Leave the USA for Bolivia in the evening. Most flights route via Miami and fly overnight (Friday).

Arrive in La Paz International Airport,13,200 feet (Saturday). Spend the day acclimatizing, followed by a team welcome dinner.

Visit the ruins of Tiahuanaco. Close to La Paz, the largest archaeological site in Bolivia lends insight into this country’s past, and its Amyara civilization. The ruins date back to 1600 BCE. Exploring these high altitude ruins will also aid our acclimatization. In the afternoon we will continue driving to Lake Titicaca.

The world’s largest navigable lake, Titicaca sits at over 12,400 feet. We spend the day on the water, visiting Suriki Island and the indigenous people who live there. We spend a second evening in the lakeside town of Copacabana.

By now, we are ready to climb! Today we drive to Tuni, a collection of alpaca herder’s huts at 14,000 feet. We set camp here and take an acclimatization hike.

Hike (with lamas to carry our gear) to Condoriri base camp. Perched on the edge of a lake below 6 peaks over 17,000 feet in height, it is a stunning place. We set up our base camp at 15,000 feet.

Climb Pico Austria, a non-technical 17,000 foot peak with fantastic views of all the surrounding peaks. It is a 3-4 hour hike up sand and scree to the summit, and is ideal for acclimatization.

After a big pancake breakfast we head onto the glacier below Pequeno Alpamayo for a full day of skills – we practice crampon and ice axe use, self arrest techniques, roped travel, and crevasse rescue.

Rest day in Base Camp. This is an opportunity to let our bodies recover, as well as to practice any skills that needed more work from the day before.

By now, we are ready to climb! A 2am start means we will cross most of the low angled glacier by headlamp. By dawn we should be moving up the steeper rock and ice slopes, a perfect introduction to more technical big mountain routes. The final steep knife-edge ridge to the summit is one that will never be forgotten! We return to base camp for the night.

Return to La Paz, where we take much-needed showers, eat a big meal, and sleep.

Rest in La Paz, exploring the local markets and neighborhoods. No trip to La Paz is complete without a visit to the Witch’s Market!

Today we drive to base camp on Huayna Potosi, near Laguna Zongo (15,700 feet). After establishing camp, we head to the nearby glacier, where perfect ice serac walls up to 100 feet tall allow for some technical ice climbing practice.

With the assistance of high altitude porters, move to a high camp at 18,000 feet.

Summit Day! 7-9 hours of climbing takes us through crevasse fields and moderate to steep slopes, before finishing on an exposed ridge looking over the 3000 foot West Face. After some hero photos, we descend all the way to Base Camp and drive back to our hotel in La Paz.

Extra contingency day for summiting if necessary. If not, we enjoy a day of pampering ourselves in La Paz.

Leave La Paz early morning. Arrive in USA late evening (Sunday).