Josh Wharton: Jirishanca—1st free ascent in the Cordillera Huayhuash, Peru

633 South Broadway,Boulder CO 80305

02 February, 2023

Description

Josh will share the story of a seven-year, four-trip journey, to make the first free ascent of a stunning and difficult peak in the Cordillera Huayhuash. The show will feature photography by Drew Smith, and unreleased drone footage by Sender Films. The mountain is notoriously difficult and has seen very few successful ascents. The first ascent in July 1957 by the Austrian mountaineers Toni Egger [de; fr; it] and Siegfried Jungmair over the (north)east face has been called "one of the boldest climbing feats ever performed in the Cordillera". Their route has only been repeated once. In 1964 Gary Colliver and Glen Denny of an American expedition climbed the north ridge to the slightly lower north summit, but a traverse over the "cockscomb of ice" connecting to the main summit has so far not been attempted. On July 6, 1969, an Italian team led by the 60-year-old Riccardo Cassin forged the first route through the West face. On July 31, 1971 the Americans Dean Caldwell and Jon Bowlin first climbed the southwest face in two days. Leaving their expedition below, Bowlin and Caldwell forged their own route and reached the peak on August 1, and were back at base camp by August 2. In 1973, a Japanese team led by Masayuki Shinohara succeeded in climbing the south east face for the first time, though it took them 49 days. Josh Wharton is a Front Range based professional climber. He’s best known for his alpine climbing achievements, but has climbed at a high level across all the climbing disciplines.