Entries from Ecuador
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
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 15,407'
Thursday, January 8, 2026 - 6:41 pm PT
Our second day in Quito started with a leisurely breakfast followed by a taxi ride to the Teleferico ( gondola ) that took us up to 13,000 feet and the first of our many volcanoes of the trip. We hiked to the top of Rucu Pichincha (15,407 ft.), one of the many peaks of the pichincha volcano that overlooks Quito. Most of the day was spent in the clouds until we reached the summit and they cleared for a view of the city below. This marked a new high point for some members of the group, being higher than any point in the continental United States. Our decent went smooth and most of us escaped with only minor sunburn.
On our way back to the hotel we worked on our Google Translate communication skills and after a brief rest we walked to a local Ecuadorian restaurant for dinner, managing to avoid the worst of the evening rain. Our biggest takeaway from the day was to trust the local taxi driver’s weather forecasts.
RMI Guide Nick Sinapius
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Hello from Ecuador!
We had a beautiful first day on our Ecuador adventure. After introductions and a quick team meeting we set off on a tour of Quito.
Our first stop was at the equator, where it’s hard to walk in a straight line, easy (for some people) to balance an egg on the head of a nail, and water swirls this way and that. Our tour guide explained the physics being all these things correctly enough to meet the approval of Paul, our Astrophysicist. Most of us were just happy to see the water swirl in different directions.
We finished our sight seeing with a walking tour of the historic district and a panoramic view of the city from the base of the Virgin off the Panecillo.
Overall a really strong start with a great group of people.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
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Hello again everyone!
We are finally back in Quito after a successful climb of Cotopaxi!
Today was redemption day for us with the weather. We had incredibly clear skies with moonlight to help illuminate the way. The team hit the trail right at midnight and slowly made our way uphill, and I mean uphill. Seems no one here in Ecuador got the memo that we (North) Americans prefer switchbacks to lessen the steepness and make it easier. Anyway, the team did great and 4 of the 6 climbers were able to stand on top for sunrise this morning. 19,347 feet to be exact. If that sounds familiar it’s because it’s 7 feet higher than Kilimanjaro!
We are all safely back in our hotel freshly showered and catching up on some much needed sleep. It’s been a wonderful adventure and cultural experience here in Ecuador. And I hope the team brings these stories home to share with you all. A huge thank you to our excellent local guide team (Fatima, Gustavo, Ronaldo and Daniel) for keeping us safe, making it fun and enjoyable, and sharing their local knowledge.
As I have done before, I’ve asked all the team members to share just one word that best sums up their trip. So in no particular order here are our words.
Grateful
Nostalgic
Camaraderie
Ellipsis
Inspiring
Alive
Awesome
Educational
Hope you enjoyed following and if any of this sounded enjoyable, come join us for an adventure sometime.
RMI Guides Casey Grom and Jackson Breen and the Cotopaxi conquistadors
