Overview Ocshapalca is a ridge of peaks in the Chinchey Massif in the Cordillera Blanca in Peru. All it's routes are quite hard and this mountain is not often climbed.
The South Face of this broad and heavily fluted peak is now becoming a classic venue for steep ice climbing, especially with climbers now content to complete their route to the summit ridge and rappel rather than attempt to traverse a difficult corniced crest to one of the summits. There is still much scope for new routes on this face, though one line is very similar to the next. (see below)
Please note: If you find any errors or outdated info on this page or want to add
more information, please send me an eMail, so I can correct it, or I can give you editing privileges.Getting ThereSimilar to Vallunaraju: There is an international airport in Peru, Lima.
From there, you normally take a bus north to Huaraz, a city at 3091m, which is a climbing, mountaineering and
backpacking mecca. From here you take a taxi directly to the Basecamp, following the dirt road from Willcahuain.
Expect to pay ~20USD one way. If you know already how many days you will stay, you can arrange to be picked up
again with your driver. (usually the next day in the evening or two days later in the morning)
Red TapeNo Permits, no summit fees !
Only a few pennies 'road' toll at the entrance of the valley ;-)
When To ClimbThe best season to climb is from mid June till late July and early August.
In an average year you can probably start as early as May and
continue until the beginning of September, but the rainy season
will usually drop in mid September
CampingNo Restrictions : stay wherever you want.
There is a nice area at the end of the road, with some
broken huts, where you have level surface for your tents.
but the sun will touch this place only short during the day
Miscellaneous Info Books: Climbs of the Cordillera Blanca of Peru
by David M. Sharman
Go to Cordee Books & Maps
Map: The only map available is a very old (and a bit outdated) Alpenvereinskarte
from 1932. You don't necessarily need a map to get along there.
RoutesThewall falls 650m from the East (Main) Summit (1)
and 500m from the untrodden West Top (2).
Current routes on this face are (see Dark Topo Picture!):
(A) Pisamierdas (Amils/Casas/Obregon/Sunyer, 1989).
(B) South Face Direct (Cambon/Francou/Grassi, 1982).
(C) South Face-Original Route (Blatherwick/Richey, 1979).
(D) Alternative Start (Variante Peruana).
(E) Alquimia (no information).
(F) Swiss-Canadian Route (Balmat/Banderet/Ouellet, 1982).
(G) Rusula de Yungay (Allignol/Soulier, 1998).
(H) The incompleted line of Preso Politico (Amat/Lopez/Lopez, 1994).
(I) The incompleted line of Christian Pichon (Roux/Scart/Vigne, 1995).
(J) Ludix-El Gato Blanco (Babic/Hieb/Zver/Zorko, 1996)
(K) Intsumisioa (Fonseca/Santesteban, 1995).
The latest addition comes from the French pair, François Allignol and
Christophe Soulier, who completed the 500m Rusula de Yungay (ED1) to the
summit ridge a little right of both the West Top and the 1995 uncompleted
French route, Christian Pichon. This brings the total number of routes on
the face to 11 (end of 1999)
External Links Images
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