Huge Traverse Completed on Famed Peru Peak

From Aug. 4 to 9, alpinists Marc Toralles, Rubén Sanmartin, and Bru Busom made a difficult first ascent and traverse on Yerupajá (6,634 m), the highest peak in Peru’s Huayhuash range.

They established a new route on the east face, named L’essència del compromís, and then continued along the east ridge, with unstable snow mushrooms and complex terrain, to the main summit. No documented ascents via this ridge exist. For descent, they followed the south ridge, summiting the southern peak, completing the first full traverse of Yerupajá: ascending from the east and descending via the south.

The route is graded 6c+, M6+, 95°, and covers 3,000 metres. They made the ascent in pure alpine style, without fixed ropes, high-altitude camps, or external support. Retreat was nearly impossible once on the ridge, making the main summit the only descent option.

The first ascent of the peak was in 1950 by David Harrah and James Maxwell. In 1966, Jorge Peterek and Leif Patterson climbed the direct west face, and in 1969 Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler climbed the east face. Yerupajá now has several difficult routes to the summit.