Hannah and I are thrilled to announce to bloglandia that every RMI team member, all 13 of us, summited Cotopaxi this morning around 6:15 am.   I gotta say, this team is batting the perfect game.   Every climber has successfully reached the top of all four mountains without as much as a few blisters.   Granted I taped those blisters up this morning at 12:03 am and I was happy they weren’t mine, but it goes to show that stamina and toughness go a long way up here.   

Potentially assisting in the team’s great success is the unbelievable weather.   I was awe struck at how beautiful Cayambe was but surprised even more at the perfection of today’s weather and route conditions.   Whoever cashed in their karma chips certainly deserves a Pilsner Grande for their investment.   We simply could not be blessed with better luck.  Adding to the beauty this evening was a near full moon which lit up the glacier so brightly we were able to climb without headlamps.    Usually one element, wind, rain, snow, fog or cold is waiting for you at the top.  Today all we had was an intense rotten egg smell from the still active lava tube belching sulfurous gas but other than that nada mucho.   

After a spectacular climb and full blown photo shoot extravaganza, we descended quickly to the hut for homemade pancakes.  Again, this is how mountain climbing should be?   (When do we get cooks again at camp Muir?)

A brief packing session and 600 vertical foot hike down to the bus landed our exhausted carcasses into our assigned seats and off to the Hacienda for a needed shower and big dinner.   I think the average calorie burn on peoples watches indicated between 7 and 9 thousand calories for the day so some papas fritas and lots of meat shouldn’t tighten the belt too much.  

We hope this trend continues tomorrow as we head further south to attempt the grand finale of Chimborazo.   This mountain is notorious for its difficulty so stay tuned.

RMI Guide Adam Knoff