Entries from Ecuador

Today is the day we finally pack up our chubby duffel bags, steal some chocolate filled croissants from our top notch breakfast buffet and hit the road.   Quito is a beautiful city, home to an incredible history and architecture but it is also home to 3 million people.   Buses here burp massive diesel fumes imitating tiny volcanoes and the horns are not quite a song bird, so after a few days, the country is calling.  
On this note, our team all proved they are a timely bunch being packed and ready by 7:30, so we loaded Victor’s magic bus and headed toward our second acclimatization mountain, Fuya Fuya.   If you strapped a gps on crow and flew it to the mountain it would only fly 85 miles or so but on the ground, that distance took three hours or cover.  Upon arriving in the small town of Otavalo, our bus head upward into the hills on old cobble stone roads, similar to what you would find in Europe.   Halfway to the trailhead we were stopped by a child no older that seven who had a rope tied across the road.  In a fantastic show of entrepreneurship, he engaged those tiny arms, pulled the rope tight and forced the bus to a surprised halt.  Out of pure respect for the hustling toll collector we paid him his asking price and off we went.   
Where the road ends, there is a beautiful crater lake formed by the sinking of the volcano in its last eruption.  We parked, shouldered our light packs and made the two hour hike through interesting native fauna and steep grassy slopes to the summit of this 14,000 foot peak.  Being an adventurous crew, we then traversed west along a skinny ridge to Fuya’s neighbor peak providing some fourth class rock scrambling and enjoyable steep movements.   Unfortunately the clouds decided to join the party and occlude our grand vista of surrounding peaks and the deep blue lake but overall the weather stayed dry and warm.  
An hour long descent brought as back to the bus and another hour, back to town.  Our toll collector did not greet us on the trip down but his encounter certainly provide a laugh for the rest of the evening.   
After a nice lunch we landed at La Casa Sol or the sun house, in English, where we practiced some knots, ate dinner and enjoyed a good nights rest.  Tomorrow we move up to Cayambe where things begin to get a bit colder and more real!  
More to come.   

RMI Guide Adam Knoff

Day Two

It is a rare blessing here in the highlands of Ecuador if we see the snow-capped summits of Cayambe, Cotopaxi and Antisana two days in a row.  Heck, I’d bet my son’s favorite LEGO set on the odds of that happening even once.  But due to abnormally clear skies, warm temps and some cashed in Karma points, we have received that blessing. 

Taking advantage of the good weather, team Ecuador Seminar enjoyed a great breakfast, packed our bags and headed out of Quito to our first “real” mountain, Pichincha Rucu.  Please keep in mind when I say “headed out”, I’m referring to a 15-minute bus ride and when I say “real”, I’m referring to a ho-hum 15,400 foot extinct volcano.  These two realities shine light on another of Ecuador’s overlooked blessings, the ability to go really high really quickly.  Not to mention a cable car which whisked us from 10,000 to 13,000 feet in a matter of minutes, making sure our unacclimatized bodies got the full effect.  

With the surreal summits still scraping the sky far off, we all hit the trail huffing and puffing but enjoying the warm sun and beautiful conditions.  Two and a half hours of steady hiking put us at the summit around 12:30 in the afternoon.  Here the temperatures changed to jackets and light gloves but not unpleasant by any stretch.  After 20 minutes on top, we headed down. 

Just as our team crushed the city tour yesterday, our first mountain was no exception.  Solid performances from every member proved we should be ready, when the time comes, to take on one of the high ones. 

Once back at the hotel everybody was set free to explore, rest, eat a guinea pig or go shopping.  We will reconvene for dinner and prepare for another mountain tomorrow.  

Stay tuned.

RMI Guide Adam Knoff

Day one of our long awaited Ecuadorian adventure has officially begun.  All of the grueling training with unthinkably heavy packs, sweat burned eyes and crippling soreness is finally over and world’s finest mountain climbing team is ready.   It’s been a long time coming, a year at least, for this elite team from Chicago, Minneapolis, San Fransico, Philadelphia and other mountain meccas to unite. 

Today in Quito, Ecuador our team took an incredible tour of this ancient city impressing the locals with powerful, athletic bus riding skills, strong gravitational resistance and uncanny focus.  This is no joke.  Our first stop was 20 miles north of downtown Quito at a mysterious place known as… “The Equator”.   This unique place has exhibits which make water spin in opposite directions twenty feet from the painted red line, make a seemingly simple DUI test almost impossible and miraculously provide magic nails that somehow can balance an egg, the long way, on their tiny heads.  Fortunately, I was able to choose who would be climbing on my rope by each person’s performance and strength.  Those who got an egg diploma, didn’t fall sideways to the south and had the strongest upward pull against our guide’s superhuman strength, passed the test.  

After our interactive visit to the center of the world, we flexed our bus muscles once again and proceeded 25 miles back into the heart of Quito.  The entire ride we were blessed with very rare views of Cayambe, Cotopaxi and Anitsana, three of Ecuadors highest peaks, two of which we are going to climb on this trip.  Thankfully I saw no fear in the eyes of my group indicating nerves of steel and complete readiness.   

After two hours of enjoying grand vistas of the bustling city, visiting beautiful churches and walking the old town streets, the team made it back to the hotel, not even winded, ready for a power nap.  I can’t wait to get on a mountain with them! 

For now, all is well, the group is healthy and excited so we will sign off until tomorrow. 

RMI Guide Adam Knoff

In the midst of a great trip with a wonderful group, one of the hardest parts of a guides job is to make the decision to turn a group around and head back to the hut, knowing some  climbers will continue up and likely summit. 

Last night we woke to a thin cloud and light snow at 15,874’. The group got ready and was optimistic due to the warm air and fresh snow that would make walking the first 1.5 hours on rocky trail easier. However, we had a similar experience on Cayambe that resulted in an electrical storm. 

With over 70 people setting out from the hut to climb we got out mid pack and made our way to the toe of the glacier to put crampons on. During this first stretch the moon was bright, reflecting moonlight off the white snow so headlamps didn’t have to be turned on. 

As we ascended the glacier, the new snow accumulation had increased from 3” at the hut to 1 foot + at 17,800’. As we pulled into our second break the guides had begun chatting about snow stability and while at the break dug 2 snow pits to better assess what we were traveling on top of. The results were a foot of new snow overnight on top of a 2 inch consolidated snow layer that moved with enough energy early on in the test to reconsider climbing higher. There had been a meter of new snow in the last week without much sun or heat to help consolidate the snowpack. 

The terrain above us consisted of larger crevasses and steeper slopes, when combined with new snow avalanche conditions this made for hazards that we could not safely manage. We showed the group a second test and explained our concerns. The guides and climbers are naturally disappointed to have missed another summit and safety has to take precedent. In talking with the Ecuadorean guides, this month has been wetter with more unstable weather patterns then historically seen in December. 

We are currently heading back to Quito for showers, packing and flights later tonight. We’ll wrap up a fun trip in that new friends were made, we saw lots of beautiful scenery and spent time in the mountains. We’ll also look forward to the unfinished summits of Cayambe and Cotopaxi on another trip. Thanks for following along. 

RMI Guide Mike King

Everyone was sad to say goodbye to the Chilcabamba Eco Lodge this morning as we had really enjoyed our stay and were getting used to the comforts of hacienda life, not to mention the friendly, cute puppy that accompanied us nearly everywhere we went. However, Cotopaxi was on display again for us this morning against a clear blue sky to the south, so we packed our things and drove through Cotopaxi National Park to the trailhead as clouds began to build and encircle the mountain. It was a quick 45 minutes of hiking with full packs through thick clouds, but we stayed dry! The hut is luxurious for accommodations at almost 16,000’. It’s decorated with climbing memorabilia, photos of Cotopaxi and other peaks around the world, and they even recently installed a small bouldering wall. After a light lunch, we’re now tucked into our sleeping bags for an afternoon siesta before dinner and listening to waves of hail and sleet outside. It won’t be long before we get up later tonight to make our summit attempt of Cotopaxi. Our hope is to wake to clear skies above, as has been the trend in recent mornings, and work our way to 19,347’ on this beautiful volcano. Everyone is feeling good and fired up to get to some thinner air! We’ll check in tomorrow with an update. Thanks for following along!

RMI Guides Mike King, Jess Matthews and Team

On The Map

We had a restful night here at the Chilcabamba Lodge last night. The Team woke to clear and sunny skies and a spectacular view of Cotopaxi. The Chilcabama Lodge is a rustic hacienda with thatch roofs, that has been given just enough of a facelift to maintain its charm and more then enough creature comforts to enjoy our time here. We set out for what ended up being a long walk to a waterfall that we could not access. However, along the way we enjoyed the beautiful rolling farms, lush vegetation and fun conversation for about four hours. We are all back enjoying some down time and anticipating afternoon rain showers. This group has really bonded well and the trip has flown by. We will refresh a few items for our climb and pack our bags for Cotopaxi this evening before dinner. 

RMI Guide Mike King

We went to bed with rain and clouds and were hopeful when the stars and upper mountain were out at 11pm when we woke up. After a quick bite to eat and coffee we finished packing our gear and headed up the rocky trail to access the glacier. Our first hour was warm and there was some lighting in the distance. With clear skies above we continued towards the Hermosa glacier and slowly were overtaken by clouds, the lighting was now flashing in all directions. The electrical storm was not the violent ground strikes accompanied by thunder that most people would associate with but rather lighting that was spread throughout the clouds. The visibility decreased and we made the decision to descend back to the hut rather then see if the system would move out. After we returned to the hut wet snow began falling and the upper mountain didn’t not give us another window to climb higher.

We are currently down safe and headed for Chilcabamba for the next 2 nights. While we all would have liked to climb Cayambe, the weather window didn’t cooperate. We are all eager for a different outcome on Cotopaxi in 3 nights. 

RMI Guide Mike King & Team

We had a pleasant morning leaving the town of Otavalo with a quick walk to see a large waterfall and then an hour checking out one of the oldest markets in the Andes. The rich colors of locally grown crops and woven textiles were flanked by food vendors, jewelry booths and the occasional used hardware and home goods vendor.

The drive to Cayambe brought us through winding roads with green pastures that climbed up the lower flanks of the volcanic mountains. We met one of our local guides, Jamie, who has worked for RMI on many trips. The 4x4 ride up to the hut was without incident and we arrived to an welcoming hut for a light lunch. The clouds have been hanging low this whole trip and we have got a few views of the glaciers but none of the entire glaciated volcanoes that dominate this area. The Team is currently resting and hanging out after a short hike up to about 15,700’. Tomorrow we sleep in a bit since all we have to do is our climbing school and organize for the climb. Thanks for following along.

RMI Guide Mike King

On The Map

We said goodbye to Quito this morning and made our way north out of the city. Patchwork buildings turned to patchwork farms and lush green at every turn. We eventually made our way up a cobblestone road to start with our day’s objective - an acclimatization hike on Fuya Fuya. Our arrival on the shores of Laguna de Mojanda had everyone excited to get out of the bus and get moving. We hiked for the next couple hours through the tall grass accompanied by our local Ecuadorian guide, Pablo, and found ourselves perched on the eastern summit of Fuya Fuya feeling strong at almost 14,000’. The clouds and rain were kind to us on our ascent as we took in some amazing views of the lake and surrounding hills. The rain finally caught up with us, but only briefly as we made it back to our shuttle only a little damp and headed downhill. We’re now enjoying hacienda life tucked into a eucalyptus grove in the hills above Otavalo. Tomorrow we’ll visit the most famous Indian market in Ecuador to explore and shop, then point our shuttle southeast in the direction of our first big objective. The team is feeling strong and excited to make the switch to climbing mode. We’ll check in again tomorrow from the lower slopes of Cayambe! 

RMI Guides Mike, Jess and Team

On The Map

This is Mike checking in for the Ecuador Team. Apologies for missing yesterday, we just had to much fun getting to know each other and walking around Quito. We went to the equator and watched a bunch of parlor tricks relating to the Middle of the Earth. We also learned about the art of Amazonian head shrinking. We concluded the day walking through the beautiful streets and plazas of Old Town which was built in the mid 1500’s.

This morning we met up with one of our Ecuadorean guide,Pablo, for an acclimatization hike on Rucu Pichincha. We rallied up in taxis to the teleferico (gondola) which takes you to 13,500’. The views of the greater Quito valley were spectacular. From there we hiked to 15,700’ and got some views but we were mostly in the clouds with cool temperatures. The goal today was to stretch the legs and lungs a bit and just get out to see the beautiful Ecuadorean countryside. The trail wandered through grassy slopes and a lot of flowering shrubs.

Everyone is back at the hotel for some rest and packing. We will head out tomorrow for another day hike and travel towards Cayambe for our first climb of the trip. Thanks for following along

RMI Guide Mike King

On The Map