Monthly Archives: April 2014

Late April Conditions – Condoriri Area

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There was 10-20cm of new snow in the Condoriri area a week ago. This fell over what was an increasingly firm snow pack making climbing conditions a little more difficult but skiing and boarding superb. The classic ridges and higher faces have by now firmed up again with lower south facing gullies requiring more time for the accumulated snow to become icy. No avalanche activity observed.

Condoriri Area April 2014

Condoriri Area April 2014

The SW ridge of Condoriri last friday (25th) below.

SW ridge of Condoriri (680x1024)

SW ridge of Condoriri 25th April

Snowboarding on the Condoriri glacier above Laguna Juri Khota:

Snowboarding near Condoriri April 2014 (1024x680)

Snowboarding near Condoriri April 2014

 

April conditions

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It’s early April and conditions in the hills continue to improve. The skiing/boarding has been excellent of late with nice corn on western aspects and wind packed powder on the southern sides of some peaks. Crevasses are mostly well filled with the normal route on Huayna Potosi not crossing anything open, making current conditions perfect for fast and safe solo ascents. The snow pack is for the most part stable, the exception being eastern aspects by mid afternoon, where there have been several small point releases ( size 1) that have run 50m on steep terrain above 5500m.

The weather is slowly becoming more stable with, per week,  a couple very good days and a couple wet days with the rest generally fine in the morning with increasing cloud through to a mid afternoon shower.

A few recent pics of the Huayna Potosi area:

Huayna Potosi from the south apr 2014 (1024x680)

South side of Huayna Potosi and Pico Milluni

Plenty of snow but not a lot of ice formation on the south face of Pico Milluni. Another month or two and hopefully the gullies will be on.

DSC05638 (1024x405)

East side of Pico Milluni April 2014

The rock on the east side of Pico Milluni is mostly snow free.

Huayna Potosi normal route April 2014

On Huayna Potosi normal route with Pico Milluni and the Pico Italiano behind

As seen above the big rock buttresses on Pico Italiano are mostly snow free. The normal route of Huayna Potosi is in great condition and the surrounding slopes are begging to be skied.

Summit ridge of Huayna Potosi with west face on left Apr 2014

Summit ridge of Huayna Potosi with west face on left

Another pic of the normal route with the west face falling away on the left with loads of snow, boding well for May/June/July ascents. Currently at least the top part of the face is soft but will ice up later in the season with more sun and melt freeze action. Note the early afternoon cloud rising from the Yungas below.

Over all things are looking good for plenty of snow/ice routes coming into condition in May and June. For now the normal routes, some snow free east facing rock faces and skiing and boarding on most aspects are on but weather conditions will continue to dictate the time of day that is best for any high mountain fun.