Experience no safeguard
An experienced South African climber who tried to open a new route there in 2000 is still dangling from the rope where he died -- his body now freeze-dried by the cold and wind.
Before heading out on the climb, he had told his family he wanted his body to be left where he fell if he were killed, rescuers said.
"The accident in Alpamayo was just bad luck," said Lieutenant Henry Paz, head of operations for the high mountain police rescue team in the nearby town of Yungay.
"But accident numbers are increasing. Many climbers don't even bother to come and register with us ..." he stopped, interrupted by an emergency call. A Mexican man had died on Huascaran after apparently failing to acclimatize properly to the altitude.
Peru is not considering any new regulations to reduce climbing accidents. Police and guides alike say many climbers refuse to turn back in bad weather because they have already come so far.
"A lot of foreigners don't think of the danger," said mule driver Gerardo Cirillo, waiting at dawn for the next group of climbers to roll in to Cashapampa and hire him for US$10 a day and his mules at US$5 a piece -- a small fortune here.
"I give them a warning, but they want to go anyway. As long as they want to keep climbing, I'll take them," he said.
RSS