Ride from the Glaciers, Peru

Duration: 11 Days
Start & Finish: Lima
Skill Level: 3 - 4
Support: Support vehicle, guide, bike trailer & bike mechanic
Group Size:
Best Time: April to November

Huaraz is one of the best places on earth for mountain biking. There are amazing 3,000 years old trails that descend from the top of the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra (White and Black Mountain Ranges) and end in the middle of Huaraz. This tour is one of the most cultural and scenic tours of this type on our planet!

We will ride the best single tracks in Huaraz, “Little Switzerland” and its surroundings. After some acclimatization rides near Lima, we will visit Chiquian at an altitude of 3,350 metres (10,990 ft.) and at the entrance of the Callejon de Huaylas where Huaraz is located.

We will mountain bike on amazing trails near Chquian and have spectacular views of the Yerupaja summit, the second highest mountain of Peru at 6,634m (21,765 ft.).

Our next destination is Chavin de Huantar, one of the oldest Andean civilizations more than 3,000 years old. Here we will explore and experience some this culture and walk inside their tunnels built inside this amazing complex. Our last destination is Huaraz, where we will find the best views of the Cordillera Blanca and of course excellent trails that descend from both Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra. We will also visit the Huascaran National Park and one of the most scenic lakes in LLanganuco.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Mountain bike on Chavin Pre-Inca trails more than 3,000 years old.
  • Descend from the top of the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra and end at the center of Huaraz with spectacular and unique views on both sides.
  • Guided tour to Chavin Pre-Inca site, enter into their tunnels and visit the museum.
  • Breath-taking landscapes in Chiquian and Huaraz with the two highest mountains in Peru: Huascaran and Yerupaja.
  • Relaxing hot springs after our rides in Huaraz.

 

DETAILED ITINERARY

Day 01: Arrive in Lima
Our guide will be waiting for you at Lima’s airport and transport you to our hotel located in Miraflores, a tourist neighborhood with great restaurants, shops and movies.

Day 02: Pachacamac
Pachacamac was an important place in the Inca’s history. There is a big fortress with impressive constructions that dominate the entire Lurin Valley. We will have the opportunity to discover other Inca constructions that are not common for normal tourists deep inside the valley and the mountains. Everybody likes this ride!

We will pick you up from your hotel at 9:00 am and go directly to Pachacamac, 45 Km. south of Lima and visit the Peruvian Mountain Biking legend, Alfonso Roda. We start our ride from his house/farm and immediately we take a trail that will take us to the hills of Pachacamac and cross different Inca constructions. It is a total of 20 Km. and about 3 hours for our first ride in Peru. We will have lunch in Pachacamac and finally return to Lima and have the rest of the afternoon free.

Day 03: Villa Quipan
Villa Quipan is located 180 Km. east of Lima in the Chillon Valley at an altitude of 3,650 metres (12,000 ft.) and it takes approximately four hours to reach the start of this amazing trail. We will pick you up from your hotel at 6:00 am to start our tour to one of the best  trails for mountain biking in Peru which is around 40km taking about five hours to complete. The trail ends in the village of Macas at an altitude of 600m. It’s more than 3,000 meters (10,000 ft.) of vertical descent downhill! The last 15 Km is on a dried river (dried avalanche) terrain.

Every May 5th there is a procession to the town of Huamantanga, near Quipan where people use this trail to hike up to Huamantanga and pray to the lord of the same name at the old colonial church. The Lord of Huamantanga is the symbol in this part of the Andes, and on the entire trail we will pass many crosses.

Then we will continue our trip half an hour more to the start of the trail near the village of Quipan.

We plan to return to Lima approximately at 6:00 pm.

Day 04: Transfer to Chiquian
Early in the morning we leave Lima to start riding in the Andes near Huaraz and the Cordillera Blanca. It will take us around 6 hours to reach the mountain pass of Conococha at an altitude of 4,100m (13,451 ft.). From this point we will start riding the dirt road that is really exciting and reaches the town of Chiquian at an altitude of 3,350m (10,990 ft.). With this ride we will finish our acclimatization process and reach Chiquian totally used to the altitude and ready for our next days of hard riding in the Andes!

In Chiquian we will stay on a nice little lodge of some friends of ours that offer awesome hiking tours to the Huayhuash Mountain Range, the second tallest mountains in Peru.

Day 05: The Bandolero Trail
Early in the morning we will start riding our bikes through a narrow singletrack that goes to the secret house of the Bandolero Luis Pardo. This guy was the local Robin Hood and he used to take the money from the rich people who own gold and copper mines and then he gave that money to the poor people in town. The trail goes along a steep part of the mountain facing the Pativilca Valley. There will be awesome views of the Huayhuash Mountan Range for a lot of the ride!

We will return to have lunch in Chiquian and in the afternoon we will be transferred to Huaraz.

Day 06: Huaraz Cross Ride
After a nutritious breakfast in our hotel in Huaraz, we will start riding directly from our hotel. We will climb towards the Cordillera Blanca and reach the lookout of Rataquenua located at an altitude of 3,500m (11,483 ft.). We will have spectacular views of Huaraz and the Huascaran Summit, the highest mountain in Peru at 6,868m (22,532 ft.). After a short break we will continue our ride following a fantastic singletrack that descends to the town of Macashca, on the other side of the mountains. We will have a break to rest and enjoy the views of this peaceful little town before returning to Huaraz.

We will ride a total of 23 Km. in approximately 3 hours.

Day 07: Punta Olimpica Climb
This is a classic mountain bike tour in Huaraz. Punta Olimpica is a mountain pass located at an altitude of 4,890 m and has beautiful views of the snowy peaks of the Cordillera Blanca and the southern part of the Huascaran. We start early in the morning to prepare for the big climb of the tour up Punta Olimpica with multitudes of switch backs and after enjoying the breathtaking views of this area, the 2000m ice wall of Nev. Contrahierbas (6036m), the large, turquoise coloured glacier lake. We have a mind blowing downhill from the top of the Cordillera Blanca to the bottom of the valley to the Santa Valley (Huaraz).

Day 08: Huascaran Footsteps
Early in the morning after a big breakfast, we will be transferred to the village of Shilla at an altitude of 2,910m (9,547 ft.) to start one of the most spectacular trails in Huaraz. We will climb from Shilla to Huaypan and reach the highest point of the trail at 3,550m (11,647 ft.). At this point we are going to be at the base of the Huascaran Summit. The view from here is spectacular; the Huascaran Summit looks even bigger from this side of the mountain!

After a short break with this spectacular view, we will continue mountain biking following great singletrack and cross the little villages of Tumpa and Musho to finally reach the Santa River on the location of Ranrahirca.

We will ride a total of 26 Km. in approximately 4 hours.

Day 09: LLanganuco Lake
This day we will enter into the Huascaran National Park and ride our mountain bikes from the mountain pass of Portachuelo LLanganuco located at an altitude of 4,760m (15,616 ft.) to the Santa River at an altitude of 2,500m (8,202 ft.). We will have spectacular views of the Huascaran summit with its 6,768m (22,205 ft.), the highest of Peru and the fourth highest peak in South America!

We will ride mostly on dirt roads but with the possibility to take challenging singletracks for those who like a little technical riding. We will reach LLanganuco Lake and have a short break to enjoy the scenery on this unique place of the Cordillera Blanca. We can sail for a while on this lake or discover some trails around the lake.

After this visit we will continue with our ride down the mountain on singletracks and dirt roads until we reach the town of Yungay. This last part of the trail has excellent sections of singletrack that can be challenging for a normal mountain biker.

Day 10: Callan Punta
This day we will ride 30 Km. of uphill on the Cordillera Negra until we reach the mountain pass of Callan Punta at an altitude of 4,240m (13,911 ft.). We will have spectacular views of the Cordillera Blanca, maybe the best views, that is on the other side of the Callejon de Huaylas. From the top of the mountain we will start riding an ancient Chavin trail with more than 3,000 years old that descends directly to Huaraz! We will ride a total of 48 Km. in approximately 5 hours.

We will have lunch in Huaraz and at the end of the day we will take the bus to return to Lima.

Day 11: End of Tour
We arrive to Lima at 6:00am and from the bus station we will have a shuttle arranged to go to Miraflores and spend the last hours in Peru. If your flight is in the morning, between 9:00am and noon, we will take you directly to the airport…or you can head to Machu Pichu, great Inca civilization and a world heritage site.

 

PRICE: R19160 excluding airfare which would be R11000 to R13500
Because of the Rand being so unstable, we will have to increase the rate if the Rand weakens below R8 to the US$

 

WHAT'S INCLUDED

  • Private transportation during the tour. The bus will follow us where possible and will assist us if needed.
  • Return from Huaraz to Lima on the local bus.
  • 10 nights at 3* hotels or similar.
  • All breakfasts, snacks during the mountain bike rides and lunches on the tour. .
  • Entrance fee to Huascaran National Park.
  • Entrance fee to the hot springs of Monterrey.
  • Two experienced guides at all time1. They will assist you when needed and help improve your mountain bike skills.
  • Maintenance tools and kit of spare parts in case we have any problem with the bikes.

Our experienced leaders and guides are trained on First Aid attention, they have international certification.

WHAT'S NOT INCLUDED
Dinners, insurance, personal expenses, tips, extras.

WHAT YOU SHOULD BRING
You are traveling to Peru and in the areas we are going to be riding our bikes there are very little options to buy spare parts for your bike. First, we suggest you make a major service to your bike and check for worn parts such as chain, brake pads, cables and housings. Make sure everything is working properly.

We take some bike parts on our tours but there are some parts that are very specific to each bike so you should consider bringing the following parts with you:

  • Extra derailleur hanger.
  • 2 sets of brake pads.
  • Tubes, patches and pump. (We suggest putting tubeless system).
  • Some special tools for your bike and a bike multi-tool.
  • Camelback. You will need to take your food, tools, water and a light jacket.
  • Light wind breaker / waterproof.
  • Light thermal jacket. This will keep you warm if the temperature drops considerable.
  • Helmet, gloves and safety glasses.
  • Knee and elbow pads if you want .
  • One pair of riding shoes.
  • Light.
  • Sun block. Recommended 30 SPF or more.
  • Insect repellent.

BIKE TRANSPORTATION
The best way to take your bike on the flight is in a bike box. You can choose either a normal hard cardboard box or those hard plastic boxes. In both cases you should be very careful packing your bike and prevent scratching or some damage to vulnerable parts like the derailleur hanger, brakes, fork, etc. Use lots of padding to protect your bike and use also plastic strips to tight all the parts together.

The way we pack our bikes is as follows: we first take off  the pedals, front wheel. Then we let air out of the shocks leaving only 5 or 10 psi. The next step is to put the seat post all the way into the frame or take it out and then take the handlebar off  the stem.

Now the bike is ready to put in the box and bubble wrap to prevent scratching. Make sure the bike fits on the box normally; check the area of the bottom of the fork and the back of the bike (derailleur hanger). You can put some of your riding gear such as shoes, helmet, gloves, etc.