Pico Austria

First hike in Bolivia! This peak that stretches 5300m over sea level is part of the larger Condoriri mountain range to the north of La Paz. It doesn’t have any snow at the moment, though it does in the winter. The nearby peaks are not accessible at this time, as they are too dangerous. Condoriri ascents have to wait until everything is frozen over.

Our group consisted of ourselves, our guide Alejandro, and Viktor, an Ecuadorian tour guide who was on his day off. He had 37 clients at the moment, on a massive 13 day 5 country South American trip. His group were all on walking tours in La Paz that day. It took two hours to get to the trailhead, which included a beautiful half hour through a valley filled with llamas, alpacas and sheep.

Pico Austria
9.9km
869m elevation
5320m max elevation
3h, 36min

The first part of the trail was mostly flat. We walked by two very pretty lagoons nestled in the valley. To our left was Pico Austria, which was rather plain compared to the peaks beside it. To our right was the Condoriri range (Condoriri is the name for both the area, and a specific peak), which ends with the foreboding Huayna Potosi. Our group was in good spirits, moving quickly through the landscape.

The uphill portions started, and this was our test. It had been a long time since we were over 4700m, and we basically started at that level. But we continue to impress ourselves. We were moving quickly up this mountain. Near the end of the ascent to the peak, Viktor was stopping ever 3-4 minutes, heaved over panting. There was also an Italian lady who looked like she was going to fall off the mountain.

The climb was quite lovely. As we got higher, Huyana Potosi became evermore present. We went up to two passes, and at the other side of each of them were more glaciers, or the vast expanse that is the Bolivian plateau. The peak had an incredible 360 degree view as well. To one side was the flatlands. The other the mountains. We had a lunch of chicken and rice at the top, before our descent.

The decent started out chaotically. It was a steep scree descent down, where you let gravity do all the work. Viktor got excited, and ran down, falling, and smashing his knee. Classic Graham maneuver right there. I decided to go slowly down, and didn’t fall. We didn’t rest once on the way down, opting for a different highline ridge route, which gave great views of the river valley we drove up in.

The drive back was long and sleepy. We made it back to the hostel, only to find that there was an Oktoberfest party going on. So no sleep right away. We joined the party for a bit, and tried to be social. We met one chap who was 14 months into an Inuvik, Canada to Ushuaia, Argentina bike ride. Thankfully, the party died down by 9, and we fell asleep quickly after.

This was a great hike, but for us, the point wasn’t the hike. This was a warm up acclimatization hike for the hardest hiking we will do this trip. We will see you there.