Huayna Potosí is a big mountain outside of La Paz, Bolivia. It is a very high peak (6,088 m / 19,975 ft), so there is snow there year-round. It is common (and not rushed) to organize a 3-day, 2-night trip to help acclimate to the high altitude and have a successful summit.

During the 3 days, we stayed in mountain huts: Base Camp was at 4,700 meters (15,420 feet) and High Camp at 5,200 meters (17,060 feet). Sleeping at that elevation was not ideal and was rather challenging, but we took some altitude sickness medicine that really helped us both! The total hike was 13.1 miles with 6,476 feet of elevation gain.

Day 1: We met at the guide's office and tried on all of our gear to ensure it fit and was functioning. We then headed into the mountains to Base Camp from La Paz and took an acclimatizing hike and ice climbed. We had the chance to ice climb, which was an absolute blast—and really difficult! It was my first time ice climbing and Austin’s third time. We had lunch and dinner at the mountain hut and all went to bed early, knowing that the next day would be more challenging since we were hiking partially up the mountain.

Day 2: We had a relaxing morning double-checking all of our gear before heading to High Camp in the early afternoon. As we approached High Camp, we saw the trail for the next day—covered in snow and ice—and massively vast.

Day 3: We woke up around 1:00 AM to start the trek toward the summit. We strapped on our crampons, grabbed our ice axes, roped up with our guide, and started the trek early in the morning. Our pace was slow and steady so we wouldn’t sweat much. We snacked often and drank plenty of water. I was flabbergasted because our guide didn’t drink any water and ate only a few pieces of chocolate during the entire trek. He does the trek almost every day, so he’s in incredible shape and the altitude is no problem for him—but goodness, Austin and I thought that was so crazy.

When we had about 1–2 km left and a lot of elevation to gain, our guide took his rope off and ran across a snowfield, then disappeared. He came trotting back, smiled at Austin and me, and asked: “Are you two up for an adventure route?” Austin and I smirked and said: “Absolutely!!” Our guide had checked the conditions of a snowfield that led to a ridgeline. Austin and I have experience with crampons, ice axes, and some mountaineering, so we loved the idea of a challenge.

We started on our new route and began to traverse a steep snowfield toward the steep ascent to the ridgeline. I looked around and noticed the chunky snowy ice around us and immediately knew that an avalanche had broken through the entire hill very recently. Since it was in the middle of the night, there was really no risk of another avalanche, as everything was frozen. I asked our guide, and he said I was right about the avalanche—the wall had fallen a couple of days before.

After we crossed the frozen avalanche debris, we had a small rock climbing section where our guide went first and then belayed us with his ice axe stuck in the ice and the rope. It really wasn’t climbing—more like bear crawling up a small rock wall—but it was still challenging in the dark, cold, and at over 19,000 feet of elevation. Once we finished the rock portion, we had a steep ice ascent to get to the ridge, where we had to use our ice axes to help us stay close and secure to the wall. We were roped up the entire time, so I felt pretty safe, but I didn’t want to overthink anything in the moment since I needed my full attention and focus on climbing.

After a couple of sections on hard ice, we made it to the ridge, which was part snow and part ice. From the third photo below, you can barely see us walking on the ridge—a friend of ours took this photo from the summit! The ridge doesn’t look as steep as it felt, but it was such an exhilarating route—I loved every moment of it!

After we made it to the summit, I felt so pumped with adrenaline and accomplished, but also knew we had a big and intense hike down. The trek down was actually rough on the toes, since our feet would slide into the front of the plastic mountaineering boots. We both had very sore feet and toes by the end of the trek down. After we made it all the way down the base camp, we jumped in a van and were off to La Paz again! We then spent the next few days resting and recovering, phew.

Beautiful summit:

Can you spot us three on the snowy ridge?

The night before we left for the summit:

Acclimatizing hike and ice climbing: