Ecuador Seminar: Knoff & Team Train on Cayambe, Ready to Climb
Well, some snoring happened last night. Not light cute, cuddly snoring but the real deal. It was coming directly from the top bunk next to mine so I now have a nice visual of what a grown man looks like when running a chainsaw with his throat. Add to that the fun fuzzy feelings of our first night at real altitude and I think it is safe to say most of the team did not experience their best night.
By 6 am most of us were beginning to put motion to our already awake bodies which is never easy at this height. With a few throbbing headaches everyone was in some way experiencing a mild hangover. This is not out of the ordinary.
After a beautiful hike around the hut which was blessed with clear and stunning views of our summit, Antisana and Cotopaxi, the aftermath of snoring and altitude began to fade. It is common for this mountain to sock in and get rainy by 1 pm so we all motivated in good style preparing for training session on the glacier 1,200 feet above the hut. By 8:15 we were on the move enjoying beautiful weather and vistas. One hour later we were putting on harnesses, crampons and helmets at 16,000 feet.
It is clear everyone on this team has climbed in the past because going through self arrest, rope travel and cramponing on steep ice was akin to getting back on the bike. Hannah, Jaime and I just gave a little shove and off they went, making it all look easy.
Like clockwork the rain came in at 12:30 and we descended back to the rough accommodations of soup, cheese and crackers and hot tea. I can certainly think of worse places to be. After snacks we rested for a couple hours and then had dinner at 5 pm.
As I finish this entry, the moon has begun shining through our window, the team is tucked away in bed and the Super Bowl just kicked off. Our alarms go off at 11 pm tonight giving us a midnight departure on our first big mountain summit attempt. Cayambe is 5 feet short of 19,000 feet so we have a big day ahead of us.
We will give the report tomorrow after the climb. Enjoy super bowl Sunday!
