Pilgrims camping Qoyllur Rit'i 2008
Climate Change & Disappearing Glaciers,  Festivals, Sacred Rituals, Religion

In Search of the Vanishing Snow Star

El Fotografo and I are turning the house upside-down this weekend, as we air out camping gear to go to the glacier pilgrimage of Qoyllur Rit’i (“Snow Star” in Quechua) next week.

The annual Andean pilgrimage takes place in a remote valley in southern Peru, at the foot of 16,000-foot-high Qolqepunku Glacier. Pilgrims travel from all over central and southern Peru, as well as northern Boliva, to attend this remarkable event, the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.

The Catholic Church has its hand in Qoyllur Rit’i, but what really interests me and El Fotografo are the indigenous, ice-worshipping rituals that people perform at Qoyllur Rit’i. That’s why we’re braving the sub-zero temps to camp out with 100,000 pilgrims for three nights. We’ll be interviewing pilgrims and dancers, and El Fotografo will be taking photos with his Hasselblad outfitted with a new digital back, courtesy of Hasselblad America (thanks, kind sponsor!).

Also part of our expedition team is videographer Martin Vera and, for the first time, our son, El Hijo. (This may be the first time that an 11-year-old American attends Qoyllur Rit’i.)

The real story we’re after is how the local people are coping with the loss of glacier ice due to climate change. Qolqepunku Glacier, like all tropical glaciers in Peru, is vanishing faster than even the scientists predicted it would. The most important mountain in Andean cosmology is “losing its white poncho,” as the locals say.

We want to understand what that loss means to a people who have lived among these snow-capped mountains for thousands of years.

El Hijo will be taking notes at Qoyllur Rit’i and afterward making a PowerPoint presentation to share with his class in Lima.

I’m proud of him and also concerned about his keeping warm. Fortunately I bought some thick woolen long-johns in the Cusco market last year, and he’s now big enough to wear them, I think.

Time to tear El Hijo away from his Nintendo DS for a quick fitting.

I am an American writer who lived in Lima for seven years (2007-2014), where I covered Andean traditions, melting glaciers and daily life in the capital for Miami Herald, MSNBC and Huffington Post. I now live and work in northern Florida where I champion climate change advocacy and compassionate, affordable eldercare.

10 Comments

  • Pico

    Barb,

    Silk long johns work better than wool for the purpose, lighter, as warm, and they wick moisture. If possible synthetic clothing like Coolmax, and a pair of windproof lined Polartec pants.

    One of the things about Peruvian culture – or should I say Lima – that I find interesting is the topic of cold weather clothing. By now you are familiar with the “lluvia terrible” that everyone complains about. Through the years visiting my family, I have given them Polartec jackets and waterproof shells but apparently the concept of layering has not registered.

    There is this belief that if it is raining in the ‘cold’ winter, you put another heavy wool sweater on top and that should take care of it, even though you are sweating and smelling like a wet animal. I have tried to explain to them many times that a sheep will always get wet under its coat no matter how thick it is.

    So to this day, they are amazed when we visit in the Peruvian summer months and see how light our US winter gear is, and cannot comprehend how we can keep warm with it.

    Saludos and good luck in your trip

  • Lori

    Sounds like a lot of fun. I hope you post some photos of the event. I’m curious about the ice-worshipping rituals.

  • Barb

    Yes — fun and grueling, Lori.

    Paul, anyone can come to it. About 100,000 people come from all over Peru and northern Bolivia. Are you and Melanita thinking of coming? We climb the mountain next Saturday.

  • Barb

    Pico — you are absolutely right. Silk underwear is way better than woolies. The problem is: where do you buy good quality kid-size silk underwear in retail-deprived Peru?!

    I’m always making do here with less than perfect solutions. The American in me can get so frustrated sometimes.

  • Pico

    Barb,

    I hear your pain. There is a store in Larco Mar called Tatoo where they sell trekking gear. I was surprised – or shocked – by the prices though. I know they carry stuff for kids because I bought some -shirts for mine.

    Saludos

  • Barb

    Yes, Pico, the prices at Tatoo can be outrageous. We walked in there this weekend, hoping to stock up on a few things, and El Fotografo got incensed. They were selling a fabric hat with a wide brim for US$50; the same thing sells for S/.10 in the Cusco markets.

    I didn’t check for silk underwear for El Hijo, so I don’t know if they had them. We are sticking to the stuff we bought in Cusco and, yes, we will probably smell like wet dogs when we get back from Qoyllur Rit’i. 🙂

  • Ward Welvaert

    Dunno about the disappearing glacier Barb. It’s been cold here in Cusco for 2 winters now. As soon as the sun sets it’s cold as a witch’s boob (or, wizzard’s balls for the emancipated crowd).

    Have fun at Ausangate, I don’t think we’ll make it this year 🙁 but you’re welcome to stop by here in Cusco!

  • Barb

    Thanks for the invite, Ward. We will be in Cusco for a few days before we go up so I’ll leave a message on your blog.

    Even though the winter temps are very cold, the glacier is disappearing because of what’s happening during the summer/rainy season, which is becoming longer and longer. The tropical glaciers in Peru have a fragile existence; they exist near the tropical zone so just a few degrees difference in temp (higher) can put them over the edge as far as not being able to regenerate. These glaciers don’t have the temperature “buffer zone” of those nearer the Arctic and Antarctic zones. Also, the sun is super hot at the high altitudes in the Andes, which speeds the vaporization of the ice water. It’s actually not melting but vanishing into the air.

  • Peruanista

    You and your family are fortunate to be there Barb, as you participate try to get in contact with people who will tell you the story behind this tradition. Chew and drink coca leaf tea, will be good for your energy. Oh, I read that the Catholic church tried to stop this tradition for generations but they couldn’t so they joined it, sort of.

    Haylli mamapacha.