Entries from Ecuador
Posted by: Billy Nugent
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
We woke not so early today (this mountaineering gig is rough) had a nice breakfast from the kind folks at Casa Sol and jumped in the bus for the famous Otavalo open air market. We spent a few hours cruising the stalls with food, jewelry, meats, produce, grains, spices, and of course handicrafts for sale. There's even a livestock market which is quite a sight (and smell). Clark and Garrett wanted to go looking for a live monkey to bring home but there was no such luck. I wonder what kind of papers a monkey needs to come back to the states. Anyway, we skipped Otavalo and finally headed for Cayambe where we are settling in up at the hut over 15,000'. The air is thin but everyone's doing great so far. I'll let y'all know how that notorious first night at really high altitude goes...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
After one last night in Babylon (Quito) the gang packed up and hit the road for what will become our journey to Cayambe. We passed through several small towns on our way to the day's acclimatization hike on Cerro Fuya Fuya. A small hand-cobbled country road led us up into a deep caldera filled with a beautiful lake. From there we began our march upward through tall grass meadows towards Fuya Fuya's summit on the rim of the crater. A short couple hours of hiking and scrambling brought us to el cumbre at just above 4,100 m. Unfortunately, the views weren't quite as spectacular as our jaunt on Pichincha because of clouds, but they'd occasionally part and give us glimpses of the green slopes and the lake below. After a quick descent we hustled back to the bus and headed back towards Otavalo where we posted up for the night at the beautiful Casa Sol guest house. We're enjoying a last night in a real bed before heading for the big hill tomorrow.
Ciao...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
Ecuador Adventure - Day 2:
Today the gang got their first taste of real altitude with an acclimatization hike and scramble on slopes just above the western edge of the city. After a quick breakfast we hopped a few taxis over to the Teleférico, Spanish for gondola, and rode it up high out of town. Blue skies and clear views were an uncommon treat for us and the top of the gondola revealed Cayambe in the north, Antisana to the east, and Cotopaxi and Chimborazo to the south. From there we started moving up the slopes of Pichincha, the volcano closest to Quito. We even had a chance to spy a couple of condors gliding below us and then riding thermals high, high above. These are rarely seen birds with wingspans as large as 3 m, quite the treat. Anyway, after a few hours of hiking and a little scrambling here and there we found ourselves on the summit enjoying 360-degree views of Quito and the caldera. The mountain we climbed was called Rucu Pichincha meaning the old part of the volcano, and we were catching views of the Guagua Pichincha, the baby volcano. We snapped some photos from the peak (4,697 m) and then made short work of the descent. Our acclimatization hikes will continue tomorrow but we are gonna hit the road and leave Quito headed north.
More tomorrow!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Hi Charlie! The view is breathtaking, so glad I get to see it and follow along with your trip. Thinking of you :)
Posted by: Anna on 2/14/2014 at 9:38 pm
Hi everybody back home... We just finished our first official day on our Cotopaxi and Cayambe program. The team met up this morning for a quick breakfast at our hotel in the Mariscal district of Quito before setting out on a tour of the city. At over 9,000', Quito is the second highest capital city in the world behind only La Paz in Bolivia. Makes for great acclimatizing while still hanging out in town! We visited a bunch colonial churches, homes, and cathedrals in the colonial district of Quito known as the Old Town. Actually a UNESCO world heritage site, Quito's Old Town has many buildings dating back to the early 1500's. In the afternoon we lunched at a typical fritada restaurant and then headed out towards the geographical equator. At the "Mitad del Mundo" there's a small museum where a local guide showed us experiments with Coriolis forces on and near the actual equator in addition to some taxidermy of exotic species from the Amazon. Almost a tiny natural history museum meets Ripley's Believe It or Not, there were preserved specimens of terrifying spiders, boa constrictors, anacondas, barbed fish that will swim up your urethra (crazy), and a legit human shrunken head! After our city tour and a brief team meeting we capped off the day with the first of many team dinners to come.
Now we're back at the hotel watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom on late night TV. Awesome.
All for now,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
We miss you dad. Have fun on your climb.
Ken, Alex and Sophia.
Posted by: Veronica on 2/14/2014 at 9:20 pm
Cotopaxi summit!
We woke up at 11pm to a breakfast of coffee, tea, oatmeal and bread. We finished our packing in the dark with the rest of the hut's inhabitants before beginning our 9-hour summit bid. We got off to a bit of a stressful start when we realized that someone from a different climbing group had accidentally taken Adam's climbing helmet, but we weren't going to let that get in the way of our climb. (The helmet was returned later in the afternoon, once we returned to the huts after the climb.)
It was windy and snowy as we stepped outside around midnight, and that continued for the first hour during the hike up to the toe of the glacier. But soon after donning our crampons and ice axes, the weather mellowed out and the good luck we've been having with the weather on this trip continued for the rest of our ascent: the clouds cleared, the winds died down, and for the next 5 hours to the summit, the weather could only be described as mild and pleasant. At one point, we could see an active lightening storm beyond the lights of Quito and were grateful that we weren't experiencing the same.
The initial climbing on the glacier was steep, but not too difficult. These moderate angles soon gave way to steeper slopes that had us rest-stepping our way up. The dry snow made traction difficult (even with our crampons), so as the terrain became more exposed, we had to kick hard with our feet to really gain purchase. An exhausting endeavor at 19k feet!
In 6 hours and 15 minutes, we had made it to the top! The group's previous high altitude climbing on Cayambe and Antisana had definitely gotten us into shape for this climb. We moved well and as a team the entire way up! As we pulled on to the summit, the sun was just beginning to rise and we got a quick look into the summit crater. We didn't stay for long, though, since the winds picked up as we snapped our group photo. After 15 minutes up top, we began our descent.
Not only was our group strong on the ascent, but we rocked our descent, too! Despite some rather high winds at times, knocking us around a bit on narrow ridges, we continued to move well and made it back to the hut in just under three hours.
Back at the huts, we packed up our gear and descended to the parking lot, where we met up again with Victor and the magic bus. We were whisked away to La Cienega, a hotel that looks more "castle" than "hacienda", and after taking showers, we met up over dinner and a couple of games of Wits and Wagers, reflecting on our trip as a whole.
Tomorrow we head back to Quito and begin our journey back home. See you soon!
RMI Guide Nick Hunt
Congrats Nick to you and the team!
Posted by: Greg Hunt on 1/20/2014 at 9:34 am
Awesome accomplishment and fantastic photos! Congratulations Shannon and the whole team!
Posted by: Mark on 1/19/2014 at 5:29 pm
This is Adam Knoff from the Ecuador Skills Seminar. I am happy to announce that we have successfully summitted Cotopaxi this morning on a glorious, calm day. People could say it was in great style. I am very proud of the team for their efforts as it took some fortitude to get up on a cold and windy day. The expedition seminar has concluded its climbing on the mountains and we are happy to be tucked in here at La Cienega and drinking cervezas and very comfortable. Everything is fabulous. We will touch base tomorrow. Gracias. Adios.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
RMI Guide Adam Knoff calls in after Cotopaxi summit.
On The Map
The great weather continued today as we left the comforts of the beautiful Chilcabamba Eco Lodge and ventured up to the Jose Ribas Refugio at 16,000’ on Cotopaxi were we are posed to make our third major summit attempt of the trip. Everyone is in great spirits, feeling strong and acclimatized, which is not an easy feat when at 16,000’!
We are waiting for our local, in-house (or should I say in-hut) chef to complete our dinner feast of soup, chicken, crackers, and rice; the wafting smell is oh so enticing right now. This sustenance will get us through until the alarm beckons us to rise and climb.
Tomorrow is our summit day on Cotopaxi. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
On The Map
Congratulations team, great work, you should all be proud. Can’t wait to hear all the details. Love Dad.
Posted by: Nick Boekenoogen on 1/18/2014 at 12:04 pm
Today is a tough one to put into words. Amazingly bitter sweet is the only honest way I can aptly describe the team's fruit basket of emotions after the outcome of today's Antisana summit attempt.
When the alarm again went off at 10:30 pm, this time in a grassy pasture three miles removed from the base of the mountain, I couldn't help but cringe. It was only when I flopped out of the tent that my spirits lifted. It was perfect out! A full moon illuminated Ecuador's most elusive glaciated summit and from what we saw the day before, things looked promising. To lay it out, our climbing team was comprised of four team members and three guides. Two of our team members went back to the states early due to illness and three more decided to forego the climb to focus more on the skills side of this program. Don't forget, we have the highest mountain yet to come.
We ate a small breakfast and did our best to make sure those still sleeping were adequately bothered by the climbers heading off with no sleep. A 30-minute jeep ride brought us to the start of the moraine and 60 minutes later we were putting crampons on to begin heading up the glacier. I had to put moon screen on so not to burn my cheeks, it was that bright.
Six hours of the most beautiful, engaging and aesthetic mountain climbing I've ever done in Ecuador landed us on a nice flat spot just as the sun was rising. The moon was still full and the alpenglow was incredible. The bitter was about to balance the sweet. Five-hundred feet below what we thought was an inevitable successful summit was a crevasse running the entire width of the glacier. Farit asked if we could jump across and I told him we didn't practice that skill yet. He shrugged and said "ok". Our sweet hopes for a proud summit were instantly dashed. So goes the unpredictable nature of mountain climbing.
After returning to camp where the rest of the team was practicing skills, a rapid pack up ensued and it was into the magic bus and off to a beautiful hacienda resting almost on the foothills of Cotopaxi itself. Hot showers, cervesas and clean beds were a welcomed reward to get us psyched for what's to come. Our third and final mountain awaits tomorrow. No matter the outcome, knowing the trip is coming to a close will also be bitter sweet. Shaun and Nichole, we miss you.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Dang!
Best of luck on your next attempt. You guys can do it! Go team Ecuador.
Posted by: Greg Hunt on 1/17/2014 at 10:07 am
It's hard to believe our trip is already half over! We have seen some incredible places and have had the opportunity to climb three peaks so far: one big mountain and a couple of smaller peaks. Along the way, the team has really come together and has definitely gotten in to the "groove" of expedition climbing. It's great to see everyone working together to set up camps, take care of chores, and take care of each other.
Today was a technical skills training day. We slept in until 7 am, then loaded in to a couple of 4x4 vehicles and began an exciting off-road drive to the base of Antisana. An hour or so of hiking brought us to the toe of the glacier, where we donned our crampons and ice axes for the hike to our training area for the day. Today's topics were crevasse rescue, rappelling, and fixed line travel.
After a few quick demonstrations, everyone had time to practice the various skills at a number of different stations. As guides, our job was easy today! Everyone was helping each other master the techniques and all we had to do was stay out of the way and watch the magic happen! It was great to see folks working as a team and to see everyone so eager to learn and help out.
Back at base camp, it's almost 7 pm now and everyone is tucked away in their tents. Half of our team is going to wake up in just a few hours for a summit bid; the other half has opted instead for another day of rest and technical skills practice, giving themselves the best odds on Cotopaxi in a few days.
That's all for now! Wish our summit team well tonight as they head up for the first ever RMI attempt at Antisana!
RMI Guide Nick Hunt
Best of luck, be safe and stay warm. Love Dad.
Posted by: Nick Boekenoogen on 1/16/2014 at 8:30 pm
Good luck everyone. Hope both teams see the top. Take care!
Posted by: Greg Hunt on 1/16/2014 at 6:29 pm
Leaving Papallacta behind today wasn't easy. We only spent a single night there, relaxing our muscles in the natural hot springs, but I'm sure many of us were ready to call it home. Wifi, beds, good food, cozy cabins... But alas, we must move on and continue what we came out here to do. The glistening white slopes of Antisana are calling out to us!
Our day did began with some sad news, however. Two of our climbers made the difficult decision to head home early due to a debilitating illness. We will miss them on the rest of our journey and we hope for a speedy recovery once they get back.
On paper, today's objective was to establish base camp at Antisana. In practice, however, it felt like our objective was to eat as much food as possible! After packing our gear, we ate a hearty breakfast at our hacienda, complete with fresh fruit, cheese, eggs, and bread. We loaded our gear and headed down the road toward Antisana. En route we stopped at a beautiful eco-lodge nestled at the base of a rocky cliff, famous for its native condor population. There, before our breakfast really had a chance to digest, we sat down for a delicious four course lunch. In truth, most of us probably could've stopped eating after the appetizers, but our insistent hostess made sure we finished the full meal. From there, another thirty minutes of driving brought us to the field that we'll call home for the next few days.
We spent the evening setting up camp, practicing various knots, hitches and bends, and (you guessed it!) more eating! Now the night is coming to a close, and everyone is inside their tents, resting up for another full day of training tomorrow.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
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Fatima, This is another great adventure!!!
Posted by: Debbi LaPrevotte on 2/15/2014 at 5:10 pm
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