Entries By nick sinapius
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 20,703'
Sunday, January 18, 2026 - 2:17 pm PT
The clouds started to lift last night and by time we were ready to attempt Chimborazo the sky was completely clear for the first time during our adventure.
We woke at 11 p.m. to start our day and it was virtually perfect for a summit attempt; cool temps, no wind, and a sky full of stars.
The route starts with a rocky traverse but quickly changes to a step snow slope. At 18,000+ feet elevation steep slopes really take their toll, but our team was ready for the challenge. Six hours later, just as the sun was rising, we reached the summit. It was quite cold and a little breezy on top so we watched the sun rise, enjoyed our first real views of the many mountains of the Ecuador skyline, and headed down.
Chimborazo was a challenge but everyone on our team met that challenge with smiles.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 17,500'
We left Riobamba late this morning for our approach to high camp on Chimborazo. One of the great things about climbing in Ecuador is that we can drive to nearly 16,000 ft. From there, it was a two‑hour hike to our new dome‑tent home at 17,500 ft on Chimborazo.
The weather is looking good, so we’re heading to bed early in anticipation of an early wake‑up to climb our third—and biggest—volcano of the trip.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Nick Sinapius & Team
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 13,123'
Ecuador continues to deliver beautiful scenery as we travel south of Quito. The long driveway for the hacienda was lined with 100’ tall eucalyptus trees providing a refreshing smell as we drive out this morning. The country side is covered with verdant fields dotted with cows or greenhouses growing red and yellow and pink roses. The roads are lined with vendors selling ice cream and hot snacks and the freshest fruit. And the skyline is dotted by the giant glaciated volcanoes we came here to climb. We’re lucky to enjoy this beautiful country with a group of lovely people.
With a little spare time at our new hotel we enjoyed some more training in the warm sunshine.
Tomorrow we begin our final climb on this trip to Ecuador, the tallest of the Ecuadorian volcanoes: Chimborazo.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes and team
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 17,000'
Sorry for a few missed dispatches, service isn't great on Cotopaxi
We set our alarms for an early wake up this morning and our summit attempt on Cotopaxi. However, when we woke up around 11pm to check the weather we didn’t even need to get out of bed, the noise on the roof of the climbers hut was enough to tell us it was raining. Our team along with around 30 other climbers waited in the hut for the storm to break but it never did.
At around 3am we used a lull in the weather to give it go, but after an hour of climbing uphill through the rain, the rime ice and wind became too much to handle. We descended back to the hut with a high point of around 17,000 ft. Other climbers trickled back into the hut with up to a centimeter of ice built up on their backpacks and similar stories.
We left the Cotopaxi hut this morning and are now at our hotel drying out and prepping to travel to Chimborazo tomorrow. Hopefully we can get some better weather for our last and biggest climb of the trip.
RMI Guide Nick Sinapius and Team
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 16,000'
We all really enjoyed our rest day yesterday in Puembo at our very nice ministry-turned-hotel. After a morning of crevasses rescue training we scattered. Some lounged around the hotel, others went shopping and a few walked to town to see the local sights.
Fully rested, we drove to the trailhead and hiked in the rain to the Cotopaxi hut. Luckily, the hike was short so we didn't get completely soaked. Everyone moved well uphill to the warmth and comfort of the classic high mountain hut.
If the weather improves we will try for the summit of Cotopaxi tomorrow.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 18,997'
Monday, January 12, 2026 - 5:30 pm PT
Our 6th day in Ecuador actually started on day 5, as we “woke up” at 11 pm for an alpine start and our first summit day of the trip. We left the hut at 12:10 am and climbed through clouds until we reached the toe of the glacier at around 16,000 feet. From then on, the clouds steadily cleared leading to great summit weather and incredible views of the sunrise. The entire team reached the summit of Cayambe around 7am, once again setting new high points for many in the group. A highlight of the day was having the hut, mountain, and summit all to ourselves as we were the only group climbing Cayambe today. We’re now back in Quito and looking forward to a well earned rest day before heading to Cotopaxi.
RMI Guide Nick Sinapius
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Hello friends and family from the Summit of Cayambe!
We all made it up and down safely. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
We’re just hours away from attempting our first Ecuador volcano. Today we drove to our high camp, unloaded our gear and then climbed about an hour above our hut to the edge of the glacier. The upper mountain peeked out from the clouds a couple times today but lower clouds blocked the views for most of the afternoon. We double checked our boot and crampon fit and practiced our ice axe technique. We’re looking forward, and a little anxious, for our attempt to summit Cayambe.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Today was a rest and travel day as we made our way from Otavalo to a climbers hut on the lower slopes of Cayambe. On the way we stopped at the Otavalo market to shop for a few last minute essentials and some things we didn’t know we needed. Negotiating prices in Spanish was a challenge and we had varying levels of success, but most of us walked away with what we think was a good deal. The big purchase of the day was a somewhat large painting and the group is now brainstorming ways to get it back to the US intact.
We spent the afternoon reviewing knots and now we’re organizing gear, looking forward to the next couple days and our first climb of the trip.
RMI Guide Nick & Team
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
We have broken free from the city and made our way into the highlands. Today we drove north through the rain to hike around Lake Cuicocha. Fortunately, the last drops of rain fell with our first few steps on the trail, and by the end of the hike we were rewarded with clear, sunny skies. Hopefully, that good weather luck follows us to the big peaks ahead.
We’re becoming fast friends—laughing almost constantly as we trade stories on the trail and around the dinner table.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
