The Friday Matinee

If it's Friday then yes, it's time to waste, erm, time with another inspirational OM Friday Matinee plundered from pile of streaming video which is YouTube.

And this week, we're going for a Peruvian theme with lots of salsa... To kick things off, there's one trek that's nigh on compulsory and it's the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. The trick with the rock was a bit mean eh?

 Still in Peru, you'd be hard pushed to find anywhere more beautiful than the Cordillera Blanca near Huaraz, great trekking but also some spectacular mountaineering from th very straightforward to the very, very difficult. Enjoy.

And if you like big, snowy mountains, this is Huascaran, a massive chunk of snow and ice in the Blanca, worth hanging in there for the high mountain shots and tthen go and watch part two, which is really spectacular in parts. The first mountain is Pisco by the way, an easy acclimatisation peak.

Finally, the Cordillera Huayhuash, next door to the Blanca is probably best known as the area where Joe Simpson's Touching the Void epic took place, but it's also an amazing compact range of mountains and the home of the classic Huayhuash Circuit trek. These guys on the other hand crossed the area using unknown trails...

Right. I'm off to book a ticket back to South America, have a great weekend :-)