Huaraz in Peru was my penultimate stop in South America before flying home from Lima. There is so much exploring to do in Peru but I was really keen to fit some climbing in so headed straight to Huaraz promising myself that I would come back one day to see some of the other sights. Situated about 7 hours (bus ride) from Lima its one of the most well known mountaineering and climbing areas in Peru. There are tons of agencies offering mountaineering and treks and a good few who offer rock climbing too.
Having spoken to a few climbers it seemed like Hatun Machay would be the area for me so I arranged to get a minibus out there. It’s a picturesque valley with plenty of sport climbing from 5+ to 8a (though the majority are in the early 6’s to low 7’s) and bouldering too.
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| View of Hatun Machay from the refuge |
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| The Refuge (view from the crag) |
Hatun Machay is about 1½ hrs from Huaraz and transport can be arranged with tour agencies (or by getting lifts with other climbers). There’s a very cool refuge hut (see picture) where you can stay quite reasonably for a few nights or longer but sadly staying there didn’t fit in with my plans.
I spent an AMAZING couple of days here. It was sooo great to get out climbing again and hang out in amazing scenery with a bunch of similar minded people. So relaxing, so fun and despite feeling weaker than ever, each day I headed back to Huaraz totally happy and psyched. There was a great atmosphere, a really inclusive climbing scene where it was totally fine to turn up with a bit of gear (easy to hire some in Huaraz) and find climbing partners from various corners of the world. Speaking a bit of Spanish definitely meant I had more fun climbing since I could mix with lots more people.
The rock was bolted granite, I didn’t check out the bouldering but heard good reports about it. The rock was decent but a bit crumbly in places, I don’t know if the quality would improve at the higher grades. I had a great time climbing there and although I wouldn’t visit Peru especially to go here, if I ever make it back to Peru I would definitely go back and would recommend it to other climbers if they found themselves in Peru.
Get more info about Hatun Machay and other climbing areas in Peru at topos Peru (in Spanish but it’s the best info out there).
