Condorini (3h30 climb). We follow the ridge to the left, and go down on the other side. In a little bit than 2 hours, we go out of the glacier ( 5265 m.a.s.l./17273 feet). Yet, we need to walk up in rocks to go through a pass ( 5360 m.a.s.l./17585 feet) and descent to the Pujo Pujo Lake (3 hours more)

Departure in 4WD vehicle early in the morning from Pujo Pujo Lake. We start a long crossing of the high plateaux. The panorama of all the Apolobamba range on our left is totally gorgeous. Then we go down towards the Titicaca Lake and reach La Paz by the end of the day.