Alpamayo (possibly from

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several Indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, an Indigenous South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language ...

''allpa'' earth, ''mayu'' river, "earth river") or Shuyturaju (possibly from

Ancash Quechua Ancash Quechua ( , or less often ), also Huaylay or Waylay in linguistic terminology, is a Quechua variety spoken in the Peruvian department of Ancash by approximately 1,000,000 people. Like Wanka Quechua, it belongs to Quechua I (according to ...

''huytu, shuytu'' oblong, slim and long,

''rahu'' snow, ice, mountain covered in snow) is one of the most conspicuous peaks in the

Cordillera Blanca The Cordillera Blanca (Spanish for "white range") is a mountain range in Peru that is part of the larger Andes range and extends for between 8°08' and 9°58'S and 77°00' and 77°52'W, in a northwesterly direction. It includes several peaks ove ...

of the

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vian

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

. Alpamayo Creek originates northwest of it. The Alpamayo lies next to the slightly higher

Quitaraju Quitaraju or Kitaraju (possibly from Ancash Quechua ''kita'' dam, Quechua language, Quechua ''rahu'' snow, ice) is a mountain in the Cordillera Blanca in the Andes of Peru, about high. It is situated in the Ancash Region, Huaylas Province, Santa ...

. In July 1966, the German magazine ''"Alpinismus"'', published a photo of Alpamayo taken by American photographer Leigh Ortenburger accompanied by an article on a survey among mountaineering experts, who chose Alpamayo as "The Most Beautiful Mountain in the World".

Climbing history and routes

Most popular routes start from the village of Caraz, on the north of the Cordillera Blanca. A French-Belgian expedition including George and Claude Kogan claimed to have made the first ascent in 1951. After studying the photos in George Kogan's book ''The Ascent of Alpamayo'', the German team of G. Hauser, F. Knauss, B. Huhn & H. Wiedmann came to the conclusion that the 1951 team did not reach the actual summit, thereby making their ascent via the north ridge in 1957 the first. The most common climbing route, known as the Ferrari route, is situated on the southwest face of the mountain. It was opened in 1975 by a group of Italian alpinists led by Casimiro Ferrari. It is considered a difficult climb, demanding good

crampon A crampon is a traction device attached to footwear to improve mobility on snow and ice during ice climbing. Besides ice climbing, crampons are also used for secure travel on snow and ice, such as crossing glaciers, snowfields and icefields, as ...

and

ice climbing Ice climbing is a climbing discipline that involves ascending routes consisting entirely of frozen water. To ascend, the ice climber uses specialist equipment, particularly double ice axes (or the more modern ice tools) and rigid crampons. ...

technique. There are incomparable views of steep ice faces, ''penitentes'', gigantic white walls and ridges like those of Huandoy Norte,

Artesonraju Artesonraju is a Pyramidal peak, pyramidal mountain peak located near the city of Caraz in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range in the Peruvian Andes. It is located at the Peruvian province of Huaylas Province, Huaylas and its slopes are within ...

and Huascaran Norte, similar to the finest of the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

n scenery. There are also at least six other alternative climbing routes, the second most popular being the Vasque-French route.

References

External links

Alpamayo on Summitpost
- numerous photographs
French Young Expedition to Alpamayo
- photographs and good topo

- An Australian climber's stunning photos of climbers on the Ferrari Route, and his 1987 ascent/descent of the more difficult French Route.
Climbing Alpamayo
2007 ascent of the French Direct route, including many photographs
French blog post on the ascent
- photographs and ascension story {{Authority control Mountains of the Department of Ancash Huascarán National Park Five-thousanders of the Andes Pyramidal peaks