A lesson in humility

We ventured back south from Cuzco to the picturesque colonial town of Arequipa. Peru's second largest city was baptized 'the white city" (yes, there is a couple of 'white cities' in South America - and they are all beautiful) and most people think it is because of its many grand colonial buildings made from light volcanic stone that dazzles in the sun. The name is really just a sign of where the city came from though- the Spaniards, white people. No huge historical and archeological significance means less tourists - and that generally means more authenticity.

We spend days wandering the cobblestoned streets, sitting on the main square and enjoy the picture perfect view of majestic volcano Misti rising behind the cathedral. We enjoyed big city amneties in ultra modern shopping malls, hip bars and great eateries. We watched the fans of Spanish football suffer and celebrated with the few that found some black and yellow to wear at the sports bar. We lost ourselves in the alleys of the many local markets, all just geared towards one special need. We walked along the riverfront, climbed viewpoints and tried more peruvian food in picanterias (with varying results...). We spend hours talking to and laughing with the great owner of our hostel who quickly became a friend. We couldn't help staring at the raged Chachani volcano that dramatically rises up to 6080 meters and dreaming about climbing up to those unseen hights. And finally we decided to stop dreaming - and JUST DO IT.

The Chachani

We found a good and reliable operator for our first real mountaineering experience and set out one glorious morning with a small group of 5 people (all newbies to high mountains) to climb the Chachani. After a bumpy three hour 4x4 ride we reached the foot of the mountain, shouldered our equipment and set out for the basecamp at 5200m. We got there shortly before sunset, put up our tents, had some simple dinner and went 'to bed' at 6pm. The sun had gone, it was already -10 degrees and we had to get up early anyways - no need to stay up and outside. The night came, and so did

the altitude sickness. The lack of oxygen made lying down unbearable for some, strong headaches and icy temperatures prevented others from finding sleep and yet some other brave first-time mountaineers found themselves being sick all night. When the guide called us out of our tents for breakfast at 1am, none but one of us ate anything at all - and when we set out for our attempt to reach the summit a few minutes later, one of us 5 had to stay at the basecamp without being able to try at all. 40 minutes later, the second one had to go back to the camp due to a loss of orientation and coordination. The guide took him back down while the three that were left kept slowly climbing up the rocky path. The moon enlightened the night so headlights were almost unnecessary, stars dotted the black sky and an unreal silence lay over the ice
cold scene. After 90 more minutes, the guide reached us again and the walk picked up some speed - too much for the third one, who trembled from exhaustion and cold and needed to go back down quickly. When the next breaking point was reached at 5800m it was finally also over for the 4th one - a lack of oxygen made walking so hard that the speed of the guide and 'the last surviver' became too great for her. Beaten by the mighty heights of the Chachani, 4 disappointed want-to-be-mountaineers had to wait for the sun to come out at the basecamp - and would have celebrated

and congratulated the return of the only one who actually made it (a Spanish guy with an immense willpower) hugly if they (and he) had only felt a little better. As it was, the whole group just took down their tents and trembled more than walked down the way from the basecamp to the end of the road where they were picked up in silence. Back in Arequipa everyone went straight to bed and slept for 13 hours. When we woke up, the 24 hours at the mountain seemed like a very distant memory.
So, no, we didn't make it to the top of our first 6000m peak. Because, no, we cannot JUST DO everything we fancy doing. Sometimes, things are just too big for just doing and they need preperation, time and, maybe most of all, respect. But that's a lesson worth learning - especially in the dramatic setting of the Chachani.