Climbing Chachani Volcano

This past weekend, a bunch of us teachers set out to conquer Volcan Chachani. This 6,057 m (19,872ft) beast of a volcano proved to be, by far, the most difficult challenge both physically and mentally I have yet faced. Chachani is the tallest of three volcanoes here in Arequipa, Peru along with El Misti  (5,822m) and Pichu Pichu (5,664m).

Loading up for our 3 hour drive to the drop zone near Chachani

Arequipa way down below.

It is currently summer in Arequipa and during the day the temperature is between 70-75 degrees. However, the top of Chachani is below freezing and covered in snow due to the altitude. In preparation for the trip we took pills to prevent altitude sickness and I bought a hefty bag of coca leaves to chew throughout our climb. These preparations proved vital but I could not possibly prepare for the sheer difficulty of the challenge.

After just over two hours of driving we stopped for a bathroom break in one of the more desolate landscapes I've seen. At this point, we realized that there was a seemingly serious issue with one of our two 4x4 vehicles. We ended up having to use one of the vehicles as a shuttle to get us all to the drop safely. There were a few points when I thought we were going to tip over due to the intensity of the final stretch of the terrain. Nonetheless, we made it. We stepped out at the feet of volcanoes onto a snow covered ground.

A wild Vicuña, the national animal of Peru, in front of Chachani

Brandon takes the road less traveled

The Bold

Uh oh. 

This dude joined us with his gf. He is a mountain climber who is mountain biking around South America. Are we in over our heads if this is the only other guy joining us?

Stone Faced. There seemed to be faces in the stone everywhere. Could be the altitude. We were pretty high. 

Our guide, Gido, sat in the trunk all cramped like a champ. 

Drop Zone. 

Team Sandwich

Coca!

Waiting for the 2nd carload at the drop zone

Bad Ass John

The celebratory beer busted out early

Just us and our legs from here...

We readied our gear, layered up and made some sandwiches with delicious, delicious, fresh Siabata bread and ham and cheese provided by Team Sandwich. Once the other carload arrived we grabbed our backpacks and hiked for 2 hours to base camp, which was at 5,100 m. We could already feel the effects of the altitude. I was breathing like a machine almost from the start. During the hike I found myself thinking, "umm... this is the 'easy' hike? Oy."

Caramello

We made it to base camp and set up our tents and prepared for dinner and sunset. Our surroundings were surreal. Dinner was ramen noodles with tuna.  It sounds gross and everyone thought it WAS gross...except me. I don't even like tuna but I think I was just so excited to have a hot meal that my taste buds played tricks on me. I had seconds. We ate and watched the sunset behind a volcano.

Our tent

Mica looks on as Gido cooks dinner

Sam getting her grub on with excitement (kindly served by Alfredo and Gido)

We were warned that sleeping would be difficult due to the altitude. Apparently, your body intakes less air while sleeping, and as a precaution, your body keeps you awake to breathe. We were told to expect 1-3 hours of sleep, 3 being great. I probably slept around an hour. Even while lying in the tent my chest was rising and falling as deep and fast as possible to maintain.

I exited the tent around 1:30 AM to a sky like I had never seen. The stars were everywhere, filling up constellations making them difficult to recognize. I was lucky enough to see three shooting stars above Chachani while I waited for the less anxious to join me. We were served breakfast at 2:10 while the moon rose behind Chachani. It was a crescent moon so for the first few minutes, it looked like glowing devil horns coming out of the volcano. We didn't think this bode well for our journey. Nonetheless, we began our climb in the dark at 2:30 AM.

Tired. Mouthful of coca leaves.

One of our last breaks before the top

My heart was pumping full volume almost straight out of the gate. All I could do or think of was counting my breathing with my steps and focus on placing my feet exactly in the prints of those in front of me. There wasn't a whole lot of talking which said a lot about how we were feeling, however, our guides, Gido and Alfredo, were whistling along the way like it was a stroll in the park. We stopped every hour or so to re-up on the coca leaves, stuff our faces with chocolate and have a sip or two of water. Just over halfway up we encountered snow which would slow our progress the rest of the way.

While close to the top, we hit more steep and slick terrain. Both of Alex's rented boots began separating at the front of the sole. They were flopping worse than Manu Ginobli. At this point it was actually getting pretty dangerous. Thankfully two days prior I had broken a string playing tennis and brought the lightweight, synthetic gut on our trip thinking it could be useful. The guide had stopped to use this to tie her outsole back to her foot. He told me to continue so I began traversing across the mountain while climbers were above me higher up. I heard an increasing rumbling sound and turned just in time. A rock the size of a basketball was tumbling straight towards my legs. I dove out of the way and it rolled safely past. However, my 3/4 full water bottle came out of it's loose holding in my backback and went skidding down Chachani. Thankfully I had a gatorade buried safely away inside my pack. Soon after this we reached the "last push" which was an incredibly steep, slippery hill with random rocks jutting out from the snow. We basically had to rock climb on these rocks as it was too steep to even crawl up. We had to use our polls and the rocks as leverage to prevent from slipping down the steep slope. After making it up to flatter ground I lay face first in the snow for a few minutes. I have never had less energy in my life than this exact moment. After a short rest, the summit was a short walk away.

Just under 6 hours after we left base camp, 5 out of the original 11 of us made it to the summit! 6,057 m (almost 4 miles into the sky)! It took us a long time to make the final push as we were completely exhausted. It seemed like we were "15 minutes away" for about an hour. But we did it! We finally got to see the cross at the top representing the summit. Apparently, all mountains in South America have a cross at the top. Thankfully it was there because due to the clouds, there sadly wasn't much else to see. Also, thanks to Jacob for bringing the celebratory rum. Just what my body wanted at that point...

Alex and I at the summit with our badass guides Alfredo and Gido! 

Thijs and Jacob celebrating properly

We had used 100% of our energy to summit Devil Mountain and were not properly anticipating the return trip. It took us a grueling 2 hours of slip sliding down the mountain to base camp. The top part was so slick and steep we slid down on our asses until the guides yelled at us for fear we'd rip the snow pants we had borrowed from the tour agency.

Jacob digging in his heels and skidding down Chachani

Looking back on it. Thijs, Alex and Gido are in the distance 10 minutes from base camp.

After finally getting back to base camp we had maybe 10 minutes to rest before we had to pack up and make the 2 hour hike back to the drop zone. Our guides were worried about the weather and didn't want us to get caught in a storm. Seeing the two 4x4 SUVs on top of the last hill... I can't describe. What an incredible experience.