The rainy season is in full swing here with few fine days (although we had 3 this week and great snow conditions for climbing). The good part is that pretty soon there will be epic fun to be had sliding down Andean peaks on planks. Generally by March but particularly in April and May conditions get pretty good for skiing or boarding.

Sitting on the summit of Huayna Potosi, preparing to descend the east face to the normal route. March conditions.

Many of the normal routes on the big peaks are ski-able and there are some lower peaks with good runs on as well. Here’s a quick bit of info on a couple possibilities close to La Paz.

The northern and southern sides of Charquini have easy glacier runs with quick access and minimal crevasses. Good for acclimatisation and getting used to the snow conditions.

The normal route of Huayna Potosi is a classic moderate descent of about 900m. It is best to ski the east face from the summit rather than the very exposed and often icy summit ridge (see below).

The summit ridge of Huayna Potosi in March conditions.

The east face is not too steep but does have rocky bluffs below the line of descent so care is needed to hit one of 2 small snow gullies that break through them. Waiting till mid – late morning is also a good idea as the face will usually be icy early but soften in the sun fairly quickly to whatever consistency you want as the day goes on. A French skier died on this line in 2013 when they got on top too early and then tried to ski the face in very icy first light conditions and fell over the rocks after apparently catching an edge (they were also not wearing a helmet). Climbing up the line rather than the normal, summit ridge, route is also not a bad idea, mainly to figure out exactly where the snow gullies are.

East face and ski descent routes

Summit of Huayna Potosi from the south showing the east face falling away on the right.

After the east face descent you can ski next to the normal route track taking whatever interesting looking variations you saw on the way up.

Mid part of Huayna Potosi normal route (red) with possible ski descent variations (green)