Huyana Potosi: Life at 6.088 meters

Huyana Potosi: Life at 6.088 meters

Sunday I started a new adventure with Geert and Jan. An adventure I personally organized, but I never realized what I was really up to until it took off. I often make decisions without thinking about the consequences… I tend to live in the present, which makes it hard for me to plan for the future. Sometimes I am able to look back in the past and I think…why the hell did I make that decision? How did I make that decision? Did I even make that decision myself or is someone else in control? Its not necessarily a bad decision, but I often just realize that I made one without thinking about the long term…

Well this adventure with Geert and Jan was one of those decisions that knocked me in the face… There I was at 01:00 in the night fully packed but still freezing my butt off at the refuge. That day before we climbed from 4800m with a 20kg backpack to the refuge at a height of 5130 meters where we would spend the night before we would go up further. I went through a hell, my body still used to chillaxing on the beaches of Ecuador and Peru suddenly had to work like a mule. The lack of oxygen on that height made the challenge complete. I thought my preparation was perfect since I already spend 5 days in a bed in La Paz at a height of 3650 meters and went even further up when we went on a trip to Uyuni (the salt flats I told you earlier about). It worked a bit, I did feel better then the rest of the group… my brother was still not used to the Bolivian kitchen. Jan had a way worse time, he never really restored from the altitude sickness he got when going from Pampas (the jungle at 200 meter above sealevel) to Uyuni (heights up to 5000 meters).

Jan is a guy that will let you know how he feels. If there is a little swift of his state of health he will immediately update you about it. To bad for Jan that he was traveling with the brothers Laan… they try to relativize situations and use their special kind of humor to do so. On the surface it looked like we had little sympathy for our friend, but in reality we wanted to make the situation a little bit less tense.

Back to the main story, I almost forgot about our first day at the maincamp. After a wild car ride we got dropped off at the feet of the mountain. We rented all the special equipement like a helmet, Gore-Tex jeans and jacket, crampons, icepick etc.) at the agency in La Paz. In the afternoon we would test all the equipment at the glacier. Walking on crampons is quite a challenge, but at the end even I managed to walk up a wall of ice.

The following day we could just walk on our normal shoes, since there was no ice on the first part. This meant on the same time that we had to carry all our special equipment in our backpack which caused it to weight more then 20kg… Not the best situation when you have a 3 hour walk ahead that goes straight up. Jan had a horrible night without a lot of sleep, it was not certain that he would join us for the first hike. We asked the guides for alternative options but they where not really helpful. Jan decided to go for it and came with us to the refuge. He really did this on character and Geert and I where glad that he made it. Since the hike was only about 3 hours, (and I believe we did it in 2 hours or so..) we had the whole afternoon and evening to rest. This resting was necessary because we where on a height of 5130 meters and our bodies needed time to adjust.

I told you earlier that my butt was freezing off (too bad mom, this time the thermo-clothing couldn’t save my ass 🙁 ). This was around 01:00 in the evening and everybody was ready to start the final summit to the highest point of Huayna Potosi. Within 6 hours we had to go from 5130 to 6088 meters! Plenty of time you would think… and that’s what I thought the first 10 meters. Full of spirit we started the summit. Our headlamps would create more shining little stars in the snow then the perfect clear sky could show itself. Both scenery where amazing, but I focused on the little stars in the snow so I wouldn’t go of track.

I was linked with Jan and our guide Freddy. When you go up in groups the guide will link all the people with a rope. May one slip of a cliff then the others will be there to fall with him so you never die alone. Geert was linked with his guide Alex and a Dutch guy that joined our group since the first day. So Geert and Jaap in different groups, this way the risk of losing two awesome members of the family Laan was reduced. Jan who felt better in the afternoon a day earlier had a horrible night at the refuge. He was still full spirit to climb the Huayna Potosi.

Freddy and Jan are both slow starters. The other groups where far ahead, but we tried to walk in our own pace. This became a problem. Jan started to get in trouble with his health at the first 100 meters. We had to stop every 20 meters so he could catch his breath or take of some cloths because he felt to hot. The guide realized that walking with this speed would get us in trouble. He told Jan that going up would cause even more trouble with his health. He asked me if I wanted to continue. I told him I felt great and that I wanted to go further with the summit. This meant that I had to join the group of Geert, Alex and the other Dutch guy. So Freddy could bring Jan back to the refuge. Me and Freddy left Jan alone for a bit and catched up with the other group. Here I got linked with a rope to Geert (the risk of losing two awesome members of family Laan was back). Freddy went back to bring Jan to the refuge.

The following 4 hours were a true hell… I asked myself ‘WHY?’ why am I doing this. What is up there that I hope to find? Do I need to proof myself? If so..for who? Is it a way to show my physical and/ or mental strength? I don’t believe so, that would mean that people who tried but didn’t make it would be weaker then me. My whole preparation was a joke. Altitude sickness is something you can’t control, that’s what I experienced with Jan who was as eager as me to make it to the top. I neither think that people close to me would think different about me when I made it to the top or not. So what I was doing at that moment was something pure for myself. But I couldn’t find any motivation why I would do it for myself. If I made it or not, I wouldn’t think different about myself. While I was traveling alone for the last 7 months I learned to love myself, an experience like this with success or failure wouldn’t change a thing.
The lack of oxygen and the pain in my legs made me want to stop, the lack of motivation made it easier. But there was something else that kept me going, not just something but someone else… My brother was behind me all the time, quitting would mean for him to quit aswell. Because Freddy had to bring Jan back to the refuge we where left with just one guide. That would mean that if one of us would get sick on the mountain or wanted to quit because of other reasons, that the whole group had to go back. Knowing that my brother was behind me kept me going even without a personal purpose. I was broken when we had just 88 meters more to go. There was a spot where the guide could leave me so he could make the summit to the top with the people who felt fit enough. I made up my mind and decided not to go further. Geert told me he felt the same as me and told me that we both committed to make it to the top. I still couldn’t find a reason why the hell I wanted to be on the top but nonetheless I gathered my last energy and went up with my brother.

The last 88 meters where a lot easier than I expected. By accident I organized a extra rest stop because one of my crampons fell off. This happened on the worst spot possible, on the middle of a small cliff with on both sides a possible drop of more than 100 meters. Geert helped me putting the crampon back on my shoe but he managed to tie the safety rope in it. The whole operation took more then 10 minutes, enough time for me to catch some breath to make it to the top.

When we finally made it to the top I was to tired to really enjoy it. For me there was no euphoria that other climbers can experience. It felt similar to a rest place we had all the time when we climbed up. For me it didn’t feel like I achieved something amazing. I was just worried about the way back because I felt like I used all my energy already.
While I am writing this I still don’t have a clue why I went up that mountain. It made me realize one important thing and that is that my brother can make me do things that I never thought I was capable of.

Thanks guys for this amazing experience, once and never again!