Bolivia Expedition Dispatch - Climbing Huayna Potosí and Parinacota

May 22 - 24, 2019 – Climbing Parinacota – Sajama National Park

Immense skies, pre-Colombian graves, and suddenly the silhouette of the imposing Sajama, 6,542m overlook the altiplano!

Then at dusk, blaze of clouds more or less disturbing, the Parinacota and his sidekick Pomerape are in a kind of little hobbit house!

We climbed Wisalla, 5,000m in order to acclimatize for our next climbing goal: Parinacota. Spectacular view and windy at the top. Majestic Sajama and stunning Parinacota!!!

After our long hike, we went to walk in the village of Sajama, 72 families. We climbed the crooked stairs to the top of the local church.

Great spot to admire the village square where a few locals took the shy rays of the late afternoon sunset! Even the lamas seemed skeptical of our company.

At 3pm we departed and after 3 hours of walking on volcanic terrain Micheline stopped the climb. She is back down, happy with her accomplishments and after looking back she has no regrets; she enjoyed a great adventure.

Chris Von Gartzen, her climbing companion, is extremely involved in animal rescue for quite some time. She has often done 2 fundraisers for non-profit rescues named: Climb For Paws.

Since she wasn’t sure of the results of both climbs after her accident in Matterhorn, this was a special trip or her, test her physical conditions.

In general she would have requested friends to donate to another fundraiser, but this time she felt it wrong to ask people to donate to another fundraiser.

Instead she decided that if she reached the summit of Parinacota @6,388m she would herself donate $1 for each meter climbed to the three non-profit rescues close to her heart (and perhaps two others) she will be notifying these rescues via message with a photo on the summit of Parinacota.

Special thanks to Chris, Micheline and Berg Adventures guides for their photos and the text update.