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Ecuador Seminar: Go With the Flow

Posted by: Adam Knoff, Casey Grom | January 15, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador

Yesterday we drove five hours south of Quito to Ecuador‘s highest mountain, Chimborazo.  News from other local guides provided mixed information.  We heard there was a bit of new snow on the route which contrary to popular belief actually makes the route safer.  What we found was nothing of the sort. For many years the north side of Chimborazo has been melting making rockfall an increasing concern.  Having a bad gut feeling I could not ignore, I spoke with the other guides and we decided climbing up with ten other climbers ahead of us was too risky on a route with substantial rock fall hazard.  During the night two team members began having diarrhea and a guide threw up. I took this as a sign and began to reevaluate the situation.  Over breakfast the guides laid out an alternative mountain that we felt would have a much better chance of success given the teams health and über challenging route on Chimborazo.  A discussion was held and a difficult but good decision was made to abandon Chimborazo and go to Illiniza Sur.  This will be a more technically challenging but safer and shorter climb.  We are all a bit bummed to not be giving our main objective a shot but also psyched we are all still together.  We leave the hostel tonight at eleven and will send word of the climb tomorrow.  Stay tuned.   

RMI Guide Adam Knoff

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Ecuador Volcanoes: Nugent & Team Summit Cayambe!

Posted by: Billy Nugent, Katie Bono | January 14, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 18,997'

Our preparations for high altitude complete, the team awoke a few minutes after midnight on Monday morning for our summit bid on Cayambe.  The sky was cloudy, but calm- a hopeful sign given the hail and rain the afternoon prior.  The first hour of climbing found us negotiating a long rocky stretch in big mountain boots. We transitioned to snowy slopes and the group moved steadily uphill in high spirits as the clouds gave way to a clear and starry night.  At a break at ~17k, we caught the sunrise, as well as a glimpse of three climbers high up on the mountain. Several of us were amazed at the steepness of the slope they were ascending, only to discover shortly thereafter that that would be our route, as well!  However, our group was more than up to the task, and everyone summitted after 7.5 hours en route. The weather on top was flawless(!), so we lounged around and took hero shots for an hour before heading down.  The steep section was just as exciting on the descent, but the remainder of the route was easily accomplished by our crew. 

After arriving at the refugio, we quickly packed up our gear and hightailed it down the mountain to get to some food! Unfortunately, hightailing it only works so well when you have 36k of rough road and 6000’ to descend!  After eating, everyone was looking forward to seeing our lodging at Chilcabama.  However, the travel gods felt differently, and the expected transit time stretched out longer and longer, as first rain (on our duffels on top of the van), then traffic, the construction, and finally dark, unmarked roads had their way with us.  Finally, we arrived to Chilcabama, where hot showers, freshly-made soup, and fires in our in-room fireplaces awaited us. It was the perfect end to a very long day.

Pictures to come pending wifi access!

RMI Guides Billy Nugent, Katie Bono and Team

On The Map

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Ecuador Seminar: Team Readies for Chimborazo Summit Bid

Posted by: Casey Grom, Adam Knoff | January 14, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 16,400'

Hello everyone.

The team has traveled south and we have arrived at our last climbing objective, Chimborazo. It took us about five hours to drive here from Quito. This is the biggest mountain here in Ecuador and it stands proud at 20,700’.

We have currently just downed our dinner and are getting ready for bed. Everyone is doing well and ready to climb so we can return home to our loved ones. I’m keeping it short as we will be getting up early for this one.

We’ll update tomorrow.

RMI Guides Casey Grom, Adam Knoff and crew  

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Ecuador Seminar: Team Celebrates in Quito

Posted by: Adam Knoff, Casey Grom | January 14, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador

Domingo.  This is the Spanish equivalent to Sunday.  And as we all know, on the seventh day of God’s exhausting work week he rested.  Granted he did create all living things, the land and sea as well as the heavens so deservingly so he earned the right to sit on the couch and mourn a Green Bay packers loss.  Our team simply climbed a 19,000 foot mountain which God would dismiss as child’s play but we are mere mortals.  Regardless, Sunday greeted our freshly washed group at La Cienega with beautiful sunshine and happy humming birds.  After breakfast we loaded the van and rolled back to Quito to celebrate Ginger and Albert’s time with us.  By mid afternoon the team had sniffed out the most American sports bar this side of the amazon and watched what us gringos consider “real” football.  Jaime keeps calling it hand ball and for some reason I can’t find a witty comeback.  All I can say is God is a Green Bay packer fan.  After football we rested some more and then headed out for our fair well dinner.  We have all passed this one Mexican restaurant with a short mariachi man standing on the corner blowing a toy trumpet trying to persuade any hungry looking gringo into his place.  Because I seem to promise this funny little guy we will come in next time, I figured it would be bad karma to pass him up again.  So Mexican it was.  Sadly they can’t serve beer after 4pm on Sundays because too many people were getting sloshed after church and crashing their cars, so I had to sooth my jalapeño burns with red wine.  The food turned out to be great so the team went back to the hotel content.  We now head south to Chimborazo.  Albert and Ginger, we will miss you.  Wish us luck. 

RMI Guides Adam Knoff & Casey Grom

On The Map

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Ecuador’s Volcanoes: Nugent & Team Ready to Climb Cayambe

Posted by: Billy Nugent, Katie Bono | January 13, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 15,300'

After a difficult night of sleep, we woke to mostly clear skies and enjoyed our first views of Cayambe up close and most of the other major volcanoes poking out of the clouds in the distance. It was the perfect mood elevator after a rough first night at altitude and very loud bunkmates in the refugio who treated us to a nice and prolonged wake up in the middle of the night. Well, tonight it will be our turn because after today’s training on the glacier we are prepared to take a crack at summiting Cayambe VERY early tomorrow morning. The team is anxious but ready!  Wish us luck!

RMI Guide Billy Nugent

On The Map

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Ecuador Seminar: Team Summits Cotopaxi

Posted by: Adam Knoff, Casey Grom | January 12, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 19,348'

As the phone call from earlier today said, we had an absolutely phenomenal day climbing Cotopaxi. The team as a whole was saddened by the withdrawal of Ginger from the climb itself but but we were all so impressed by her selfless decision to remain at the hut and not attempt the climb do to a nagging chest infection.  When climbers put their team first over their ego and personal ambitions, it reveals much about their true character.  Ginger we missed you today. After descending from our surreal summit, we quickly packed up at the hut and marched the 15 minutes downhill to the waiting van.  Our amazing local guide, Jaime Avila went home to Quito to prepare for his return to Chimborazo and the rest of us are now resting peacefully at a 400 year old hacienda south of Quito.  I simply can’t remember a nicer day in Ecuador. 

Voicemail Message:  Hello! This is Adam with Casey, Jaime and the crew on top of Cotopaxi!  Ginger stayed behind at the hut this morning as she was not feeling well.  Everyone else is on top on the most beautiful day we could have asked for.  It is almost a fair trade - I would give a day like we had on Cayambe to have a day like this on Cotopaxi.  It is a beautiful, beautiful place to be.  Everyone is feeling great and all is well.  We will check in later from La Cienega.

RMI Guides Adam Knoff & Casey Grom

On The Map

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Ecuador’s Volcanoes: Nugent & Team Visit Otavalo Market

Posted by: Billy Nugent, Katie Bono | January 12, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 15,300'

Finally, we headed for the hills!  A quick breakfast at San Luis and an easy checkout (not necessarily the norm) made for a smooth start to another busy day cruising around Ecuador. Right off the bat we headed for the Otavalo marketplace, world famous for its street food and local handicrafts. It being Saturday, the market frenzy was at a climax and the gang enjoyed a unique opportunity to experience Ecuadorian and more specially Otavalan culture. Not wanting to risk a potential intestinal disruption, we decided to grab lunch at the Cafe de la Vaca on our way over to Cayambe. After hiking for about an hour we arrived at the Refugio high on Cayambe’s flank and settled in. Freshly baked pizzas for dinner were a welcome change to typical mountain food. Everybody is bracing for a rough first night above 15,000’. We’ll check in tomorrow and let you know how the first night went.

All for now,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent

On The Map

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Ecuador Volcanoes: Nugent & Team Have Amazing Views on Cerro Fuya Fuya

Posted by: Billy Nugent, Katie Bono | January 11, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 13,986'

Welcome to another installment of the Ecuador Volcanoes 2013 blog. After an early rise and a quick breakfast the team checked out of the hotel, loaded up the wagons, and headed north out of Quito for another acclimatization hike.  A good bit of driving brought us through the town of Otovalo where we turned off the highway and headed up into the mountains on a cobblestone road. We were climbing towards the crater of Cerro Fuya Fuya; a large, extinct volcano whose crater is filled with an impressive and beautiful lake. We were able to drive into the crater and alongside the like. Starting from the shore, our hike took us up to the summit of the highest point of the surrounding crater. The team moved well and was in great spirits - we all thoroughly enjoyed the spectacular surroundings and wish it didn’t have to end so soon. Alas, we found ourselves piling back into the van headed for a local hacienda to spend the night. The rooms and grounds here at Hacienda San Luis are a bit more rustic than the Hotel Mercure in Quito but are still quite charming. I will say the setting and the views out here in the countryside beat Quito by a landslide. The crew is currently hanging out before dinner and hoping for some hot water so we can take a last shower before heading into the big mountains tomorrow afternoon. 

Until tomorrow,

RMI Guide Billy Nugent

On The Map

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EXPEDITION SKILLS SEMINAR - Ecuador: Ready for Summit bid on Cotopaxi

Posted by: Adam Knoff, Casey Grom | January 11, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador
Elevation: 15,000'

Hi Everyone,

Thanks to the Chilcabamba Eco Lodge the team has been well fed and all are well rested. After a leisurely breakfast the team finished packing for another climb before our ride arrived.  It took as an hour to reach the parking lot at 15,000’. We hiked for about 45 minutes to reach the hut at Cotopaxi which resembles a modern two story house.

All is well and the weather is improving. We will spend the next few hours playing cards, getting some sleep and plan to awake at midnight. If things go well we should arrive on the summit of Cotopaxi near sunrise. We will call from there if the mountain allows us to do so.

Wish us luck!

RMI Guides Casey Grom, Adam Knoff and Crew

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EXPEDITION SKILLS SEMINAR - Ecuador: Day of rest at Chilcabamba

Posted by: Adam Knoff, Casey Grom | January 11, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Ecuador

Hello Everyone,
After a severe spanking on our first climbing objective, expedition skills seminar Ecuador has settled into a well deserved day of rest.  Here at Chilcabamba, a beautiful rustic Eco lodge located ten miles north west of Cotopaxi, Ecuador’s most famous mountain, we have been treated like royalty.  Luckily, whatever crazy wind dance some angry jungle tribe did to irritate the mountain climbers has seemed to run its course. So, by this afternoon many of the dark clouds and biting wind gusts seemed to have subsided which by dinner time treated the team to spectacular views of the mountain we are to attempt next. 

Because Cayambe was such a struggle, we opened today up to doing anything, within reason, each person wanted to do.  Armed with the the Spanish speaking skills of a two year old, I did my best to arrange a car to drive five willing folks to Machachi, the nearest town.  When a pickup arrived with seating enough for four, shoulders were shrugged, the back seat was packed sardine style and twenty minutes later Ginger’s legs were numb.  But so goes travel.  After a few hours in town the team returned and a quality debrief of our Cayambe experience hopefully prepared us better for what’s to come on Cotopaxi.  By 5 p.m. more training ensued and Clark was imitating self arrest in the front yard peppered with llama poop while Albert attempted to mock rescue Ginger out of the imaginary grass crevasse. Who needs a glacier?  This segued perfectly into dinned and eventually into Jan and Gary kicking the guide’s tails in a heated game of cribbage.

The team is growing closer every day and can’t wait to attempt another climb.  Stay tuned.

RMI Guides Adam Knoff & Casey Grom

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