Bolivia Expedition Dispatch
June 24, 2011 – Ryan’s Summit Account from the Comfort of the Lodge
This is Ryan Connolly reporting as one of the two climbers to summit Sajama. Going to the summit was arduous. The top lines were very steep in the beginning after the penitentes. It only got colder from there. As we trudged through, Osvaldo the Black Knight, was not worried at all, but I was scared like a baby the whole time. Richard was a solider the entire way. We traversed the rocky slopes with what seemed like a 20,000ft drop below us. It was good that in the darkness we couldn’t see it, but on the way back it was very scary to look at. As the air grew thinner towards the top, my steps grew more labored and after 3 or 5 steps I’d have to take a 10 second break. That pattern started about an hour before we even reached the top. Our final destination time to the summit was 6 hours leaving at about 2:30am and arriving at about 8:30am. The time down was about 3.5 hours and we were very tired the whole way and even felt a little nauseous. But we made it!
Now we are all relaxing at the hot springs and the lodge. This afternoon, we will visit the town of Sajama, soak in the hot springs and tomorrow we will leave for La Paz early in the morning.