Phil Thornett

I Had No Option Other Than to Survive Without Oxygen

After several weeks in South America traveling south through the mighty Andes mountains, I arrived in the capital of Bolivia, La Paz. Flushed with the cumulative success of hiking Peru’s Colca Canyon, Salkantay Pass, and Macchu Pichu, I had booked a two day expedition with a fellow backpacker, to climb the country’s fifth highest mountain, Huayna Potosi at 6088m, in the Bolivian Cordillera Real.