Outer adventures

The andes ski adventure – Episode 3, Bolivia

Here comes the third episode from our adventure through the andes! This time you can follow me and filmer Bjarne Sahlén as we are climbing and skiing the highest mountain in Bolivia – Nevado Sajama…

Check out more of Bjarne’s cool films on endlessflow.posterous.com

Mercedario 6768 – Skiing the legendary south face

A semi successful adventure of the 6th highest mountain in South America with a ski of the legendary south face but missing the summit because of stomach issues…

The mighty south face of Mercedario

Our driver Andres took us straight in to the wild with his 4×4 and after an hour or so we came to the local mining company’s check point where we had to register to enter in to the mountains. After the registration and a quick match of foosball (i won) against the local hero we kept on going for another 20 minutes to the military farm of Santa Anna. Here we had to check in again before starting our marathon walk towards the South Face.

If we had wanted to do the normal route on the other side of the mountain we would have been able to drive up to around 3600 meters and could have started the climb (walk) of the mountain straight ahead. But to get to the south side we had to walk around the mountain in a ragged valley starting on 2100 m and walking a distance close to a marathon with 30 kilos on our backs. It’s the hardest approach both me and Bjarne had done in our lifes.

I have always wanted to ski the south face since I heard of its existence a few years back. Its a 1800 m high white face on one of the highest mountains in south america located simply in the middle of no-where. It has no technical difficulty what so ever, but its steep enough to be fun, its white, huge and it would turn out to be a great ski.

After three days of walking through amazing landscapes we finally made it to the base camp located at 4350 m just under the face. Here we had a rest day before I set out on my mission the following night.

Bjarne followed me to cross the bergschrund just after two o’clock in the morning. There he left me to walk back to the tent to get another hour of sleep. Then he started his climb up a mountain on the other side of the valley to find a good spot for filming.

The face hadn’t looked to big from BC, but when getting on it I could really feel that its twice as big as any snow face in Chamonix and that the base of it is almost on the same height as Mt Blanc. I walked for hours, but when the sun rose at six I had only done half the face.

I could for sure feel the altitude, but what slowed me down most was my stomach that didn’t let me keep anything I tried to eat. It became a comical situation racing between spots that where good for taking shits. But thats life in the mountains, specially in places with germs more hard core than the european ones.

Higher up on the face i started to traverse under the big rock band at the top of the face. I did it to get a shortcut to the summit, but also be able to ski the face from the top in as good style as possible. But about half way through the traverse hell broke lose. As I should have understood the sun hit the rock band and started projecting down rocks. I would have turned around if it wasn’t for it being easy to see the rocks coming as long as I was moving. If I had stopped to put my skis on I would have been much more vulnerable. This is not saying I like the situation I was in, but sometimes it happens and then you just have to keep at it.

Further over it calmed down and I started looking for crevasses usable as safe toilets. I was laughing at my self crawling up the last hundred meters of the face. I had passed the objectively dangerous parts, but I was weaker than ever. Ten hours of climbing without being able to keep any food, gels or water at altitude had taken its toll on me. I had nothing left after throwing up and taking seven shits in total. When I came up on the plateau above the face on 6150 meters I lay down to take a rest and watched the icy dome I had in front of me. The skiing looked worse than ever up there and i counted that in my present state I wouldn’t make it up there just before dark.

I hate to give up, but this time it was the wisest thing to do. And besides, my intent and dream was to climb and ski the south face of Mercedario. I hadn’t asked for anything else. As a believer of intent and dreams and creating one’s own reality I just accepted my situation with a smile and decided to be happy for the huge ski I had under my feet.

The skiing was to be wonderful with really easy skiable chalky snow, but with a few wavy sections. I could ski it fairly fast on places and it’s always a wonderful feeling covering terrain on skis in a matter of minutes that took hours on the way up. It had been a really cold night, so the batteries in all my electrical equipment except my camera was dead. It was a pity as I would have loved to re-experience this ski from the Gopro’s point of view.

But it’s all there in the back of my mind when I look back at the experience. Further down there was an icy section with a tin layer of snow on it. I hadn’t been able to find a good way through it in the darkness on the way up so now I had to do it on-sight from the top. I had a few interesting moments, but in the end I made it through the whole thing without even thinking of using a rope (which i had left with Bjarne anyways) or down climbing.

The last few hundred meters after the ice served up wonderful corn skiing and allowed me to finally get back to GS mode to in a really tired state, with a smile on my lips, end another great ski day in the middle of no where.

The following day was an obligatory rest day before we put on our huge backpacks once again to go down all the way to, as it ended up, La Junta and the mining company’s check point. The military people chocked us with the worst welcoming we ever had in the wilderness and refused to help us call our transport. So we had to keep on walking for a few hours more till we finally came back to our friendly miners.

This time I lost the rematch in foosball, but I blame it on tiredness and dehydration. Anyways, we were really welcomed here and got food and water while waiting for our ride back to Barreal. In a spree of luck we managed to get back to Mendoza via San Juan in that very same day and we are now resting up for a few days before continuing our grand adventure.

The shithead tournament:
Andreas: 76
Bjarne: 56

Don’t forget to check Bjarne’s video blog for loads of cool mountain movies at: endlessflow.posterous.com

 
 
Mercedario from the jeep
Me, Bjarne and his girlfriend Heather (Who joined us on this adventure to get acclimatized for Aconcagua.
Bjarne working
Entering the cowboy landscape
Starting the huge walk
One of many river crossings
Bjarne taking a bath
The first view of the big mountains
Our first view of the south face
Me and the south face
More south face – I just can’t get enough…
Me resting
… in front of the face
The sun rise on the climbing day
Looking down, from probably another shitty place..
Looking down from the top of the face
And looking up at the icy summit
In action
And again
I love looking back at my tracks on a face like this
Endless rounds of card games
On the way out
Finally, close to the mining check point! The end of just another adventure…
 
 

La Paz – Mendoza – San Juan – Barreal

After Nevado Sajama I got sick and spent most of the following week in bed missing out on  lots of what La Paz had to offer. But we still got to do the town and try out the local salsa joints as well as meeting some really cool people. 
 
The endless bus ride…
When I finally felt better we started a marathon bus ride south towards Mendoza. It took us three days to reach the third city of Argentina where we did our shopping or food and gas before we went back north to Barreal via San Juan on another day worth of bus rides. In the sleepy town of Barreal we slept under a three trying to not attract the attention of the wild dogs before we found a local named Andres to drive us out in to the wild… 
 
Geraldine is helping us out with the bus tickets… We still got scammed though..
A night at our friend Alex Aguirre’s restaurant in La Paz
Sweden’s biggest fan
The La Paz mountain film festival
On the road…
Im soo tired of eggs and rice by now…
The Argentinian border
Bjarne enjoying Argentinian wine
Not really fitting in the local San Juan fashion
A night out with the dogs
On our way out in to the wild…
 

Nevado Sajama, 6542m – A sandy and tiring adventure on Bolivia’s highest mountain

Sometimes, very seldom, I ask my self in the middle of an adventure – what am I doing here? Walking up Nevado Sajama, the highest peak in Bolivia, in a sandstorm I once again asked myself that question. 

Nevado Sajama
After two full days and nights on bus from Huaraz via Lima we arrived in La Paz in the evening of the 18th. We where really tired, but according to the forecast we only had a three day weather window on Sajama before a big low pressure system would come in so we figured we had to go for it while we had the chance. 
We stashed our gear in our room at Loki hostel and then jumped in to a cab to go to a supermarket before they would close. We did a quick tour around the market and bought four days worth of food before we continued for dinner. After we had eaten we went back to the hostel to pack together our stuff and to get a couple of hours sleep. Already extremely deprived on sleep from the bus ride we woke up four hours later to catch the early bus towards Chile that would pass by the mountain. 
We slept the whole bus ride and got woken up when we arrived at the, hrmm, spot on the road next to Nevado Sajama. There where nothing there except a few old houses and a dirt road leading towards the mountain. A few old men where sitting in the entrance of one of the houses and I asked them how to get to the village of Sajama. They pointed to a young woman who said she had a taxi. We followed her to her house and would in a few minutes be sitting in her family’s jeep together with her husband on our way to Sajama. 
Arriving in the sleepy village some half hour later we went to pay the park fees, then found a woman to cook us some food and another “taxi” that could drive us closer to base camp. 
In the early afternoon that same day we started walking in from the trailhead to base camp. I have never been this tired in the start of an adventure in my entire life and after about one hour of walking I told Bjarne I couldn’t take it any more, I needed some sleep. So we lied down on the side of the trail and slept for two hours in the sun. The power-nap did good and after just another hour and a half of walking we arrived in base camp at 4800 m. 
It felt crazy to intend to climb a relatively high mountain in this state, but I figured that this dive in to the unknown would be the gift this adventure would bring. It was with curiosity that I went to bed for the first full nights sleep in a while. 
We slept a 14 hour night and had a long breakfast before we left for high camp. In a normal well rested state we would not even have thought about sleeping at high camp at 5700 m, but in our current condition we needed to sway all favors we could in our direction. We also ditched everything we could, including the tent, in base camp to save all the energy we could for the summit bid. 
The walk up from base camp to high camp is a 900 m sand climb that took us about four hours. The wind got stronger and stronger and in the last couple of hundred meters we where practically walking in the midst of a sand storm. We couldn’t keep our eyes open, and we had sand everywhere; in our mouths, ears, eyes, inside our clothes, in our shoes and for every two steps we gained we slided one step back. 
This was probably the most absurd moment I have had on my way up to ski a mountain. And I won’t say I can recommend it really to anyone, there are so many other much more worth while mountains on this planet that are leaving this one shy behind. But on the other hand, it’s pretty cool skiing in the middle of the desert. 
We connected our sleeping bags and had a fairly good nights sleep before we continued upwards four in the morning the next day. After two hundred meters of sand walking we finally reached the snow and a couple of easy rock steps. The snow though was transformed to an ocean of penitentes (see wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penitentes), the infamous south american snow formations, formed like small pyramids makes walking difficult and skiing impossible. 
On 6050 m Bjarne made a new altitude record and had enough and went down. I kept on going towards the summit. 
As always it’s a wonderful feeling arriving at ones goal after hours and days of fears of failure and pain. I took a few pictures and then clicked in to my skis and took of back down. The snow was chalky and easy to ski and for a few moments I forgot all the pain it had taken to get to the top. I found a small ridge that was even but really exposed and all in all got about 450 vertical meters of fun skiing. Still, with about 2400 vertical meters of “climbing” it’s the worst climbing/skiing ratio i have had in my whole life. 
Arriving again in high camp we ate some ramen noodles that Bjarne had prepared before we continued down to BC. The sandy trail that had been hell on the way up was actually pretty easy sliding on the way down. We slept that night in BC before we continued down to the village of Sajama where we got fed and then driven to the hot springs out side of town. 
After a refreshing bath we took a cab to a town close to the border of Chile where we where promised there was a bus to La Paz the same day. But arriving there we found out we where to late. But after half an hour of search we got a ride with a truck driver back to the Bolivian capital. 
It was a good experience to climb a 6000 m peak on low energy, but I’m not looking forward to repeating it. I found my real low point on energy on the walk back and I have been lying in bed resting for two days and two nights, so far. It was good to see how deep the reserve goes and wonderful to get a different kind of ski experience, but now I’m looking forward for some energy and some real skiing. 

Bjarne on his way to La Paz bus station at 4 o’clock in the morning

Early breakfast at the station

Leaving for Sajama village

Nevado Sajama, Bolivias highest mountain, seen from the road

Peluche working the filming

LLamas are as normal here as reindeers back home

Senorita Anna is feeding us in her shack 

Bjarne on the walk in to BC

BC

Dinner time

The scree slopes on the path to high camp

Our bivouac 

Bjarne in the early morning

Shitty skiing huh? Luckily i found a smooth ridge that was good skiing further skiers left

Sajama from a skiers point of view

Walking down to BC

Myself and Bjarne in the famous Sajama hot-springs 

This is where all the old swedish Volvo trucks end up!

Old Volvos and Sajama on the Chilean border

Our ride, of course a Volvo

Bjarne chilling out in the truck! He said daddy Kurt would have loved to see this! 

Our driver Louis

Arriving in La Paz

Myself recovering from the adventure
For more info on Nevado Sajama: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevado_Sajama
http://www.summitpost.org/sajama/150954

Our hostel Loki, the n1 hang out spot for backpackers, travelers and adventurers in La Paz:
http://www.lokihostel.com/en/lapaz

And like always, check Bjarne’s video blog at:
endlessflow.posterous.com

Nevado Sajama, 6548m

Nevado Sajama, 6548m – A sandy and tiring adventure on Bolivia’s highest mountain. 
Sometimes, very seldom, I ask my self in the middle of an adventure – what am I doing here? Walking up Nevado Sajama, the highest peak in Bolivia, in a sandstorm I once again asked myself that question. 
After two full days and nights on bus from Huaraz via Lima we arrived in La Paz in the evening of the 18th. We where really tired, but according to the forecast we only had a three day weather window on Sajama before a big low pressure system would come in so we figured we had to go for it while we had the chance. 
We stashed our gear in our room at Loki hostel and then jumped in to a cab to go to a supermarket before they would close. We did a quick tour around the market and bought four days worth of food before we continued for dinner. After we had eaten we went back to the hostel to pack together our stuff and to get a couple of hours sleep. Already extremely deprived on sleep from the bus ride we woke up four hours later to catch the early bus towards Chile that would pass by the mountain. 
We slept the whole bus ride and got woken up when we arrived at the, hrmm, spot on the road next to Nevado Sajama. There where nothing there except a few old houses and a dirt road leading towards the mountain. A few old men where sitting in the entrance of one of the houses and I asked them how to get to the village of Sajama. They pointed to a young woman who said she had a taxi. We followed her to her house and would in a few minutes be sitting in her family’s jeep together with her husband on our way to Sajama. 
Arriving in the sleepy village some half hour later we went to pay the park fees, then found a woman to cook us some food and another “taxi” that could drive us closer to base camp. 
In the early afternoon that same day we started walking in from the trailhead to base camp. I have never been this tired in the start of an adventure in my entire life and after about one hour of walking I told Bjarne I couldn’t take it any more, I needed some sleep. So we lied down on the side of the trail and slept for two hours in the sun. The power-nap did good and after just another hour and a half of walking we arrived in base camp at 4800 m. 
It felt crazy to intend to climb a relatively high mountain in this state, but I figured that this dive in to the unknown would be the gift this adventure would bring. It was with curiosity that I went to bed for the first full nights sleep in a while. 
We slept a 14 hour night and had a long breakfast before we left for high camp. In a normal well rested state we would not even have thought about sleeping at high camp at 5700 m, but in our current condition we needed to sway all favors we could in our direction. We also ditched everything we could, including the tent, in base camp to save all the energy we could for the summit bid. 
The walk up from base camp to high camp is a 900 m sand climb that took us about four hours. The wind got stronger and stronger and in the last couple of hundred meters we where practically walking in the midst of a sand storm. We couldn’t keep our eyes open, and we had sand everywhere; in our mouths, ears, eyes, inside our clothes, in our shoes and for every two steps we gained we slided one step back. 
This was probably the most absurd moment I have had on my way up to ski a mountain. And I won’t say I can recommend it really to anyone, there are so many other much more worth while mountains on this planet that are leaving this one shy behind. But on the other hand, it’s pretty cool skiing in the middle of the desert. 
We connected our sleeping bags and had a fairly good nights sleep before we continued upwards four in the morning the next day. After two hundred meters of sand walking we finally reached the snow and a couple of easy rock steps. The snow though was transformed to an ocean of penities (????), the infamous south american snow formations, formed like small pyramids makes walking difficult and skiing impossible. 
On 6050 m Bjarne made a new altitude record and had enough and went down. I kept on going towards the summit. 
As always it’s a wonderful feeling arriving at ones goal after hours and days of fears of failure and pain. I took a few pictures and then clicked in to my skis and took of back down. The snow was chalky and easy to ski and for a few moments I forgot all the pain it had taken to get to the top. I found a small ridge that was even but really exposed and all in all got about 450 vertical meters of fun skiing. Still, with about 2400 vertical meters of “climbing” it’s the worst climbing/skiing ratio i have had in my whole life. 
Arriving again in high camp we ate some ramen noodles that Bjarne had prepared before we continued down to BC. The sandy trail that had been hell on the way up was actually pretty easy sliding on the way down. We slept that night in BC before we continued down to the village of Sajama where we got fed and then driven to the hot springs out side of town. 
After a refreshing bath we took a cab to a town close to the border of Chile where we where promised there was a bus to La Paz the same day. But arriving there we found out we where to late. But after half an hour of search we got a ride with a truck driver back to the Bolivian capital. 
It was a good experience to climb a 6000 m peak on low energy, but I’m not looking forward to repeating it. I found my real low point on energy on the walk back and I have been lying in bed resting for two days and two nights – so far. It was good to see how deep the reserve goes, but now I’m looking forward for some energy and some real skiing. 
 

Huaraz-Lima-La Paz – Two days on a bus and the start of the Bolivian Episode

Moving over the Bolivian highland we are soon in La Paz. After two full day and nights by bus we are around our half-way mark in distance of our big journey. It’s been a great time so far with millions of impressions and experiences that have carved themselves in to our memories. While traveling by buss we really get to feel the grandeur of this continent and we are taking in the change of air pressure as we roll up and down the long hills and we can se the change from the landscape of the high sierras of of Ecuador, down to the coastal dry pay-sage around Trujillo up to the subtropics of the Cordillera Blanca. For a day we where just passing the dessert like Peruvian inland before we arrived at the huge lake Titicaca, that are considered one of the the worlds highest lakes, and the border to Bolivia. 
Now, while writing this I can se the Cordillera Real on my left in the far distance and I’m really looking forward to arriving in the highest capital in the world in a few hours. Bolivia has been the country I have been looking forward the most of visiting on this trip. It’s just a feeling I have and when I try to come up with arguments in my head to back the statement up, I can not.
But then again, a good feeling is always a good start of something new and both me and Bjarne have lot of things to look forward to in the next few days. Tonight we are going to walk the town to find a good restaurant for dinner, that is usually one of the highlights of the day. Then, tomorrow we are going to find a bus to go south for Nevado Sajama, the highest mountain in Bolivia. The weather was looking good when we last checked two days ago, so i hope the window will still be open. The goal is to climb and ski the mountain before the next low-pressure comes in and then go back to La Paz to spend some time in this seemingly interesting city. 

The Andes ski adventure – Episode 1, Ecuador

Here comes the first episode from our ski adventure through the Andes. We had a great time in Ecuador and especially around the mountain town of Riobamba in the high sierras and I finally managed, on our third try, to climb and ski the highest point in the country.