Huaraz Part Two: Flying the big stuff

So after our little stay in the family the time had come to go explore these beautiful mountains from the sky.
We got super enthusiastic after seeing an amazing flight by the Kiwi Nick Neynens (X Alps pilot) that had done 177km in the Huaraz valley only 15days before:
The tracklog

Calling different people to get information on flying around Huaraz we had heard all sort of scary stories about how strong the conditions could be in the valley. So we went to speak to Beto Sottelo, the owner of a mountaineering company (Monttrek recommended if you go hiking in Huaraz) and only pilot in the area. Beto was super interesting, an "old" pilot with a lot of stories and knowledge. He gave us many tips for flying the valley.

We decided to approach the flying there with care starting with early morning flights to test the area. The first day we did only a top to bottom. But it was good to be in the air in this place that we had head so much about. The conditions where fairly turbulent with punchy bubbles passing through giving an idea of what a strong day could be like.

Take Off near the gold mine above Jangas

On day 2 we came back to the same flying site (near the gold mine above Jangas). The conditions were good once again even if we were supposed to be in the rainy season. I think we got really lucky with the weather and speaking with people (pilots, farmers, moutaineers) it seems that it was some kind of change in the climate (global warming signs??? maybe).

We took off a little more relaxed than the first day and I managed to climb out in broken lift. After a little bit I was flying over the massive gold mine and started to make my way towards Huaraz following the black cordillera.

Gold Mine

Huaraz in the distance 

Getting to Huaraz

Unfortunately the white cordillera was covered with clouds so we didn't get the view. I finally bagged a little XC of 20km which was more than expected.
The tracklog

White cordillera in the clouds

For the following days we decided to go explore another side of the valley. So we based ourselves in Caraz, a village located 70km north of Huaraz which is a nice alternative base for moutaineering in the area.

There we had the plan to try a spot which offers a top to bottom of 2000m !!!!

So in the morning we climbed the mountain on the vertiginous road leading to Pamparomas. As we were climbing we got a little nervous, impressed by how massive the mountain was. Finally the collective taxi dropped us at the top. We were just at the limit of the cloud. We really didn't know if this was a good idea, if we would be able to take off or if we would have to wait all day to get a car down from this mountain.

Let's go flying!

After a very short walk we got to the other side of the mountain and we were releived to see the valley. What a spot we had reach! A perfect breeze, the clouds lifting and 2000m before reching the valley bottom. A paragliding dream.

Take Off

Geo getting ready

I quickly managed to find a thermal, but being almost at cloud base on take off I didn't go much higher. So I took the decision to go towards the black cordillera in order to start to make my way towards Huaraz.

Going straight ahead

A bird showed me the way and I carried out on the black cordillera flying passed Yungay.

Then it was pretty straight forward till the sky started to get cloudy and forced me to land.

Spot the fireworks

Landing field in Carhuaz

Friends on landing

Finally another good day with a 35km flight.

The tracklog

Morning routine: the market

Going to work

Next day next flight and one of the most scary paragliding experienced I had. This day we missed the bus to the massive mountain site so we went to a lower spot on the other side of the valley: Pan de Azucar. Found a nice take off and waited for the day to start working.

Take Off

Ready for a good flight

The flight started really well, we found thermals straight away and we flew together for a while.

Then I lost Geo and started to take the same route as I took the day before.

Yungay

Caraz

After a while I found myself in the exact same postion as the day before, with a large valley to cross. The issue is that with the route I had chosen I was separated from the main valley by a massive high tension powerline that runs on the whole cordillera. I tried to make the crossing but got caught in massive sink till the point I found myself too low to pass the powerline. At this point I realised that there was two other powerlines, one behind me and a low one, all crossing the deep valley leaving no landing options, I was trapped! To help me with things I got quite a substantial collapse, definitely NOT the place to be.

My only option was to make my way under the high tension cables crossing the deep valley and over the other smaller cables. Scary! I did turns to loose altitude trying to gauge if I would pass under the high tension cables but still make it over the other cables. A pilot's nightmare.

Finally I managed to pass in the middle and landed on a football pitch like nothing happened.

This was definitely the scariest moment in my paragliding experience and an error. I shouldn't have found myself in this position. Sometimes near misses like this are good to re-evaluate how much risk you are willing to take when doing cross country paragliding.

The tracklog

We finished this flying week with a beautiful flight from the high mountain spot. Playing in the clouds in the early morning. Not a long distance flight but one of these magic paragliding moment.

Spot Geo

Huaraz Part One: The Wilka Lodge side

After a bit of time on the coast looking at many second hand cars and even trying a few, we added the numbers. Buying a car definitely looked like a madness. It would jeopardize many of the other projects we had. So we changed our mindset and looked forward with the obvious target: flying.

We thought that it was time to do our first real flights in the big Andean mountains and the obvious place to go to was Huaraz, the outdoor capital of Peru. Huaraz is a sort of Peruvian Chamonix located inbetween the black and white cordilleras, the latter including 35 peaks above 6000m.a.s.l. We started to get quite excited and nervous to the idea of flying there. And tried to gather as much information as we could on the conditions and the spots.
 
But first I thought that I would contact a Peruvian girl that I had met in a night club in Paris just before leaving as she told me she had friends in Huaraz who could maybe host us. That's how we ended up in the Wilka Lodge. A family owned place that welcome travellers in exchange of a bit of work in the house or in the fields.

After a day wandering in Huaraz like zombies as a result of the overnight bus,Nelson one of the sons took us to the lodge located just above Huaraz at 3500m of altitude. We didn't know what to expect. Arriving the family welcomed us very nicely and we met other travellers who were there through volunteering networks. But the evening was short as Christian another of the sons needed the communal space for a San Pedro ceremony (traditional ceremony using the effects San Pedro cactus to connect with nature and the world...)

The house

The next day we woke up early to help with planting corn. We left the house with the dad and two other members of the family without forgetting to take the lama.

Juanito the lama

On the way to the field we had a bit more time to speak with the members of the family. They are a traditional Quechua family living of agriculture and now of a bit of tourism as well (two of the sons work in tourism). So they were only speaking Quechua inbetween them which has pretty much nothing to do with spanish.

View of the black cordillera on the way to work

Then it was time to work. All the agricultural techniques were very simple, ancestral, no machine, no petrol involvment, only physical effort. The morning work was to plow a few fields in order to plant corn. What a hard work!!

Plowing

Some lucky guy had bulls!

After a few hours of work our little white hands were full of blisters and by the end of the morning my head was propely spinning as a result of the high altitude, effort and sunshine. Who would have thought that a 5a.m. drunken encounter in Paris would have lead me there to plow a field by hand in the high Andes!
Anyway, it was great to realise what kind of work this guys are doing and how hard it can be. They use agricultural techniques that were used in Europe before the industrial revolution about 200 years ago.

The life at the house was very traditional too and was entirely ruled by the Mama. Clearly a womens business in the Andes. Everything was cooked on wood fire on a very simple but very effective way. The diet was mainly based on kinoa, potatoes and rice, only using local products.

Cooking

The following day there was no work planned, so we took this opportunity to go discover the surroundings a bit. Absolutely fantastic! We had a good day hike to a glaciar lagoon (at 4700m), a good training for high altitude hiking.

Queñuales Andean Trees

Celebrating 4 months on the road

Our stay at the Wilka Lodge was short, but very rich. It was very interesting to get an insight into rural life in the high Andes and to meet such a kind and welcoming family.
But looking at the sky without going for a flight was too hard for us so we packed everything and got ready to fly the big stuff.

Bonus:

Cat Man