From July 15 to Aug. 15, Slovakian climbers Marek Radovsky and Duri Svingal made the first ascent of a 5,141m peak in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca, according to Radovsky’s report in Planet Mountain this week.
They named the route The Line under the Sky (6b, M6+, 1,100m) and called the mountain Marva Peak.
Radovsky and Svingal acclimatized on 5,840m Aguja, situated above Laguna Paron at 4,200m. They spent one night in a village called Vaqueria, then loaded two borrowed donkeys and continued along the valley until the 4,200m spot where they set up base camp.
‘Line under the Sky’ on Marva Peak. Photo: Marek Radovsky
According to the Slovakian climber, the route had rocky parts at the bottom and mixed snow and ice on the upper sections. The rock quality was poor, and the moss that covered many rocks didn’t help.
During the ascent, they had to climb a 240m chimney up to 6a. They then surmounted the 6b crux, then continued up two steep pitches filled with hard snow.
“Climbing to the second-to-last belay was quite unpleasant, past M6+ with poor protection,” recalled Radovsky in Planet Mountain. They also found loose, rocky blocks the size of a fridge, but finally, they managed to top out.
The first ascent route on Marva Peak. Photo: Marek Radovsky
14 rappels
After summiting, the duo made 14 rappels over six hours down the wall. After 19 hours of non-stop climbing, they were out of water and had only a little candy left. They slept at the foot of the wall, and the next morning reached their base camp.
At first, Radovsky and Svingal wanted to climb other peaks, but the weather worsened in August.
“The Peruvian faces versus us was 2:1,” concluded Radovsky. “We don’t mind though…A dream we’d had for about a year had come true.”
Duri Svingal and Marek Radovsky. Photo: Marek Radovsky
