"After having spent one month in the White Cordillera, trekking and admiring beautiful summits, we felt very well. We met in Arequipa our friend Darcy from Quebec who has settled down in Cusco. We spoke together about climbing the Misti Volcano (5822m) with him and some persons from Quebec.

We chose the less climbed wall but the most beautiful, it’s said.

To reach the starting point, we cross a part of the Salinas y Aguada Blanca National Reserve (the Puna is on average 4300m high)

We set up camp at around 4000m high, and then we set up camp once again at Monte Bianco Camp, 4800m high. The D-Day, climbing was easy technically but not physically: we were walking on steep slopes, on volcanic ashes… but the stunning landscape of the sun rise, the summit and the crater were worth it.

360° panorama was fantastic, Arequipa city at one side, Chachani Volcano at other side, Pichu Pichu and Laguna Salinas at another side. Moreover, team was really great and we shared great moments. Unforgettable…

After that, we went to Ubinas volcano (5672m), not the highest but the more active volcano. 

For this expedition, we went with big backpacks because we needed bivouac, photos and videos material, food, a little bit more than 30L of water. We felt like we could’nt do a mistake because no one would come to rescue us… and if the volcano erupted, it was not easy to go away quickly…

We walked on ashes and sometimes in the middle of impressive blocs. When we arrived by Giga-caldera, it was really great, as if we were on another planet!

Meteo was changing so we didn’t stay very long there and we began to go down. A violent snowstorm began and during the night, a violent storm didn’t make us laugh.  Us, here, alone in the pampa in 4800m high… it’s often in these moments that we understand how Nature is powerful towards us. Compared to it, we are very small and vulnerable…

But finally everything ended good and the day after, we went again under a beautiful sunshine, happy to have lived a new volcanic experience, an emotional experience…

You can find details about these article and great photos :

-          Volcan Misti

-          Volcan Ubinas

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