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Posts for Ecuador from 07/2011

Ecuador: A Visit to the Otavalo Market

Posted by: | July 30, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador

Buenas noches from Hacienda Chilcabamba.

We just moved into our rooms after enjoying a stunning sunset on the drive out into the campo [wilderness]. The hacienda sits right on the edge of Cotopaxi National Park, and with any luck we will get a view of where we hope to stand in a few days.

Today was the big market day in Otavalo, so we braved the crowds and headed into the thick of it. The theme of the day was bargaining, and everybody had a chance to practice their Spanish in order to come away with some authentic souvenirs.

The team is well rested and excited for another climb. We’ll check in tomorrow from the Cotopaxi hut.

RMI Guides Casey Grom & Maile Wade with the Ecuador Team.

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Ecuador Volcanoes: Grom & Team Summit Cayambe!

Posted by: | July 29, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 18,997'

Success! That’s right we did it even despite the adverse conditions we have been experiencing. The weather has been less than desirable. However when we woke this morning we were greeted with beautifully clear skies. After a quick breakfast, we walked out into a calm Ecuadorian sky that spanned from the Big Dipper to the Southern Cross, one of the few places on earth you can see both. Our climb started up a rocky buttress before transitioning onto the glacier, and we enjoyed the warm night after our last few days in the snow and rain. The climb went rather smoothly and we reached the cumbre, or summit in English, just after 8 this morning. The climb took just over seven hours to reach the top with mostly low angle snow climbing and a few steep pitches to keep us on our toes. Though we walked for some of the morning in a cloud, the weather cleared just briefly as we crested the summit, allowing us views of the Avenue of Volcanoes that spans Ecuador. We could even see the Amazon!!

Currently we are rejuvenating here in La Casa Sol just outside Otavalo. Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to resting.

Missing all of our families and most of our friends. Hasta manana!

RMI Guide Casey Grom

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Ecuador Volcanoes: Cayambe Summit Attempt in the Morning

Posted by: | July 28, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 15,300'

Yesterday we made our first big jump to altitude, from sleeping at roughly 10,000’ to 15,000’ and everyone seemed to handle it quite well. It’s a good sign that everyone is acclimatizing.

Today we were greeted with moderate winds and blowing snow. Not what we were hoping for but we’ll keep our spirits up regardless. We spent a little time outside today reviewing some basic climbing techniques to prepare us for tomorrow’s summit attempt.  We mostly enjoyed the comforts of the hut here on Cayambe. It’s more of a house than a hut and sleeps about thirty climbers. It has two small kitchens and most importantly, indoor plumbing.

Everyone is doing great and are anxiously awaiting tomorrow’s summit attempt. If all goes well we will try to leave here early in the morning and hope to reach the summit just after sunrise.

Keep your fingers crossed and wish us luck!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

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Ecuador: Team Readies for Climb of Cayambe

Posted by: Maile Wade | July 27, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 15,500'

Hello, this is Maile and Casey checking in from Ecuador and the climber’s hut on Cayambe. Everyone is settling in for a good night sleep at 15,500 feet. This morning we woke up to a beautiful morning at the Hacienda San Luis and had a leisurely morning down there, we drove in to the town of Cayambe and had a local lunch before heading up to the mountain. We were able to drive up to 13,500’ before the road become too rough for the vehicles. We then walked up to the climber’s hut. Everyone is doing well, it is a beautiful night and we will check in again tomorrow and we hope everyone is doing well back at home!

RMI Guides Maile Wade & Casey Grom

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Ecuador Volcanoes: Acclimatization Hike on Fuya Fuya

Posted by: | July 26, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 13,986'

Today the team said goodbye to the hustle and bustle of Quito and headed north to enjoy a little more of this beautiful country. We drove for about an hour to a place called Fuya Fuya where we climbed a small vegetated hill to nearly 14,000’ to further our acclimatization. We hiked for about 3 hours on a mostly cloudy day that made for nice hiking temperatures but didn’t provide great views.  The hillside was covered with knee high grass and Achupallas (sort of looks like a large pineapple).  After our enjoyable hike we headed to Hacienda San Luis where we currently are enjoying the beauty of this place and wonderful Ecuadorian hospitality.

Everyone seems to be enjoying this place and are looking forward to heading into the mountains tomorrow.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

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Ecuador’s Volcanoes: Team Ascends Rucu Pichincha

Posted by: Maile Wade | July 25, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 15,406'

Hey Everybody -

This is the Ecuador group checking in. We had a great day today and everybody is doing well. We had another delicious breakfast at the hotel and took off early to ride the teleferique (gondola) up to Rucu Pichincha. Pichincha is a volcano just outside of Quito and we hiked the older (Rucu, in the indigenous language of Quechua) extinct side of it.

We rode the gondola up the mountain to 13,500’ into the grasslands above Quito. We began our acclimatization hike up to the top of the volcano from there. Our Ecuadorian guide Freddy joined us today and set the pace for everybody to follow. As we ascended, we moved from the grasslands into a rocky scramble that led to the summit. It took us 3 hours to ascend to the top at 15,406’, which was a new altitude record for some members of the group.

The descent was welcomed as we headed back to the comfortable altitude of Quito. We did a little shopping then headed out for an early dinner on a rooftop in old-town. We had spectacular views of the Basilica, the San Francisco de Quito, and the Virgin as we ate traditional Ecuadorian cuisine.

Everyone seems to be having a great time and we will check in tomorrow.

RMI Guides Casey Grom, Maile Wade & the team

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Ecuador Volcanoes: Casey Grom and Team Visit the Sights of Quito

Posted by: | July 24, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 9,350'

Hello everyone,

The entire team has safely arrived here in Quito after our long flights from the states. Our late arrivals didn’t allow for much other than checking into the hotel and getting a few hours of shut-eye. 

We woke to a beautiful day here in Ecuador and had a wonderful breakfast with a nice variety of eggs, sausages, fried plantains, breads, yogurts, and freshly squeezed juices. After washing everything down with plenty of coffee the group met for some introductions and an overview of what’s to come over the next few days. We also discussed how to be a savvy tourist while traveling abroad to help keep us from any unwanted situations.

Our plan for the day was to explore a little of this colonial city and visit the equator for which this country is named for. We started off with a visit to the equator where we saw with our own eyes how water spins counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere and then just a few feet away spins clockwise in the southern hemisphere. Seeing, truly is believing!

After the equator we headed back to town to visit the Panecillo Hill, which has a 135-foot tall statue of the Virgin Mary made up of over 7,000 pieces of aluminum and a beautiful panoramic view of this city with more than 2 million people living in it. We then headed into the old town of Quito to visit the many churches and cathedrals that have been here since the conquistadors arrived in 1535. We visited the San Francisco de Quito, church of La Campania and even had a brief stop at the Presidential Palace.  It was a day rich in history and full of amazing views that was enjoyed by all. We finished the day with a wonderful meal and are now
headed off to bed.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

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Cotopaxi Express:  Team Returns to Quito

Posted by: | July 09, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador

Hi this is Seth, Darryl, Will, Michael, Mike, Imi, Dan, Jim and Marc checking in from the Cotopaxi Express trip.  We’re back in Quito!  After a great night at the Hosteria La Cienega we made the final leg of our journey back to Quito.  The Saturday markets are in full swing and everyone has had the opportunity to do some shopping this afternoon.  A few of us have evening flights and the rest of us will be heading out tomorrow.  We just have time for one last dinner together before our trip is officially over.

RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

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Cotopaxi Express: Back at Historic La Cienega Hosteria

Posted by: | July 09, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador

The Cotopaxi Team is safely off the mountain and checked into the historic La Cienega Hosteria in Lasso, Ecuador.  Today has been a mix of excitement and frustration as we finally took our shot at the summit of Cotopaxi, only to be thwarted by the high winds that characterized our stay on the mountain.  We awoke at midnight to a slight lull in the wind and began our climb just after one o’clock AM.  The snow conditions proved to be tough with a thin ice-skin over unconsolidated ‘corn’ snow.  After reaching just over 18,000 feet I had to make the tough decision to turn the teams around.  The wind had increased dramatically, blowing climbers out of the trail and covering all of us in a layer of rime ice.  It was maddening to get so close to our goal but in the end the importance of returning safely to our family and friends is, of course, the most important thing.  Now we’re set to celebrate the end of our trip with a great dinner at La Cienega before making the final leg of our journey tomorrow.  We’ll check in again when we arrive back in Quito.

RMI Guide - Seth Waterfall

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Cotopaxi Express: Abort Summit Due to High Winds

Posted by: | July 08, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 18,000'

Hi this is Seth checking in from the Jose Ribas Hut on Cotopaxi.  All the climbers are safe and sound back at the refuge.  We aborted our summit attempt at just over 18,000’ today due to high winds.  And all the climbers are back down safe.  We’ll be going to La Cienega Hacienda tonight and have a little good food and a hot shower.  We’re all anxiously awaiting that.  We’ll check in then.

RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

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