Conquer the Andes: Check!

With the weather becoming progressively colder, my group of new friends and I decided to tackle the Andes sooner rather than later. As we climbed the mountainside of “Cerro pochoco”, we instantaneously knew that our hike would be challenging. Just imagine a group of 15 gringos hiking with ill-soled sneakers, yoga pants and each holding only one-600mL water bottle for a four-hour hike… well prepared I must admit.

A Cloud-less Sky

After two and a half hours of slipping, sliding, and leveraging our bodies over large rock barriers, we had reached our awaited destination, the peak. As you can see in the picture, the neighboring mountaintops appear to be emerging through clouds. Although the reality of the view is slightly different, these perceived “clouds” are actually smog from the cities high level of pollution. More interestingly, while reaching the peak not only had I felt over-whelmed with the beauty of the view, but the cleanliness of the air quality. Ironically, at this moment little had I known that this over-whelming, invigorating feeling would alter for the worst.

Desert Terrain

As we made our way down Cerro pochoco, I nearly cried due to pure terror. The mountain’s terrain was incredibly dry, consisting of only pure sand, cacti and rock formations. Due to the mountain’s uniform appearance, my group and I were unable to distinguish the footpath from the remaining environment. Within thirty minutes of our descent, we had realized that instead of a footpath we had been following a water channel. Like most water channels, this one in particular followed the strict laws of gravity and streamed over the mountain’s steepest slope.

Unfortunately our timing of these events did not correspond well with Mother Nature. The area had not experienced rainfall in weeks and the channel quickly became a dry, soft-sanded trench, a condition that allows a foot to slip down the 300-meter mountainside in just a simple second.  Even more worrisome, while descending our large group had broken up into smaller groups and I only remained with three other women. The four of us were alone, climbing one-by-one, on all fours, backwards, on an 80-degree angle. Needless to say, there was no reason to look downward. With the simple turn of a head, left or right, we were able to observe the mountains base easily.

As our blood pumped with adrenaline several thoughts crossed our minds: (1) Testing the wrong rock would easily dishevel itself from the dry earth and allow our bodies to plummet to the mountain’s foundation; (2) Dusk was approaching in just a few hours; and (3) We were unable to call for help because literally, we had not seen anyone. Was this because the smog was disrupting our view? Or were we too distanced from the path that no other hikers were near?

15 Gringos 

As dozens of thoughts passed through my mind like those mentioned previously, I began to lose support of my upper body. While my muscles tensed for dear life, my right-handed grip loosened as a rock began to break from the earth’s surface. I struggled to find another supportive material when two friends from above screamed, “Rock!” A rock that one of them had been using for support had slipped from the terrain and was trudging down the trench in my direction. As I lifted my head upward in order to respond to their warning, the 7x8” rock rolled past my face, skimming my nose and continued to follow the trench’s base to our next group mate positioned directly below me. This 50 minute trench descent was nothing but terrifying.

Despite the terror experienced during the last leg of our trip, climbing Cerro pochoco was liberating, riveting and eye opening.  Although the view was breath-taking and I am now able to brag that I have climbed the Andes, my favorite memory was this near death experience. Knowing that my life was close to the fine line of "la Vida" and "la Muerte" is an experience likes no other. As I reflect back to this past weekend, I realize that all of those near-death stories are true… the thoughts and reflections of everyone and everything in your life appears all at once with complete clarity. This climb was quite a learning experience.