Best Chearoco Climbing Guides 2025

Bolivia is full of wonders when it comes to climbing, however much of the attentions is paid to only a handful of mountains. In my second expedition with Bolivian Mountaineering, Pedro(my guide) and I went with the aim of climbing some interesting mountains, Chearoco, Illampu and Cabeza del Condor. The main focus of this trip was in the two first mountains which present a few logistical and technical challenges, from being mountains rarely visited by people to ever changing climbing routes that require experience and what I like to call "mountain wisdom". I can only highly speak about Pedro and its team which made every second of the expeditions feel profesionally managed and fun. Too much can be said about those mountains on the streets but only when you are there you see how much of a difference a great agency can make and how far can they take you. P.S. We manage to summit Chearoco and Cabeza del Condor which I promise you it is not an easy feat, however I couldnt reach Illampu´s summit (long story short I chickened out near the summit) which was very very close to our highest point.

This was my second trip with Bolivian Mountaineering (first one in 2017). I came back to Bolivia because of how amazing Pedro and his team were two years ago, and I wasn’t disappointed this time either. Pedro told me he set up the company because he wanted to do things differently to other agencies in Bolivia: focussing on quality and satisfaction rather than cutting prices. This is confirmed by my experiences: I had an itinerary planned (Chearoco, chachacomani, ancohuma, illampu) which I decided to change when I arrived in la Paz (Pequeño Alpamayo direct + condor left wing instead of Chearoco). Pedro was very accommodating and flexible, and we made the change. After acclimatising we climbed the direct route of pequeno Alpamayo (which was beautiful). Unfortunately I have a long running knee injury which decided to flare up at that moment. As a result we again had to change plans (at no cost to me, and no pressure from the company) and climbed Huayna (not my first time) to test my injury. Things seemed ok so we then went to illampu. Half way up my knee again started hurting and we decided to abort and turn back. The trip was not what I had planned and in many ways was disappointing, but I left happy thanks to Pedro. Throughout these couple of weeks, Pedro and his team were truly amazing: professional, flexible, sympathetic, and above all willing to stick their neck out: it was Pedro who told me, gently but firmly, that he thought we needed to head back down illampu. This was hard for me to hear at the time but was the right decision, and exactly what I would want a mountain guide (and friend) to say to me in a difficult mountaineering situation. I cannot recommend Bolivian mountaineering highly enough. I have found a lifelong climbing partner and will no doubt return to Bolivia again and again.