The Cotopaxi Team is safely off the mountain and checked into the historic La Cienega Hosteria in Lasso, Ecuador. Today has been a mix of excitement and frustration as we finally took our shot at the summit of Cotopaxi, only to be thwarted by the high winds that characterized our stay on the mountain. We awoke at midnight to a slight lull in the wind and began our climb just after one o'clock AM. The snow conditions proved to be tough with a thin ice-skin over unconsolidated 'corn' snow. After reaching just over 18,000 feet I had to make the tough decision to turn the teams around. The wind had increased dramatically, blowing climbers out of the trail and covering all of us in a layer of rime ice. It was maddening to get so close to our goal but in the end the importance of returning safely to our family and friends is, of course, the most important thing. Now we're set to celebrate the end of our trip with a great dinner at La Cienega before making the final leg of our journey tomorrow. We'll check in again when we arrive back in Quito.
RMI Guide - Seth Waterfall
Hi this is Seth checking in from the Jose Ribas Hut on Cotopaxi. All the climbers are safe and sound back at the refuge. We aborted our summit attempt at just over 18,000' today due to high winds. And all the climbers are back down safe. We'll be going to La Cienega Hacienda tonight and have a little good food and a hot shower. We're all anxiously awaiting that. We'll check in then.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Seth Waterfall checks in from the Jose Ribas Hut on Cotopaxi
Hey this is Seth and the Cotopaxi Express team checking in from the Jose Ribas Hut on Cotopaxi. Overnight we had a lot of winds move in with clouds and some snow. Was a tough night for those trying for the summit. During the day today the wind has continued but the clouds are in-and-out and we are hopeful that we get a lull in the wind and we can try to punch it for the summit tonight. We had a nice day of training. Walked up about 45 minutes to over 16,000' at the toe of the glacier and did a bunch of training. Practiced our self-arrest skills and rope work and the team is psyched. I think we are going to try to head out between midnight and 2 a.m. this morning headed for the summit. And we'll call in and let you know.. hopefully we'll call you from the top. Hope all is well back home. Take care.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Seth Waterfall checks in from the Jose Ribas Hut on Cotopaxi
I am confident you all will make it to the top weather permitting! Be safe and stay warm. Myself, I am heading to the beach today for two weeks and will be thinking of you all. Tell President Khan I will see him there. Enjoy the adventure! I know there will be a lifetime of tales to tell!
Posted by: Lyn Calloway on 7/8/2011 at 6:14 am
Darryl - We’re praying to see you at the top tomorrow. Have fun! Love, Dad and Jane
Hey, this is Seth calling from the Cotopaxi Express trip. We are up at the Jose Ribas hut at about 15,700 feet. Today we had a nice breakfast at the Chilcabamba Hacienda and after a relaxing time packing our stuff for the mountain we headed up into mix of sleet, clouds and high winds, We're all safely at the hut. We have to two nights here so hopefully the weather will clear up for us in a couple of days and we’ll get to punch it to the top. All's well here. We're having a great time. The hut is full of people from all over the world. Nothing but fun stuff. We’ll check in tomorrow. We hope everything is well back in the USA.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall checks in from the hut on Cotopaxi.
Glad to know that all of you are doing well, I will pray for good weather so you all can have a good summit day, we are thinking of you. Get home save, we miss you
Hey, this is Seth checking in from our Ecuadorian Hacienda Chilcabamba near Cotopaxi. We had a lovely day on the Illinizas acclimatizing. Today we reached an elevation of just over 15,000 feet. The group is doing great and today after having lunch at the Refugio de New Horizons we descended back to our van and drove over here to the hacienda. We are about to have dinner and as I look out the window of the hacienda dining room I can just see Cotopaxi breaking out of the clouds. We were in mix of rain and hail for a little bit today with cloudy skies throughout the day. Then just as we pulled up to our hacienda we got our first glimpse of the mountain. We are all psyched to get rolling tomorrow and we are going to head up to the Cotopaxi Refugio and we'll be there for two nights.
We will check in again soon.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Good job guys you are doing great I would never be able to climb this moutain like you guys are and you are really brave to sleep out there in the camp with noises and animals! I hope so far you had a good time climbing the moutain I miss you daddy. Keep up the good work and be brave not scard. P.S i read the blog everyday. Enjoy your climbing. I will let you go.
Love, Alexa
Posted by: Alexa McClane on 7/7/2011 at 7:03 am
Looking forward to the details of the adventure. Be safe and enjoy every minute.
Happy 4th of July from Ecuador! We hope that everyone back home is having a fun and safe Independence Day.
Today we took our first acclimatization hike. We started the day with breakfast in the hotel and were then joined by our two local mountain guides Esteban and Robinson. After a short drive to the base of the Quito Teleferico we took the gondola to 13,100 feet. From there we embarked on our hike on the slopes of the Pichincha volcano. The weather was mostly cloudy today but that was actually very nice as it kept us nice and cool for our hike. We hiked up for about 2.5 hours and topped out at almost 15,000 feet! We enjoyed our lunch there along with a great view of Quito. After descending back to the top of Teleferico we had a nice cup of tea and then rode back down to the city.
Everyone is now having a little down time before we meet up for our last dinner in the city. Tomorrow we are going to head up towards the Illiniza peaks and overnight at the Hacienda Chilcabamba.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Greetings from Ecuador. Today was the first official day of our trip and marked the first time that the entire team came together. We had breakfast and a team meeting a the hotel before heading out for a tour of Quito with a local for guide. We began the tour by taking a trip to the Equator where we were able to stand in both the northern and southern hemispheres simultaneously. After that we had an excellent lunch of Ecuadorian food cooked on a Paila or large metal fry pan. Our dessert was a kind of ice-cream that is also made in the Paila. In the afternoon we visited several sites in the colonial part of the city including the Basilica and the President's Palace. The weather today was very pleasant with clear skies in the morning and partly cloudy skies in the afternoon. All in all it was a great start to the trip. Tomorrow we plan to head up to the Pichincha volcano for our first acclimatization hike.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Hello from Quito! This is Seth. I arrived late last night along with several members of the team. The airport was packed full of summer travelers but we managed to get through with all of our bags. We were met by our driver Victor and he whisked us off to the Hotel Mercure in downtown Quito. Today I have been busy shopping for our dinner and breakfast food for the hut on Cotopaxi while the team members that are here are stretching their legs around town. Tonight I'll head back to the airport to pick up our remaining teammates.
I'll check in tomorrow after our tour of Colonial Quito.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Hi, this is Mike Walter it’s 8 a.m. and we are standing on the top of Cotopaxi!
Beautiful day light breeze, great views of Antesana, Cayambe, Chimborazo, the Illinizas and all the mountains in Ecuador.
It's a beautiful day and I’ll give you a shout when we get back down.
See ya!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
RMI Guide Mike Walter checks in from the summit of Cotopaxi!
Hello, this is Mike Walter calling from the Cotopaxi hut on Wednesday afternoon. Everything is awesome up here. We are enjoying some soup this afternoon up here in the hut. The weather looks good, some clouds have rolled in this afternoon but the past few days have been beautiful and we are enjoying beautiful views.
We are getting set for an early dinner and we’ll go to bed early in preparation for our alpine start. So, we will plan to touch base with you tomorrow and will hopefully be calling you from the summit of Cotopaxi if all goes well.
Everyone is doing well and we’ll talk to you soon.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
I am confident you all will make it to the top weather permitting! Be safe and stay warm. Myself, I am heading to the beach today for two weeks and will be thinking of you all. Tell President Khan I will see him there. Enjoy the adventure! I know there will be a lifetime of tales to tell!
Posted by: Lyn Calloway on 7/8/2011 at 6:14 am
Darryl - We’re praying to see you at the top tomorrow. Have fun! Love, Dad and Jane
Posted by: Jane Schimeck on 7/7/2011 at 5:58 pm
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