Over 2 weeks of sun has turned most snow slopes to ice, with patches of softer snow still lingering. The southern aspects are the most inconsistent but are slowly icing up. The ski season is pretty much over (except for some slopes later in the day) but climbing conditions are getting better by the day.

A new route was forged on the SW face of Pico Milluni (5500m) last week. Ya Pues, M5 AI3 starts up the gully to the left of the central Mesili line before a mixed pitch and 5 pitches up a left slanting ice/mixed line. 1 more pitch on rock up leads to easy ridge travel to the summit of the high peak.

There are many lines left to climb as, like many Bolivian peaks, the SW face of Pico Milluni has been largely neglected in favour of normal routes on the nearby 6000m peaks.

Chris Clarke and Robert Rauch exiting the gully for mixed terrain on Ya Pues.

Clarke and Rauch high on Ya Pues.