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Posts for Ecuador from 12/2011

Cotopaxi Express:  Team on the Summit

Posted by: Casey Grom | December 16, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 19,348'

Hey everybody, this is Casey from RMI checking in from the Cotopaxi Express Ascent. We are currently on the summit of Cotopaxi with everyone!  We are 100% today.  It was a tough climb and took just over 7 and a half hours.  A little bit of new snow, definitely some slow going.  Everyone did fantastic. Not too much of a view right now. We’re actually up here in the clouds and can’t really see much other than our little faces.  Everybody is doing well. Our plan is to take a few photos up here and then start back to the hut.  We will check in a little later on today.

RMI Guide Casey Grom

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Cotopaxi Express: Team Readies for Summit Climb

Posted by: Casey Grom | December 16, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 16,000'

Hello everybody back home, this is Casey Grom checking in from the RMI Cotopaxi trip.  We wanted to let you know that we’re all here just below 16000’ at the Cotopaxi hut. We had a nice morning, a great breakfast with some eggs, cereal and yogurt and a nice relaxing start to the day.  We went for a short walk, about 45 minutes, up to where we could access the glacier.  We spent about 2 hours reviewing some of the techniques that are going to be applicable for tonight’s climb.

Everyone seems to be doing great. The weather’s been a bit in and out today, some snow and a little bit of light rain.  And currently we are kind of socked in a cloud but not much precipitation. The team has just finished dinner and we had a little pre- summit climb chat.  Everyone is off to bed right now. So, our plan is to try to get up and leave about 12:30 and hopefully will reach the summit just after sunrise. If we get the opportunity we will try to give a call from the summit. And if not, we will certainly give a call as soon as we return back to the hut. Thanks for following, and we will talk to you guys later on. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom

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Cotopaxi Express: Acclimatization Hike in the Illinizas

Posted by: Casey Grom | December 14, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador

Hello everybody back home, this is Casey Grom checking in from the Cotopaxi Express Ascent.  Today we left the busy city of Quito and traded in for a little rustic countryside visit. We did a short acclimatization hike on the Illinizas where we reached just over 15,500’. Everybody did fantastic and we even got to use our gore-tex jackets with fresh snow falling on us today.  We have since descended and have retreated to the Hacienda Chilcabamba where we have just finished a delicious meal and great conversation. Everyone seems to be doing really well and everyone’s relaxing right now inside.  We are looking forward to some clear skies tomorrow and a nice view of Cotopaxi.

That’s all for now and we will check in again tomorrow.

RMI Guide Casey Grom

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Cotopaxi Express:  Acclimatization Hike on Rucu Pichincha

Posted by: Adam Knoff | December 12, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 9,200'

Hola Everyone,

Today began much like yesterday.  Breakfast in our newly remodeled hotel at 7:30 with the team preparing for the day’s activities. But instead of taking a tour of Quito, we stayed close to home and headed ten minutes east of our hotel to the 15,500’ Rucu Pinchincha volcano.  This mountain gave Quito quite a scare in 1999 spewing large amounts of ash into the air which caused half of this enormous city to be evacuated. Nothing major came of the eruption.  So today it is a prefect acclimatizing hike.  Because it is only the team’s second day in Ecuador, one might speculate that marching from 9,200’ to 15,500’ first thing might be a bit much.  Not the case when a gondola zips you up the mountain side turning what should have been a two hour hike into a 10 minute cruise.  We were a bit bummed to have thick cloud cover resting heavily in the valley but we lifted out of the mist at 13,000’  and were allowed great summit views of both Cotopaxi and Cayambe, two of Ecuador’s most impressive peaks. 

Once on the move our team showed their enthusiasm and readiness to climb.  Led by RMI’s local Ecuadorian Guide Fredy Tipan, we all headed 2.5 miles up a well traveled trail making good time to the mountain’s summit.  Several members of the group broke personal altitude records.  We spent 20 cool and cloudy minutes on top before returning to the cable car.  With a rather late arrival back in town, it was decided that a late lunch would set everyone up nicely for a leisurely evening and some much needed rest.  We are all looking forward to leaving the city and seeing more of this beautiful country tomorrow.

RMI Guide Adam Knoff 

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Ecuador Cotopaxi Express: Casey Grom & Team Explore Quito

Posted by: Casey Grom | December 11, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador

Hello Everyone,

It was a beautiful first day here in Quito, Ecuador. We started the day off with a visit to the equator which is just a few miles north of our hotel.  The short drive through the busy streets of Quito gave us a brief glimpse of life here in this city of over 2 million people. We spent an hour at an outdoor cultural museum that is set up to show the importance and effects the equator has on the planet. Most of us were amazed to see the Coriolis effect in both hemispheres. It is true that water spins in different directions while being drained.

After our visit up north we headed back to Quito where we took in the sights of the colonial old town. There was much to see in this city that was founded in 1530. Our stops included the monastery of San Francisco (built in 1535), the church of La Compania, which has gold painted throughout the interior, and a quick stop at the Virgin de Quito. It’s also called the La Panicia and it sits atop a small hill and overlooks this beautiful city. We snuck in a very appropriate siesta after yesterday’s long flights and wrapped up the day with a wonderful dinner full of good conversations.

Everyone is doing great and looking forward to stretching our legs tomorrow.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

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Ecuador’s Volcanoes: Cotopaxi Summit!

Posted by: Casey Grom | December 08, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 19,348'

Hello everybody back home this is Casey Grom checking for RMI’s Ecuador Expedition.

We are currently on the summit of Cotopaxi.  We had a great day, pretty tough conditions, lots of new and loose snow.  We made it up in just over 6 hours.  Everybody did great.  We are hanging in some sunshine right now taking a few photos and are going to be heading down in just a little bit.

We will check in again as soon as we get back safely to the hut.  We’ll be heading back to Quito tonight.

RMI Guide Casey Grom

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Ecuador Volcanoes: Team Checks in from High Hut on Cotapaxi

Posted by: Casey Grom | December 07, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 16,000

This is Craig Herd reporting in for the RMI Team on the Cotopaxi Climb. We are now at the hut on Cotopaxi at 16,000 feet.  The weather is a balmy & cold.  We just had an enjoyable dinner.
 
The climbing team has come together very well.  We’re looking forward to an early morning start for our summit attempt.  Everyone is in good spirits. We look forward to reporting in tomorrow.

Thank you.

RMI Team Member Craig Heard

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Ecuador’s Volcanoes: Enjoying a Rest Day

Posted by: Jason Thompson | December 07, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador

Hey, this is the Ecuador trip checking in. 

Today we had a much deserved and much needed rest day here at the Chilcabamba Lodge.  We woke up this morning to glorious views of Cotopaxi and a magnificent breakfast.  We ate wonderful food and drank lots of coffee.  We spent the majority of the day resting, relaxing and drying out and organizing our gear for tomorrow’s departure to Cotopaxi.  This afternoon we enjoyed more coffee and continued reviews of Cotopaxi and finished the day off with a wonderful dinner this evening.

Everyone is doing well here in Ecuador and we are all looking forward to tomorrow’s adventures. We’ll check in later.

RMI Guide Jason Thompson

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Ecuador’s Volcanoes: Cayambe Summit!

Posted by: Jason Thompson, Casey Grom | December 05, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 18,997'

RMI Guides Casey Grom & Jason Thompson checked in this morning with the news that their team reached the summit of Cayambe (18,997’) at 7:10 a.m. local time today.  The team left the hut on Cayambe (15,330’) just after midnight with a low cloud layer above keeping them warm to about 17,000’.  The team climbed well with some steep and challenging conditions on the final approach to the summit.  They reported mostly cloudy skies and knee to ankle deep snow in places.  Unfortunately, the cloud cover obscured their views from the summit but they did take some time to celebrate their accomplishment before starting the descent.  Everyone is back to the Cayambe hut.  They are planning to pack up, load the vehicles and make their way down the mountain.  They will stop for lunch and then continue to Chilcabamba Eco Lodge where they will stay and rest the next two nights.

Congratulations to the team!

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Ecuador’s Volcanoes: Team Readies for Cayambe Summit Attempt

Posted by: Casey Grom | December 05, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 15,300'

Hello everybody back home. This is Casey Grom checking in from the Ecuador’s Volcanoes Expedition. Just letting you know that everyone doing quite well up here at the hut at Cayambe. We woke up to a beautifully clear morning and were able to see most of the volcano through the valley here. We had a nice leisurely breakfast then we hiked for just over an hour to access the lower part of the glacier here on Cayambe. We reviewed some of our climbing techniques that we will need for tomorrow’s upcoming summit climb. Everyone seems to be doing great. We made it back to the hut. We just finished up a nice lunch. Folks are taking some naps. Looking forward to an early dinner tonight and getting a most likely midnight start for our summit time tomorrow.  We will do our best to call from the summit to let everybody know how things are going. At very least we will call tomorrow when we return from our hopefully successful climb. Once again, everyone is doing great and we will check in tomorrow. Thanks.

RMI Guide Casey Grom

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