Entries from Ecuador
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
We had a great climb of Iliniza Norte today. Conditions were good, a mix of rock and snow, with a steep scramble to the summit at ~16,500'. The weather was good- at times we were climbing in the clouds, and at others we had good views of other high peaks in Ecuador, including Antisana, Cayambe, and our next objective, Cotopaxi.
On the drive down from the climb today we were treated to two condors soaring above us. It was majestic to see their 10-foot wingspan backdropped against a verdant patchwork of Andean farm country.
We're now headed to the hacienda Chilcabamba, where we will get a chance to shower and rest before heading up to the climbers' hut on Cotopaxi tomorrow.
Everyone is doing great, and we give a big "hola" to everyone back home.
We'll be in touch soon.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Saludos de Ecuador,
Our team hiked to the climbing hut on the Illiniza volcanoes today. The weather treated us well and afforded us great views of Cotopaxi and the Illinizas, north and south. The hike was enjoyable and everyone is feeling great. Right now we're relaxing at the climbers' hut, drinking tea and chewing the fat. Tomorrow morning we'll get an early start and climb the 'normal route' on Illiniza Norte, which has some sections of 3rd class scrambling. Then we will descend the 'scree route' and continue on to our waiting vehicles. I'll check in again tomorrow evening when we're at the hacienda, Chilcabamba.
Hasta manana...
RMI Guide Mike Walter and crew
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
We spent our team’s first full day in Ecuador climbing Rucu Pichincha, an extinct ~15,500 foot volcano just west of Quito. The approach to this climb is via a gondola that took us to ~13,500’, on the flanks of Rucu. Hiking for a couple hours put us up by the summit ridge. The weather was good—cloudy but dry and just cool enough to be comfortable for climbing. A few hundred feet of 3rd class scrambling got us to the summit. Any easy scramble back down and a relaxing hike back to the gondola wrapped up our first acclimatization climb.
After a nice dinner at the Magic Bean restaurant, we all retired to our rooms to rest and pack for the next leg of our trip: climbing Iliniza Norte. Everyone is doing well, and we’ll check back in tomorrow evening.
Billy called at 9:00 a.m. PST, their entire team reached the summit of Cotopaxi this morning. They had good weather and a great climb. Currently they are enroute to Quito looking forward to a hot shower and a celebration dinner. The group will spend their last night in Ecuador tonight at the Hotel Mercure.
Congratulations to James, Casey, Sarah, Mark, Jon, Dawn, Rick, Andy and Billy!
Thanks to Dawn Kim for the photos in this post!
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Well, it's our last night up high here in Ecuador. Today we awoke to relatively clear skies and enjoyed a great breakfast with views of Cotopaxi. After a short hike up to the refugio we've settled in and dined on a great meal of chicken breast burritos with sauteed vegetables. Tomorrow calls for another rugged alpine start (midnight or so), and a long day of climbing. There's lots of new snow so the mountain is especially beautuful. Hopefully conditions and the weather will cooperate and the beast will let us up to the top! Other teams have been summiting so that is good news. I'll check in again from Quito tomorrow evening and let everyone know how it went!
Thanks to Dawn Kim for the photos in this post!
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Greetings everyone from Chilcabamba Eco Lodge! We're enjoying a great rest day after our big day yesterday on Cayambe. From our spot we have an amazing panorama of beautiful green farmland surrounded by tall mountains on all sides. Most notably, a full frontal view of Cotopaxi's impressive north face! Last night we could even see the lights of the refugio on the flank of the volcano. That's going to be home in a couple of nights, and where we'll make our summit attempt from. Anyhow, the team has been spending the day drying out and organizing gear for tomorrow's hike to the refugio. We'll check in tomorrow from the refugio! Billy and the crew!
Shout outs: Greetings, Nick and Cam from dad! Study hard! See you soon after exams. Julie, I love you! James says, "hello to friends and family back home!" Mena, one down one to go! Outta touch with civilization - be home soon! Casey and Sarah say, "we're having a great time, lots of stories, we'll be home soon!" Dawn: "Eating, feeling, and doing great!"
Thanks to Dawn Kim for the photos in this post!
Woo hoo!
Today was a great day for our crew. Despite some rough weather and a windy lenticular cloud we were able to put seven of our ten teammates on the summit of Cayambe! Snow conditions on the ascent were perfect despite the high winds and generally squirrelly weather. The ascent took around eight hours from the refugio to the summit with a brief stay on top and was followed by a three hour descent. After driving for a while we then enjoyed a celebratory lunch at a typical Ecuadorian restaurant. After nearly four hours on the road, our weary team arrived at Chilcabamba, the beautiful Ecuadorian farmhouse that will be our home for the next two nights. A great dinner of local trout and fresh vegetables put a terrific finish on a long but satisfying day.
That's all for now! We will check in tomorrow from Chilcabamba. Much love to all our friends and family back home in the states!
Thanks to Dawn Kim for the photos in this post!
Billy here checking in from the refugio, high on Cayambe. After exploring the amazing open-air market in Otovalo, complete with live meats, fresh produce, and an impressive offering from local artisans, we headed up to spend our first night above 15,000'. We dined on spaghetti a la bolognese with a balsamic viniagrette and crashed after a small nightcap of Cabernet. Ooh yeah, roughing it! And despite a slightly rough night everybody is acclimatizing really well, and also performed well during our mountaineering school this morning and afternoon. Right now we're all chilling back at the refugio gearing up for tonight's summit attempt. A summit talk and an early-to-bed evening will help us cope with our expected 11 pm wake up. If the weather and snowpack allow, the crew should be celebrating on the summit tomorrow morning!
Wish us luck!
Team Fuya Fuya (our elected team name)
Thanks to Dawn Kim for the photos in this post!
Today was another great day for the crew down here in Ecuador. After an early rise and quick breakfast we loaded up our van and headed out on the road from Quito into the countryside. The valleys and mountainsides around Quito are a gorgeous emerald green and the high peaks were all covered in fresh snow. We caught glimpses of our first mountaineering objective Cayambe, as clouds moved in and out. Needless to say the group was excited as we continued past Cayambe to a large volcanic caldera called Fuya Fuya. We spent the late morning and early afternoon summiting one of the twin peaks of Fuya Fuya at around 4,200 m. The views from the summit were spectacular. We looked down on a huge lake filling the crater and were surrounded by many beautiful peaks. After a quick descent the team headed to the Hacienda San Luis for dinner some R&R. Everybody is enjoying the beautiful grounds and rustic rooms (complete with fireplace) here. Tomorow's plans call for a trip to the open air market in Otovalo and then a move up to the climber refugio high on Cayambe!
I'll check in again as soon as I can, we hope everyone at home is doing well too!
Ciao from the Equator!
Thanks to Dawn Kim for the photos in this post!
Hi everybody, it's Billy checking in with another dispatch from Quito, Ecuador. Today's events brought us some of the first exertion of the trip. After a pleasant breakfast the crew geared up and headed out in taxis to the teleferico where we rode a gondola up to 13,600'. From there we began our first acclimitzation hike up on the volcano, Rucu Pichincha. We hiked up through bright green hillsides and skirted some large volcanic cliffs, moving in and out of the clouds, all the while with the sprawl of Quito far below. It was a pretty cool place to get things started with some amazing views when the clouds parted. After stretching our legs and working our lungs a bit we headed back down to Quito in the late afternoon. The day finished with a thorough gear check for the mountaineering to come and a team dinner on our last night here in Quito.
Tomorrow, an early rise and escape from Babylon will take us out to Cerra Fuya Fuya (13,986') for our next training hike. We'll check back as soon as we can!
Thanks to Dawn Kim for the photos in this post!
Previous Page
Next Page
Hey Guys…Hope you are safe and having fun!
Tell my man I LOVE HIM!!!!
-MK
Posted by: MK on 1/26/2011 at 10:06 am
View All Comments