On 8. and 9. July, Marjan Kovac, Pavle Kozjek (both from Slovenia) and Aritza Monasterio (Spain-Basque, living in Huaraz) opened a new route The Lord of the Towers (ED+) in Chacraraju Oeste(6112m), N face, in a lightweight single-day-and-night push from tent to tent.
The Lord of the Towers
We started from Huaraz on Monday 5.7. and established a base camp in the Paria valley on the east side ob Cordillera Blanca. There we spent another day in a bad weather, discovering complicated approach to the N face of Chacraraju. The upper part of the Paria valley is surrounded by glacial walls and exposed to seracs from Chacraraju icefield.
Basecamp
Approach to the base of the wall on Wednesday 7. July took us nine hours. First we had to climb difficult mossy rocks, then find a way across water gullies below icefield, and finally »run« through the icefield, using the only possible line below serac towers. The weather turned bad again and we found a place for tent in a snow storm in the evening.
The Tower
Nice weather next morning was a kind of surprise for us. We started our route left on the buttress, since most of the first rock barier was overhanging. There were some old pitons and fixed ropes in the first pitches. After 4 pitches of excellent rock climbing (6a, A1) we traversed right to the icefield. Conditions there were mostly bad (wet new snow) until the wall became steeper, but unfortunatelly the first ice gully ends in overhanging mushrooms.
Excellent rock
With another traverse we reached the new gully, and after 10m vertical icefall we reached mixed ground (M4-5) on the ridge. It was already night and we climbed with head lamps. The last rock barier seemed to be a problem: overhanging, and with no weak points visible in the night... With another traverse, that time to the left, we reached a vertical corner, a combination of rock and snow mushrooms. As usually in the Andes, it was a key to the top, but after some dramatical moments we stood at the top at about 10 in the night.
Night climbing
We started to rappel immediately, having some troubles with cold, dehidration and jammed ropes. After 24 hour single-day-and-night push we were in the morning again below the N face, and the same day at midnight we reached the base camp. Next day (9.7.), again in the bad weather, we continued descent back to Huaraz.
On the way back
New route The Lord of the Towers (El Señor de las Torres) follows the obvious buttres left of the main summit (Chacraraju Oeste, 6112 m) and reaches original Terrray route (1956) on the ridge.
Grade: ED+ (6a A1 AI6 - 90/55-70 st), 800 m, 14 hrs (+10 hrs descent). We couldn´t find any information about old fixed ropes.
All routes in the North face: Terray 1956 (green line), The Lord of the Towers 2004 (red), American-Ortenburger 1964 (blue), Czech (Husicka-Hapala, yellow).
Pavle Kozjek
Sponsors:
PROELIT d.o.o.
IGLU šport
DDC svetovanje, inženiring d.o.o
DUMO d.o.o.
Bog Grad d.o.o.