Our Mountain Biking Adventure
No rest for the weary here in Huaraz! Our new group of climbers, Joe Suntum, Larry Siu, Dave Strauss, and Steve McNally, arrived yesterday morning, and they were just a little too excited to spend the normal two days in town, acclimatizing and organizing. So we decided to take our good friend Julio Olaza up on his offer to go mountain biking in the Cordillera Negra. We loaded his brand new full-suspension bikes onto a local collectivo and drove to a little over 14,000 feet. From there we spent the next 4 hours riding the crest of the ridge and then descending through fantastic single-track and unused dirt roads back to Huaraz at 9,500 feet. It was an incredible ride, offering stunning views of the Cordillera Blanca before dropping along pre-Incan paths into the countless small farming villages that exist high above the valley floor. Despite a couple of spectacular falls, everyone on the team made it back in time for pizza, and are now busily packing to head to the mountains in the morning. We will keep you updated here on the site. Since Alpamayo is in unclimbable condition this year, we will be attempting Tocllaraju and Artesonraju. Stay tuned!
-Adrian B.