Karina and I are in Bolivia to run and climb, and set our sights on the Huayna Potosi FKT because it is accessible from La Paz and doesn’t present significant technical challenges. Our plan was to do a route reconnaissance and then try the FKT a few days later. As it turned out, we were able to better Rachel’s time by a little over 2 hours today and therefore won’t need to go back for another unsupported attempt.
We stayed at one of the base camp huts overnight and set off at about 6:35 am, just as the sky was lighting up. We carried everything with us from base camp - harness, crevasse kit, aluminum crampons, helmet, piolet, rope, 1.5L of liquids, food and way more layers than we ended up needing. We made good time to high camp (about 45 minutes) and then got to the glacier after 55 minutes where we transitioned to alpine style. From there we took the well-established track in on the glacier (we had Rachel Boim’s gpx track, but didn’t need it). From there we started crossing paths with numerous guided parties that were on their way down the mountain. The Pala Pequeña was the most challenging step to get up onto the ridge and required using our axes to get over the bergschrund.
The Pala Grande was a mix of rock, snow and ice. Nieves penitentes were forming on the upper part of the mountain so we were especially thankful for the track. A strong wind were picking up, but we didn’t feel them until we hit the ridge and they were blasting up from the West Face. We got to the summit after 2 hours and 36 minutes, and took some time to enjoy the views (Illimani, Sajama, El Alto, Laguna Titicaca, Cordillera Réal….). After that we headed down and were pretty well protected from the wind. We made it back down to base camp in an hour and five minutes, for a round trip in 3 hours and 46 minutes.
We could definitely better our time on this by tightening up transitions (we took a total of 17 minutes on our transitions on and off the glacier), chatting less, taking fewer photos and videos, carrying a more streamlined kit (since we were doing recon, we very much aired on the side of caution and warmth), and acclimatizing better (we only recently arrived in Bolivia, and until our hike to Cerro Charkini yesterday, I had never been above 5100m).
The route has changed significantly since Karina last ran it 7 years ago due to glacier retreat, making it a bit more technical. Nonetheless, it is still a pretty straightforward route. The views are absolutely incredible, and despite feeling sorrow about the rapidly changing landscape, we were in absolutely awe of this mountain. We are so grateful and are thankful for the really wonderful people we interacted with and spent time with.