The Condoriri region is a popular destination for mountain climbers visiting the high mountains of Bolivia’s Cordillera Real. Half a dozen summits above 17,000 feet frame the valley, often referred to by its namesake lake—Laguna Chiar Khota Valley. One of the most popular climbs in the area is a peak called Pequeño Alpamayo.

At 17,618 feet, Pequeño Alpamayo offers a fantastic climbing experience. Whether you need a summit of this elevation to acclimatize to higher peaks in the region or if it’s the highest peak of your climbing itinerary, it’s well worth the trip for several reasons.

The valley is easily accessed by vehicle from La Paz. A two-hour drive can deliver you to a trailhead at 14,800 ft., after which a one-mile hike will bring you to a basecamp near several lakes.

Porters and mules are available to help you transport your gear to basecamp, and if you don’t want to camp in tents, basic refugios are available at the lakes.

As for the climb, the day begins with an early start– in our case, around 2 am– hiking a good trail from the basecamp up to the toe of the glacier. After putting on our glacier gear, it took about 2.5 – 3 hours of snow and ice climbing to reach a summit known as Tarija Peak, 17,520 ft.

September and October are all right for climbing in Bolivia, but it is considered late in the season. We found that many crevasses were open, requiring a lot of back-and-forth to find safe places to cross, and the snow surface itself was quite hard, the result of a long summer and sunny conditions. The late season date also meant we had a lot of penitentes to manage. In some parts of the route, the penitentes were so large that it made the effort considerably harder than we might have found if it had been earlier in the season.

We were told that June, July, and August conditions are often easier, with more smooth snow cover, fewer open crevasses, and much less developed penitentes.

From the top of Tarija Peak, we caught an amazing sunrise. The next section of the route is on dry rock, so we took off our crampons and began the moderately steep hike down to a saddle before heading up towards the summit of Pequeno Alpamayo.

We put our crampons back on and ascended a fairly steep ridge covered in very firm snow and large penitentes—probably the most challenging part of the route so far.

Once above the snowy ridge, we walked a dry, steep, loose trail to the summit. It was a beautiful morning, and the summit was fairly quiet, with only a couple of other climbers coming and going.

After 30 minutes up top, we retraced our route back to base camp. We returned to basecamp by the early afternoon, tired but happy. Pequeno Alpamayo was a really fun, beautiful day. If you’re climbing in Bolivia, it should be on your list!

Next up would be Huayna Potosi.