The Cordillera Huayhuash in Peru has some of the most difficult and technical peaks in South America, or even the world. Only the mountaineers willing to leave it all on the mountain dare try these forbidding peaks. Six peaks exceed 6,000 meters in altitude: Yerupaja (6,634m), Siula Grande (6,368m), Sarapo (6,127m), Yerupaja Chico (6,121m), Jirishanca (6,094m) and Rasac (6,017m).
Yerupaja is the highest peak in the Huayhuash range. The second highest massif in Peru after the Huascaran peaks (South 6,755m) (and North 6,655m) and is rarely climbed throughout history. Last year in August 2025 a team of 3 Spanish mountain guides Marc Toralles, Bru Bosom and Ruben Sanmartin climbed an amazing line on the east ridge of Yerupaja over 5 days. They called it “The Essence of Compromise” due to the committing nature of the route following the east ridge which was basically impossible to descend the way they had come up. An elite level route and one of the best mountaineering activities of 2025 anywhere in the world!
However, in the article by the Spanish magazine Desnivel, they erroneously reported a few important details about our ascent, writing that:
“En 2014 Nathan Heald y Luis Crispín realizaron un notable ascenso por la pared Oeste, llegando hasta la arista somital pero renunciaron a la cumbre por la peligrosidad de las condiciones. Desde entonces no había sido ascendida.”
(“In 2014 Nathan Heald and Luis Crispin made a notable ascent on the west wall, arriving to the summit ridge but renouncing the summit because of the dangerous conditions. Since then it has not been ascended.”)
Desnivel reports:
This is false and they never reached out to me for details of our climb in 2014. Possibly confusing it with a 2019 ascent to the summit ridge (North summit, 6,430m) by Argentinian Guide Felipe Randis and his Venezuelan partner Alfredo Rangel:
https://www.estiloandino.com/single-post/2019/08/06/cumbre-argentina-en-el-yerupaj%C3%A1
Yerupaja in 2014
In 2014 I was 28 years old and just beginning to test myself against the difficult mountains in Peru with my “Compadre” Luis Crispin. An alpaca herder/ farmer from the village of Pacchanta at the foot of the great Apu Nevado Ausangate (6,384m), the highest mountain in the Cusco region. During 2013 we climbed Puca Punta (5,740m), the north face of Ausangate, and the great Apu Salkantay (6,279m) gaining experience and bonding as climbing partners in the pursuit of adventure. In 2014 we went to Bolivia and guided and Italian guy Luca on Illampu, before going to the cordillera Blanca to guide him on the classic Tocllaraju.
At the beginning of September 2014 we wanted to see the Huayhuash for the first time and went with our friends Duncan and Vai to climb Rasac together before Luis and I wanted to attempt Jirishanca by the west face. On September 8th we all climbed Rasac by the East ridge that connects it with Yerupaja. We then went down to Jahuacocha to rest, while Duncan and Vai went back to Huaraz.
On the 10th Luis and I went back up to the moraine camp and enjoyed the metal tasting water once again. We tried to get to the basin below Jirishanca but were stopped by massive crevasses which open even wider late in the season. That’s when we looked at the west face of Yerupaja right in front of us with minimal access difficulties and decided to go for that.
The west face of Yerupaja
While on Rasac I had taken a detailed photo of the face. We had seen a snow ramp bridging the crevasse before the final headwall. This ramp went up into a runnel that topped out on the ridge exactly where there seemed to be a door in between two snow mushrooms that overhang the west face. We pitched camp below the face as close as we dared, eyeing a recent avalanche from a serac that fell off the NW ridge. At 11:30pm on the 11th we left the tent and approached the face. Above us was clear but I could see clouds filling the valleys below, it seemed our good weather window was closing.
The first part of the climb was 400mts of 60-70 degree hard ice, which we went slower on to protect well with screws. After hitting the NW ridge, we traversed up and to the right across the face, underneath some large blocks of ice. This we were able to simul-climb quickly on good snow at 60-70 degrees. Another pitch of hard ice (70-80) and then another of snow (60-70) brought us to the ramp over the bergschrund. We were at about 6,500m; 150 vertical meters from the summit when the clouds hovering around the mountain began to thicken. We were covered in a white out within minutes so I took a few last photos/ videos of Rasac down below us.
Summit of Yerupaja in a whiteout
The runnel to the ridge was mixed snow and ice at up to 70 degrees which we climbed quickly with good protection. Closer to the top it widened out and curved to the left to the opening we had seen. Once on the ridge we had to change to the east side for better snow conditions. After traversing about forty minutes more we arrived at the summit. Where the ridge started descending the other side, but could not see any views through the white out. It was September after all and the season for clear weather was over.
It was not worth trying to stand on the tip top to have the cornice collapse under us in minimal visibility. So we anchored in a couple meters below and like other tiny summits gave it a touch of the hand. It was 11:56am on the 12th. We spent 10 minutes having a snack and calling some friends because we somehow had signal.
The Descent
After climbing down and traversing the ridge we put a snow stake in the top of the runnel and began the rappels. Our line of descent was straight down the face from there, following the sides of the ice blocks we had passed on the way up to have good v-thread spots. In total we left 3 stakes and 10 v-threads using my 70 meter twin ropes. On the last rappel Luis hurt his ankle while going off an ice block and hitting rock. I was too tired to roll the ropes up, tying them to my harness and dragging them across the glacier
It was getting dark and the clouds were becoming thicker than ever, reducing our visibility to only a couple of meters. We spent an hour looking for the tent. We separated and found each other again in the fog. Finally Luis discovered the tent and we thankfully got in to sleep totally exhausted.
On the 13th I carried down the majority of the weight to Jahuacocha and looked for an arriero to take us out the next day. Luis struggled down on his sprained ankle. Large dark clouds had come to cover the range as the season was coming to a close. The lady who lives at the lagoon made us trout that night in her adobe home. She said the mountain was jealous we had been up there and it would now be stormy. It always happened when the gringos climb Yerupaja. On the 15th we arrived back in Huaraz tired but happy.
Social Media Mountain Misinformation
Currently in 2026 many media outlets and Instagram posts try to sensationalize mountaineering activity. Often leaving out details or nuance or records of past ascents in pursuit of clicks. Back in 2014, I didn’t have an Instagram account, only Facebook where I posted about this ascent. I since have deleted my Facebook account after starting to realize all of these social media platforms are part of the “surveillance industrial complex” many years ago. Today I have Instagram for only a surface level presence pertaining to my mountain guiding activities. I don’t really have time or interest to use it anyway since most of it is filled with posers. The Spanish magazine “Barrabes” covered the ascent when it happened which is archive linked here:
I wrote this blog after attending Marc Toralles’ presentation of their climb in person in Huaraz on June 25th, 2026. Realizing that he did not know we had made the summit 11 years before. After the presentation I asked him about the Desnivel article. He said he didn’t know exactly how Desnivel got their information.
Climbing Yerupaja was a transformative experience for Luis and I as we realized what we could do on our own in the big mountains of Peru. Without support or any sponsors. Luis, a simple alpaca herder from Cusco, not a mountain guide from Huaraz. Became only the 3rd Peruvian in history to make the summit of this difficult emblematic mountain which has only seen a handful of successful ascents in history.
Make sure to check out other exciting climbs and information about climbing the Andes of Peru in our blog! :
https://skyhighandes.com/blog-mountain-climbing-in-peru-and-the-andes