Our group makes our way back down off the glacier towards base camp.

My dream of exploring South America became a reality this summer when seven other students and I packed up and headed to Peru with a few instructors. The trip is the foundation of what I now know of mountaineering in high altitude environments, which is vastly different in all the best ways from what I had imagined.

Eleanor on Mount Mateo Summit (16,892ft)

Goals of the expedition were planned out in two rather vague pre-departure meetings. Among those goals were two summits: Mount Mateo (16,892 ft) and Caullaraju (18,635 ft). Both are located in the Ancash region of the Western Andes. On our first summit day, I unzipped my tent around 3:00am to the full moon gleaming off the glaciers of the Cordillera Blanca mountain range. Stars shining clearly indicated good conditions for the climb ahead. Our headlights lead us scrambling up rocky terrain until the sun rose and the day awakened. As the sunlight offered new views of surrounding mountains, I was overcome with excitement for where I was and what I was doing. The simple sound of ice axes and crampons into the glaciated terrain became somewhat of a practice of meditation as step followed step. Those small steps led me and my rope team of three to be the first ones to the top. I’m now realizing while writing this the difficulty in putting the feeling that I had reaching the summit into words. As one of my friends put it, “That was the coolest thing that I have ever done.” My first high mountain summit was everything I had imagined when I pictured what my time here in Peru would be like.

On our second summit day, my brutal alarm sound was supplemented by a wintery mix of hail, snow, and rain crashing onto the tent. The first part of our climb was wet and dark, accompanied by many of us experiencing nausea and headaches. The day went on and precipitation persisted, only changing form. Upon reaching the glacier I noticed a change in my mood from feeling rather discouraged to extremely energized. Despite the difficulty of the morning, I suddenly realized the beauty that still surrounded us. It was kind of like being up in the clouds, with no visibility beyond five feet in front of me.

The last rope team makes there way up to the Mount Mateo Summit.

We had to turn back down just shy of the summit due to weather conditions of both high winds and low visibility. I wasn’t disappointed by our decision because I was able to get the most out of the climb without being frustrated with elements beyond our control. The most valuable takeaway from the trip was becoming comfortable with unpredictability. Often times the only controllable factor was my perspective. I was able to get more out of each experience by thinking positively about a wider range of situations. I now know mountaineering as much more than picturesque views of astonishing mountains. While I’ll carry what I’ve learned to my everyday life, I hope to be up in the mountains again soon.

- Eleanor Moody,
Patagonia Burlington Sales Associate


 

Photo Captions:
Header: The group makes thier way back down off the glacier towards base camp.
Photo 1: Eleanor on Mount Mateo Summit (16,892ft)
Photo 2: The last rope team makes there way up to the Mount Mateo Summit.