Mountain: Siula Grande
Route: West Face Avoiding the Touch
Country: Peru
Height: 6344 meters/20,814 feet
Dates of Expedition: July 1999
Overview of climb: Roughly following the original route through the lower ice face, we took a direct line up the central gully leading directly to the Central (main?) Summit.
Team Members: Mark Price, Carlos Buhler, Joaquin Vargas Cipriano (cook)
Lasting Impression:
Our ascent was complicated and strenuous. We were both anxious to not fall into a situation that would lead us to experience the life-changing events of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates. It was a fabulous alpine wall, with more than enough complexities to keep us totally occupied for the entire 6 days on the climb and descent. Because we could not tell if the South Summit was higher, we followed the ridge easily over to that point. It gave the same altimeter reading. We were not looking forward to the descent along the North Ridge and ultimately decided to rappel a line down the West Face about 200 meters to the North of our ascent line.
