A struggle to 6,425m- Coropuna

"As in any alpine region, the weather is changeable, protection questionable, route-finding bewildering, rockfall frequent and descents tedious. In short, it's everything you could ever ask for."  

Well, if I had know what I was getting myself into, I probably wouldn't have done it. Our climb on Coropuna (6,425m) started out with an eight hour bus ride that dropped us off at midnight at the side of the road somewhere. We walked a bit, then set up camp at 4,800m in order to get some rest. The next day we climbed over volcanic rocks and ash, about six hours, to our second base camp, where set up camp at 5,600m (by far the highest I have ever slept). We had noticed the wind on the way up, but now we realized just how strong it really was. We headed out at two for what ended up being the hardest climb yet. The first three hours involved a very steep rock climb (more like boulder scramble) mixed with parts of steep scree we had to struggle up. Once we reached the glacier, relieved we would finally get to walk on ice, we realized it was not a glacier, but rather a huge field of strange icicles that eventually led up to the summit. The problem with this was that every time we stepped, the icicles would break and we would fall in. By this time we were over 6,000m, and extracting ourselves every few meters took an extraordinary amount of energy. It was bitter cold out, and there was a surprisingly strong wind throughout the whole climb (probably the strongest winds I have ever been in). Once we reached the top, after over six hours of climbing, we were physically, but even more so mentally drained. It had not been a fun climb. The climb down proved to be even harder. Once again the icicles were not ideal to walk on (we fell multiple times), but most of all, the rock climbing down took all our concentration, as every few steps would start a miny boulder avalanche. After twelve hours of climbing, we arrived back at base camp starving and thirsty (I hadn't eaten anything during the whole climb since digesting at such altitudes is very difficult), but after an hour rest, we had to pack up and leave (about a three hour hike down) in order to catch our bus home later that night. After a two hour (very bumpy) ride in the back of a lumber truck, we caught a bus, and made it back home by two in the morning. Though it was definitely our least favorite climb, we were very happy to have made it to 6,425m, and the next morning, we seemed to have forgotten how much it had sucked since we were both itching to find another mountain to climb. Sadly, weather and money have gotten in our way and that was our last mountain, so we celebrated with wine and a fancy dinner of ostrich and alpaca. Tonight we are leaving at three in the morning for Colca Canyon, a canyon twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, where we shall spend the next few days.