Last night we enjoyed a delicious fresh, local trout dinner—served at the 16,000’ Cotopaxi Climbers’ Hut!...and then we went to bed early, in preparation for an alpine start wake-up for our summit bid on Cotopaxi. I woke before midnight to check the weather. It wasn’t perfect—we were in thick clouds, but there wasn’t any wind. We got the ball rolling at midnight, coffee-ed up and got ready to climb. As we prepared the weather kept fluctuating: a little snow here, a little wind there, clouds that we could see the moon through… At just after one a.m. we headed out of the Jose Ribas Refugio on Cotopaxi. Winds increased during our first hour of climbing, which brought us to the glacier where we donned crampons and roped up. The winds continued above, coupled with Viento Blanco (White Wind, ~30 mph wind inside a 100% humidity cloud) that iced up everything—our clothes, our packs, our ice axes, and even our eyes—as we climbed. We persevered through the Viento Blanco as it increased in strength until we conceded to it due to safety; at less than 800 feet from the summit we turned around and headed back to the Climbers’ Hut. Even the descent was challenging; Viento Blanco was relentless, trying to blow us off of our feet, limit our visibility to near zero, and continue to dominate everything it could think its icy teeth into. Arriving safely back at the Climbers’ Hut we were a spectacle, pasted in white ice from head to toe. It’s bittersweet to return from fierce weather unscathed but without a summit. We all know which one is more important. I am confident that had we had decent weather for our summit day 100% of our climbers would have made the top. Everyone performed well on our preparatory climbs, and everyone was acclimatizing to the extreme altitude well. But such is mountain climbing. Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

After a relaxing stay at the hacienda Chilcabamba, we are all packed up and heading for Cotopaxi, the stunning 19,347’ stratovolcano that is our main climbing objective. We will drive a dirt road that winds through Cotopaxi National Park to an altitude above 15,000’. A 45-minute hike will lead to the climbers’ hut, which sits near the toe of the glacier just shy of 16,000’. The goal of today is to arrive at such high altitude accommodations feeling good, resting, and adjusting to the altitude. Tomorrow we will hike to the Glacier and review the climbing techniques we will employ on the climb the following morning. RMI Guide Mike Walter

This morning we checked out of our hotel and left the urban confines of Quito, headed south toward Cotopaxi. Our first stop today was another acclimatization hike, this time to the climbers' hut that sits in the saddle between Illinizas Norte and Sur. Our hike today took us up to ~15,400' where we enjoyed a delicious cup of coffee in the climbers' hut. The weather was pleasant for climbing today, although clouds up high obscured our views of the Illiniza peaks. We're now resting at the rustic and peaceful hacienda Chilcabamba, where we have great views of Cotopaxi as it dances in the clouds. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Sunday, June 24, 2018 - 7:34 PM PT We had a great acclimatization climb today, tackling our first peak of the trip. It was a high altitude mark for many of our climbers, reaching the summit of Rucu Pichincha at ~16,300’. The day started off with a gondola ride where we left the city of Quito and traveled to ~13,500’. From there we continued on a well established trail for an hour or so before it gave way to a steeper single track trail. The climb culminated in a fun rock scramble to the top of the peak. The weather was great: in the morning we had clear views of Cotopaxi before clouds rolled in; the temps stayed perfect as we climbed into the clouds, and the wind up high made it feel very alpine but not too cold. Every climbed very well today, despite only being at altitude for about a day; this bodes well for our upcoming summit attempt on Cotopaxi. Tomorrow morning we will pack up and leave Quito, heading south into the countryside en route to our next acclimatization hike. RMI Guide Mike Walter

Saturday, June 23, 2018 - 5:14 AM PT RMI’s 2018 Cotopaxi Express trip has officially started. All of the team members arrived safely to Quito, Ecuador. We started off the day with a trip to a cultural museum located on the equator, where we were able to straddle the line with one foot in each hemisphere. This was followed by a tour through “Old Town” Quito, visiting Independence Square where the Presidential Palace is located, as well as touring a historic church (Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus) and seeing some of the old, historic architecture. We also visited “El Panecillo”, which is a small hill where a statue of the Virgen of Quito over looks the city. After a long day of site seeing we relaxed with dinner at the well-known Magic Bean Restaurant. Tomorrow we’re off to Rucu Pichincha, a volcano outside of Quito, for our first acclimatization hike. RMI Guide Mike Walter