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though, the rock seemed to disappear too soon, and I found myself running it on some thin ice. The exposure and shitty protection left me a little uneasy but, like always, the feeling was soon forgotten to the overwhelming sense of the alpine. Jimmy followed the gear, and quickly took his block, leading a tough section that looked like it would gain the cornice. The rock was covered in the fresh snow and Jimmy took a big whipper trying to get over a steep bulge on the face. After finding his bearings, he sent it again, running it out a scary fifteen feet before finding a solid cam placement. The ridge to the cornice was hard to gain because of unconsolidated and overhanging snow, but we eventually charged through after digging deep for protection. A final pitch of mixed climbing gained the cornice, but without a visible line to the summit we decided to bivy, hoping for better morning skies. We awoke to a room with a view and quickly tackled the cornice, dropping packs on the way to the summit. Jimmy was generous enough to let me take on the chest deep snow, and we gained the summit just before another storm rolled in. As we down-climbed, it looked as if our plans to traverse to Oeste and Sur had been dampened. It had taken an extra day to summit and there was a copious amount of snow on the plateau linking the Huandoys. Determined, however, we set up the tent hoping for a weather window. It proved hopeless, though, and we enjoyed a two day suffer-fest near 21,000ft instead. The storm never faltered, bringing heavy snow and the coldest nights I’ve ever endured. We made an attempt on Oeste, but bailed due to deep snow. Running low on food and motivation, we decided to rap down the North Face and bail on the big traverse. Each rap proved time consuming due to the huge amount of snow the storms had left on the face. It was the same story every pitch; looking for ice, finding lemons. After twenty raps, the light began to fade and the weather had worsened. We tried to find the bridge over the bergshrund but couldn’t see anything. As it began to snow harder, we heard falls all around us and decided to seek shelter until the morning. We found some seracs above the bergshrund and enjoyed a scary bivy over a large crevasse. We spent the night listening to avalanches and snow pouring into the crevasse below us. Luckily, we awoke to sunshine and quickly found a way down. Hours later, off the face, we found ourselves weaving through the last bit of boulders near the road. “We’re back to it”, I said to Jimmy, and he sighed with relief. The valley was wet, quiet, and there had been no sign of a car on the road. We faced a 25km walk out of the valley, it had been a day since we last ate, and as it began to storm again we simply threw up our hoods and began the walk out. We weren’t suffering anymore though, we knew where we had to go, and each step brought us closer to a state of peaceful meditation.
-Erik Rieger