Hatun Machay!

The rock field of Hatun Machay; below in the valleys there are plenty more first ascents waiting...

I've been climbing at this placed called Hatun Machay, just south of Huaraz, for about 4 days now and I was SO glad that I was able to make it there. After researching different climbing places in Peru, the consensus was that Hatun Machay was the best. Some of the locals here in Huaraz might disagree (maybe because the refuge is run by a non-native...) but it's spectacular and was definitely worth the trip.

It all started after Alex left Huaraz about a week ago. After the climbing competition that I helped out with, I was wondering what to do the following week. I ran into a friend at my hostel, Camille Mo, and she said that she wanted to head to Hatun Machay with a friend on Monday. We teamed up and went to the store right then and bought our food for the next 4 days. Luckily, there is a refuge at Hatun Machay with all of the cooking stuff that you could need; that meant less stuff to carry!

The refuge at Hatun Machay; super clean and in a perfect setting!

We all met outside of our Hostel, Hostel Alkipo, at 8am to take a collective bus ride to this town called Catac. After about 45 minutes, we got dropped off and hailed a taxi to take us the rest of the way to Hatun Machay. Hatun Machay has an elevation just over 14,000 ft; pretty intimidating that you have routes with difficulties at 5.13+ at this altitude! Driving a Toyota Wagon on this gnarly dirt road up there was invigorating for sure; our driver dinged the bottom of his car 3+ times... All in all, it cost each of us roughly 18 soles to make the 2 hour journey; not too shabby!

Camping outside of the refuge; 20 soles/night

 The refuge has 2 options for staying there; either camping outside or staying in a bunk bed in the refuge upstairs. Staying upstairs was 30 soles. I brought a tent along and sleeping in a sleeping bag sounded amazing so I set it up in the corralled area around the refuge. After setting up everything, it was about 2pm so Camille, Octavio, and I headed out for some climbing.

I love me some heel hook moves!

I couldn't believe the amount of rock that Hatun Machay has to offer. Boulders, faces, cracks, multi-pitch, you name it, it's here! There is still TONS of potential for first ascents because only the main center has been established; there are tons of areas on the outskirts with just as many rocks and cliffs as the center. Considering that we were at 14,000 ft., we definitely were glad to have brought our puffies and rain gear. Like clockwork, everyday around 2pm the clouds would move in and rain for about a couple hours or more. Somehow, the rock would be dry as soon as the rain stopped. We were able to climb everyday!

Talk about a great time; climbing, good food, friends, practicing spanish... things were great! We climbed everyday until the rain came, then went back to the refuge for lunch until the rain passed, then went back out and climbed till nighttime settled in. We brought SO much food with us; sandwich makings for lunch, soup and a main course for dinner, TONS of cookies for snacks too. Don't forget cans of Cusquena and a bottle of Argentinian wine!!!

One day, a new group of people showed up to the refuge, one of them who was named Diego. He arrived at the hut in the late afternoon after traveling for quite awhile so he decided to take a walk. The one thing that you are told about Hatun Machay is that there is a single river running from the hut down through the valley. If you ever have a question about how to come back to the refuge, just follow the river. That night, Diego did not follow these directions very well.

After everyone had returned to the refuge for the night, we all noticed that Diego was not back yet. A search team went out around 9pm that night in hopes of finding Diego. Unfortunately, they were unlucky after 2.5 hours of searching. As we were heading to bed around 10:30pm, we saw a light way off in the distance so we rallied again in hopes of finding Diego; no such luck. We all got back around 1:00am, worrying about what happened to Diego.

We got up around 5am in another attempt to find Diego. We walked around the entire Hatun Machay area but still no luck in finding Diego. We all just hoped that he wasn't injured... After taking a nap mid-day, I headed out to find Octavio and Camille for some climbing. That late afternoon, we found out that Diego had returned via taxi to the refugio; he had gone DOWN valley, not up the river like he was told the day before. Let's hope that he learns his lesson!!! We were all pretty relieved. The owner of the refuge then proceeded to buy dinner, dessert, and wine for everyone in the refuge that night; party time!!!

Go Red Team Go!

We definitely didn't plan it but Octavio, Camille, and I all had red jackets so it was fitting that we took a picture of our awesomeness. Team Red conquered Hatun Machay pretty well; tons of routes, tons of boulders, not to mention grades all the way up to 5.12d and boulders up to v7/8! I also took some photos of the boulders that were there and they are going to be in the new guidebook for Peru that will be printed in the next week or so!!! Exciting!!! :-)

The whole gang at Hatun Machay!

Thanks again to everyone at the refugio for making it such an awesome experience. Also, thanks to Octavio and Camille for creating the Red Team and having me along on their climbing adventure! I head to Trujillo tonite to visit Roland, a friend I worked with in Tahoe over 4 years ago. Rest the finger tips and rebuild some muscle with home-made ceviche, beers, and some Peruvian Hospitality! Tune in next time to see how good the ceviche really was...

I return to Huaraz on the 12th, my birthday! I think some more climbing is in order with maybe some dancing and drinks afterwards? :-D That week I hope to climb some of the mountains around here. I will attempt 3 mountains in 4 days with some of the local friends I've met here. The 3 mountains are Pongos, Raria, and Mururaju; all in the ~5600 m range. Wish me luck!