Climbing Huayna Potosi | Adventure Cinematic

Although often called one of the easiest 6,000-meter peaks in the world to climb (by tourist agencies looking to make a quick buck), summiting Huayna Potosi still takes quite a lot of acclimatization, physical fitness, and effort! From base camp at about 4,700 meters above sea level, climbers gain around 450 meters more to reach high camp, five different refuges set among the rocks. After dinner, everyone goes to bed with the sun for a relatively sleepless (and breathless!) night. At a standard start time of 12:30am, climbers grab a quick breakfast before setting off up onto the glacier, where they continue walking throughout the night with the goal of summiting Huayna Potosi (6,088 meters above sea level) at just after sunrise.
When I did this route with David, we were incredibly lucky to have some spectacular looking clouds in the sky and a very bright moon (making taking videos especially enjoyable)! Some snow fell on the way to high camp, making for more great photos and a slightly colder than average experience. The wind was frigid on the morning of our summit bid and my feet got a bit numb.
Since we were already acclimatized, we went straight from La Paz to high camp in one day, summited the following morning, and returned to La Paz that afternoon. Most of the standard route was very straightforward, a well-defined path leading upward on the glacier and perhaps 30 or so other people also doing the same route. There was a single technical pitch (a slope above an open crevasse up to about 50 degrees with a mix of powdery snow and ice), but conditions are different every year.

[@themaxadventurellama5868]

You just made me realize I need a drone 😎 Great work

[@lynnnorthrup8914]

Cool drone shots! Good job!