Climbing and Trekking in Peru

Overview | Climbing | Trekking

The Cordillera Blanca in Peru offers some of the most spectacular mountain scenery to be found anywhere in the world. Tall jagged peaks of rock and ice dominate the eastern horizon from the small market town of Huaraz. Each year Southwest Adventures has led successful summit climbs on all of these mountains.

There are a number of major climbs to be made. One is the mammoth Huascaran-Sur (22,205'), Peru's highest peak and one of the most imposing summits in the world. It offers a challenging ascent requiring intermediate level alpine skills, and an unusual opportunity for climbers who want to make an ascent to very high altitude. In order to acclimate, we will also attempt Nevado Pisco (19,188'), which offers breathtaking views all the way to the summit.

The other main objective is the Southwest Face of Alpamayo (19,506'), namely, the Ferrari route. This is THE classic route to do in Peru. The route climbs an ice fluting directly to the summit. There are seven technical pitches with a the steepest being around 70 degress in steepness. Participants need to have previous alpine ice climbing experience.

For the novice mountaineer we offer an excellent high altitude training camp in the Ishinca valley where we climb Ishinca (18,188 ft.) and Urus (17,770 ft.). for the more experienced climber we Climb Pisco Oeste for an straight forward acclimitization peak, then tackle the huge sister peak of Huascarn, Chopiqualqui (20,841 ft.).

For those wanting an excotic trekking experience or to extend their climbing trip we offer several trekking trips to the best areas in the Cordillera Blanca, Huayhuash and Machu Picchu areas. Check out the climbing and trekking links for more details.