Trip Reports

Bolivian Climber - July 2025

Bolivia, July 2025
Trip Report

Written by Leader Chris Groves, August 2025

I think I’ve found a new “best” trip!

Three incredible snowy summits, each slightly higher & harder than the last. Acclimatising feels like being at the seaside and with the mountains so close to the city there’s even the chance of a comfortable hotel night in between summit attempts.

To the right, stepping out of the airport at La Paz, Illimani at 6462m is impossible to miss. It’s big, but it will wait for a couple of weeks. Thankfully our hotel was nearly 1000m below the airport, but still at 3500m we weren’t rushing around. Our excellent city & cultural guide Rosse (Rosa) showed us the sights of the city on a walking tour that also had us riding on the cable car system. Illimani was pretty much always visible standing over the city. Next on the acclimatisation itinerary we headed to Lake Titicaca for a couple of nights, it’s so vast it really did feel like we were at the seaside, even more so with a boat trip to Isla del Sol. Rosse’s knowledge about the ancient people’s history & beliefs was impressive & inspiring, it felt we were somewhere special.

By lunch the next day we’d moved to the mountains, an afternoon stroll with head guide Rolando had us reach nearly 4800m and gave use great views of Huayna Potosi (the 2nd main objective) as well glimpses of Point Austria, the target for a couple of days later. Home for the subsequent 5 nights, Condoriri basecamp is a morning’s walk further into the mountains, a large flat place with views that match up to its billing as one of the most beautiful places in the Andes, even if we didn’t see any condors.

Our acclimatation must have paid off as everyone made the top of Point Austria, 5300m in good time, although not quick enough to avoid the heavy snow that fell for the last 30mins of our return to camp. With second guide Ronaldo, next up was glacier a school, brushing up on skills that would be required for the higher snowy peaks.

Additional guides, Hilarion and Cecilio joined the team for the 0300 start, ascending the glacier to Cerro Tarija, a rocky pinnacle overlooking Pequeño Alpamayo. Dan & JonM were maybe an hour ahead, looking good in the photos, but out shone by the stunning sunrise behind the summit. Overseen by the guides, no fixed ropes were required, so progress was smooth. The glacier proved to be straight forward followed by some simple scrambling and short sections of mixed ground that required care, but we had the mountain to ourselves, so all 4 rope teams made the top in very good time and were safely back in BC for lunch. Maybe even more impressive than the stunning mountain was how clean it was – apart from crampon scratches & a few footprints everywhere was pristine – very different to the Alps or Himalayas.

Our man in Bolivia, Fabricio had news. Rather than heading directly to Huayna BC he suggested staying in a new hostel at Peñas, 4000m. This would give the team better recovery and the chance for a welcome shower. It paid off, despite cloud and snow showers we made the Refugio in half the expected time. Leaving at 0200 it didn’t feel cold, but it was much, much busier – being close to La Paz Huayna is a popular backpacker’s excursion. We saw some sights as we steady progressed past most parties. Again, Dan & JonM were much quicker, even after starting an hour behind they had caught and passed everyone to reach the summit just before sunrise and were descending with Mike, Mark and Colin as ChrisB, JonH & I approached the final exposed ridge to the summit. The shadow of Huayna stretching out towards the lake. A warm descent back to Refugio for lunch then down to the road by 1100. Fabricio had altered the itinerary again and by 1330 the team was back at the hotel in La Paz.

We had to say farewell to Colin, as he was only on the 2-week trip. Then, after a restful day we departed for Illimani, our final objective. Despite looking close by, the 3-hour challenging drive was surprise after the smooth relatively flat, smooth roads of the Altiplano. Arriving in BC there was a couple of other tents but nothing like the crowds on Huayna. The move up to high camp is a great day out, a steady rising traverse gets you to a col then it’s a steep ridgeline to arrive at the only flat section, the Condor’s nest (Nido de Condores), 5400m, our first camp on snow (still no Condors spotted). Behind camp it’s steep and very much up.

Mid-afternoon we discovered a problem; there were 2 bags of boots & crampons but only one had been brought up. The second was still down in the dining tent at BC, 1000m below. Ronaldo being the youngest guide was sent down to retrieve the missing kit. He was expected back about 2100 but appeared just after 1900, down & back up with a load in well under the time it took us just to ascend. Quite an impressive effort.

Leaving at 0130 conditions were perfect. Straight out of camp the trail was continuously  steep. Mark & ChrisB pressed on with Hilarion, JonH & me made slow progress with Ronaldo while JonM & Dan had a lie-in before leaving with Cecilio. At around 6000m Dan & JonM caught us up, they were moving well, whereas JonH & I were not. We decided it wasn’t our day and turned back. Dan & JonM made the summit in just over 4:30hrs, managing some time on the summit ridge with Mark & ChrisB. Back down in the BC sunshine the most common word to describe the day was relentless.

So, 3 big mountains, each different with the toughest left until the end. Unusually for a big mountain trip there’s an opportunity for a bit of comfort in between the days spent at high altitude. Having four local IFMGA guides who had already summited the peaks in the days before our arrival meant there was no need for fixed ropes, we all just went mountaineering and it was great!

So good in fact that I’ve already put in the request for a rematch with Illimani next year, with the hope of finally spotting a condor.

Our success was due to the preparation and support from Fabricio, our highly skilled mountain guides; Rolando, Ronaldo, Hilarion & Cecilio, the cook team of Amalia & Roger and not least to Rosse who got us off to such a good start.

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