20,000-foot peaks. 16,000-foot passes. Stunning alpine lakes. This is Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes, where an Eddie Bauer guide and two athletes came to experience mountains in a completely different light.

Eddie Bauer ski athletes Drew Tabke and Lynsey Dyer shred steeps all over the world. Eddie Bauer alpine guide Adrian Ballinger leads summits in the Himalaya, Andes, and Africa. These people are in their element in the mountains. But in Huayhuash, they wanted to be out of their element. So, they put away their skis and the impulse to go downhill as fast as possible. Set aside ice axes and the single-pointed goal of reaching a remote summit. And they just walked—all 85 miles of the Cordillera—to experience the place on different terms. Pure. Simple. Direct.

The Cordillera Huayhuash Range
This stunning sub-range of the Peruvian Andes features beautiful high alpine lakes and meadows as well as towering peaks, several of which are over 6,000 meters. The area has become increasingly popular for trekking, but it is largely unpopulated with just a few villages at lower elevations.

Taking the High Road
Adrian, Lynsey, and Drew’s 85-mile trek through the Cordillera Huayhuash began with two days in the city of Huaraz to get acclimated to the Andean elevation. This was an essential step, because once in the Cordillera, their first camp would be above 13,000 feet. Over the course of their 5-day journey, they crossed six high passes, including the highest, Cuyoc Pass, at 16,404 feet above sea level. The challenge of sustained high elevation was heightened by the fact that the trio did the full circuit—including two days in Huaraz—in just seven days. Ordinarily, groups take 10 days on the trek alone; the Eddie Bauer team cut that time in half. To help them in their quest, they hired a burro team to carry their gear and a local cook to prepare their meals, freeing them to focus simply on their task.

But mountains are still mountains.