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- Feb 15, 2020
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I'm not even sure where to start with this one... I've been back in the States for almost two weeks and I still haven't fully processed it. For a few years I've been working on improving my technical mountain skills and early last year I stumbled across the idea of going to South America to get some high-altitude, semi-technical practice. I floated the idea by my wife, and her response was basically, "We're coming, too, right?" So we got to work planning a six-week trip to Ecuador for the whole family - and I got to training.
Hiring guides isn't really my favorite thing in the world (understatement), but it would be a key part of this trip. Not cheap, but they were also super helpful in arranging transportation/accommodation for my wife and kids so I could see them throughout the two weeks of climbing. Guides are required to climb in Ecuador - though you can hire "day of" guides if you're comfortable with handling the pre-/post-trip logistics. That's probably what I'd do if I were to return, but only because of the knowledge/experience I gained on this trip.
The whole trip was incredible - from living in Quito to climbing the volcanoes to visiting the Galapagos (and a ton in between), but for the sake of brevity I'll stick mostly to the mountaineering. (I put this together in random chunks over the course of a few days - forgive the lack of consistency.
)
Arrival in Quito & Day Trip to Cotopaxi
I arrived about a week early for the trip - I work remotely, so I was working a bit this week, but my family and I were able to get some pretty fun day trips in and help my acclimatization at the same time. Quito itself is already at almost 10k' - we rode the TelefericQo (cable car) up to 13k' feet on our second day in the city and took a day trip out to Cotopaxi a few days later. My youngest and I hiked up to the climbers' refugio at just under 16k'. I was originally planning to climb Cotopaxi, but we subbed in Antisana due to the fact that Cotopaxi is in the midst of an active eruption - made for some really cool photos.
On a clear day you can see a number of glacier-capped volcanoes from the slopes of Rucu Pichincha at the top of the cable car. No such luck on our visit, but fantastic views nonetheless.
Our first look at Cotopaxi - we would thankfully only get better views from here.
The wild (feral) horses of Cotopaxi National Park.
Cotopaxi coming into clearer view - the grey near the summit is all ash on top of the glacier.
One of my favorite pictures ever... and you can see the source of all that ash!
I was pretty surprised my youngest made it up the refugio - I was waiting for something to turn him around, but no amount of freezing rain or falling ash did the trick. (Masks were pretty much mandatory with the ash/dust - I forgot my buff, but thankfully I still had a COVID leftover in my backpack.)
It was bittersweet to leave my family after such a fantastic day at Cotopaxi, but it was time to start climbing.
Acclimatization
Being from Colorado and having a week in Quito under my belt, I was ahead of the game in regards to acclimatization - but the altitudes I'd be trying for on this trip were completely foreign to me. A couple more acclimatization hikes would certainly help. First up would be Rucu Pichincha (15,413') - I'd already visited the lower slopes via the "TelefericQo" cable cars and used the same cable cars to get a head start on this one. It's a pretty straightforward hike and - despite cloudy skies - the weather was excellent.
The summit didn't want to give away any secrets - didn't get a good look until we were right on top of it.
Hiking up into the clouds.
Next up would be Fuya Fuya (13,986') - a long dormant volcano. (Pichincha is still considered active - its "new" summit Guagua Pichincha covered Quito in ash as recently as 1999.) Fuya Fuya was much more secluded - a quick, beautiful hike.
I was learning quickly that summits in Ecuador like to hide.
View from the summit. I love the lake filling the ancient caldera.
Cayambe (Summit Elevation: 18,996')
This would be my first big test - I'd been training/preparing, but I had no idea what to expect. The nice thing about the Ecuador volcanoes is that they are - relatively - accessible. For this ascent we would sleep at the high mountain refugio the night before - no need for tents and even a kitchen making food! Midnight starts are the norm here, so "sleep" is probably too generous a word.
Fun facts about Cayambe:
The "road" up to Cayambe is referred to as the "worst road in Ecuador"... I think that might be true. We had to walk a few portions - those drivers have nerves of steel.
Test run up to the lower glacier the day before summit day.
The summit peeked out briefly the night before the climb - really got me hyped. (I don't use Nalgenes on backpacking trips, so I took this opportunity to showcase my BCP swag.)
Antisana poked into view for a bit as well - we'll get there soon enough.
Now onto the climb itself... there's only one picture. Snow conditions were great, but weather/visibility... less so. Pretty much whiteout from bottom to top (to bottom). I felt great on this one - though above around 18k' the elevation was definitely noticeable. Despite the low visibility, I was thankful for an opportunity to put my gear and layering strategies through a real test and they came out shining. (Though if I was going to camp instead of a refugio, I'd have wanted to dispense with more layers as I descended - got a little too sweaty at the end.)
Anti-climactic summit photo!
Antisana (18,875')
After the rough weather on Cayambe, Antisana treated us very nicely. Snow conditions, weather, and visibility were all absolutely incredible. Antisana doesn't have the name recognition or "fun facts" of the other Ecuadoran volcanoes (it is the fourth highest in Ecuador), but I did find it to be the summit that impressed the locals most when it was mentioned. It is definitely the most technically challenging of the volcanoes I climbed - it wouldn't have even been possible in conditions like those on Cayambe. The crevasses and ice formations here are just stunning - I felt very privileged to get to witness them in such ideal conditions.
Antisana is actually known for having particularly bad weather due largely to the fact that it's eastern slope drops directly into the Amazon rainforest. In fact, thanks primarily to the large clouds drifting west over the Andes, each year more water from the Amazon Basin ends up in the Pacific than the Atlantic - despite the mind-boggling size of the Amazon River.
Antisana is a much more remote mountain generally - no refugios here. Instead we had a very small base camp with a few small tents and two larger cooking tents. The original plan was to camp for two nights and go on the second, but conditions looked so good on the first night we couldn't pass it up. So on legs just barely recovered from Cayambe, we set out - again at midnight...
Antisana barely peaking out above base camp the afternoon before our climb.
My camera (phone) isn't great in the dark, but an early look at Antisana's large subpeak as we passed by around 5a.
And with a little more sun. Cotopaxi - with a small ash cloud - visible in the distance.
Antisana's shadow hanging out w/ Cotopaxi.
This was a fun climb... the route historically goes around to the left, but a newly opened crevasse dictated a detour.
Looking down to base camp.
And from the summit we could see Cayambe to the north. (Arguably better than we could see it when we were standing on top.)
Video of the clouds flying over the summit.
With the sun at full force, the ice formations on the way down were spectacular. But it also started getting pretty warm - long way back to base camp.
Yours truly feeling pretty good on the way down.
Looking back.
And now on to the big one...
Chimborazo (20,549')
This would by my final climb of the trip - and we saved the biggest for last. At over 20,500', Chimborazo is higher than any peak in North America (or any peak north of it on the American continents). So far I had felt physically very good on our climbs - I had trained very hard for this, so that was very gratifying - but Chimborazo made me happy for every second of training, because I think I used all of it. I'm not too proud to admit this one wiped me out, but it was an absolutely incredible feeling to stand at the top. (I'm also not too proud to admit that I shed a few tears up there. Happy ones.)
Fun facts about Chimborazo:
One great thing about this one is that my boys came with me! Well, just to the lodge before I headed up to high camp, but it was a joy nonetheless. The Chimborazo Lodge is one of the most unique places I've ever visited in my life. Owned (and operated) by renowned Ecuadoran climber Marco Cruz, the whole place is clearly a labor of love - and might as well be a mountaineering museum itself!
My boys showing off their respective personalities... Chimborazo trying to make an appearance.
View from our room.
And now for the climb.
For this one we stayed at a more traditional "high camp" - again not much sleep was had ahead of our 1a start.
Chimborazo isn't as technical a peak as Antisana, but it makes up for it with a very consistent, seemingly never-ending 40°+ slope.
I guess clouds aren't so bad when they're below you?
Look back at the lower Ventimilla summit from the main Whymper summit.
Just a few more pictures on the way down.
It was an incredible trip. After all the work that went into making it happen, to have it go as well as it did was very fulfilling. I'm not sure many "big mountain" objectives are in my future, but I learned a ton and got to practice a lot of skills that are hard to work on closer to home. The effect of high elevation on the body is pretty humbling: I lost about 20#s in just two weeks of climbing - and I felt like all I did was eat between climbs! Still toying with the idea of Denali in 2025...
After the climbing was through, my family and I still had a couple weeks to enjoy Ecuador (and the fantastic food in Quito). Just an incredible experience all around - capped off by a long-weekend trip to the Galapagos! It's been a dream of mine since I was very young to go see the tortoises - it did not disappoint.
Hiring guides isn't really my favorite thing in the world (understatement), but it would be a key part of this trip. Not cheap, but they were also super helpful in arranging transportation/accommodation for my wife and kids so I could see them throughout the two weeks of climbing. Guides are required to climb in Ecuador - though you can hire "day of" guides if you're comfortable with handling the pre-/post-trip logistics. That's probably what I'd do if I were to return, but only because of the knowledge/experience I gained on this trip.
The whole trip was incredible - from living in Quito to climbing the volcanoes to visiting the Galapagos (and a ton in between), but for the sake of brevity I'll stick mostly to the mountaineering. (I put this together in random chunks over the course of a few days - forgive the lack of consistency.
)Arrival in Quito & Day Trip to Cotopaxi
I arrived about a week early for the trip - I work remotely, so I was working a bit this week, but my family and I were able to get some pretty fun day trips in and help my acclimatization at the same time. Quito itself is already at almost 10k' - we rode the TelefericQo (cable car) up to 13k' feet on our second day in the city and took a day trip out to Cotopaxi a few days later. My youngest and I hiked up to the climbers' refugio at just under 16k'. I was originally planning to climb Cotopaxi, but we subbed in Antisana due to the fact that Cotopaxi is in the midst of an active eruption - made for some really cool photos.
On a clear day you can see a number of glacier-capped volcanoes from the slopes of Rucu Pichincha at the top of the cable car. No such luck on our visit, but fantastic views nonetheless.
Our first look at Cotopaxi - we would thankfully only get better views from here.
The wild (feral) horses of Cotopaxi National Park.
Cotopaxi coming into clearer view - the grey near the summit is all ash on top of the glacier.
One of my favorite pictures ever... and you can see the source of all that ash!
I was pretty surprised my youngest made it up the refugio - I was waiting for something to turn him around, but no amount of freezing rain or falling ash did the trick. (Masks were pretty much mandatory with the ash/dust - I forgot my buff, but thankfully I still had a COVID leftover in my backpack.)
It was bittersweet to leave my family after such a fantastic day at Cotopaxi, but it was time to start climbing.
Acclimatization
Being from Colorado and having a week in Quito under my belt, I was ahead of the game in regards to acclimatization - but the altitudes I'd be trying for on this trip were completely foreign to me. A couple more acclimatization hikes would certainly help. First up would be Rucu Pichincha (15,413') - I'd already visited the lower slopes via the "TelefericQo" cable cars and used the same cable cars to get a head start on this one. It's a pretty straightforward hike and - despite cloudy skies - the weather was excellent.
The summit didn't want to give away any secrets - didn't get a good look until we were right on top of it.
Hiking up into the clouds.
Next up would be Fuya Fuya (13,986') - a long dormant volcano. (Pichincha is still considered active - its "new" summit Guagua Pichincha covered Quito in ash as recently as 1999.) Fuya Fuya was much more secluded - a quick, beautiful hike.
I was learning quickly that summits in Ecuador like to hide.
View from the summit. I love the lake filling the ancient caldera.
Cayambe (Summit Elevation: 18,996')
This would be my first big test - I'd been training/preparing, but I had no idea what to expect. The nice thing about the Ecuador volcanoes is that they are - relatively - accessible. For this ascent we would sleep at the high mountain refugio the night before - no need for tents and even a kitchen making food! Midnight starts are the norm here, so "sleep" is probably too generous a word.
Fun facts about Cayambe:
- It is the third highest mountain in Ecuador.
- The southern slope is the highest point in the world crossed by the equator.
- It is the only point on the equator with snow cover.
The "road" up to Cayambe is referred to as the "worst road in Ecuador"... I think that might be true. We had to walk a few portions - those drivers have nerves of steel.
Test run up to the lower glacier the day before summit day.
The summit peeked out briefly the night before the climb - really got me hyped. (I don't use Nalgenes on backpacking trips, so I took this opportunity to showcase my BCP swag.)
Antisana poked into view for a bit as well - we'll get there soon enough.
Now onto the climb itself... there's only one picture. Snow conditions were great, but weather/visibility... less so. Pretty much whiteout from bottom to top (to bottom). I felt great on this one - though above around 18k' the elevation was definitely noticeable. Despite the low visibility, I was thankful for an opportunity to put my gear and layering strategies through a real test and they came out shining. (Though if I was going to camp instead of a refugio, I'd have wanted to dispense with more layers as I descended - got a little too sweaty at the end.)
Anti-climactic summit photo!
Antisana (18,875')
After the rough weather on Cayambe, Antisana treated us very nicely. Snow conditions, weather, and visibility were all absolutely incredible. Antisana doesn't have the name recognition or "fun facts" of the other Ecuadoran volcanoes (it is the fourth highest in Ecuador), but I did find it to be the summit that impressed the locals most when it was mentioned. It is definitely the most technically challenging of the volcanoes I climbed - it wouldn't have even been possible in conditions like those on Cayambe. The crevasses and ice formations here are just stunning - I felt very privileged to get to witness them in such ideal conditions.
Antisana is actually known for having particularly bad weather due largely to the fact that it's eastern slope drops directly into the Amazon rainforest. In fact, thanks primarily to the large clouds drifting west over the Andes, each year more water from the Amazon Basin ends up in the Pacific than the Atlantic - despite the mind-boggling size of the Amazon River.
Antisana is a much more remote mountain generally - no refugios here. Instead we had a very small base camp with a few small tents and two larger cooking tents. The original plan was to camp for two nights and go on the second, but conditions looked so good on the first night we couldn't pass it up. So on legs just barely recovered from Cayambe, we set out - again at midnight...
Antisana barely peaking out above base camp the afternoon before our climb.
My camera (phone) isn't great in the dark, but an early look at Antisana's large subpeak as we passed by around 5a.
And with a little more sun. Cotopaxi - with a small ash cloud - visible in the distance.
Antisana's shadow hanging out w/ Cotopaxi.
This was a fun climb... the route historically goes around to the left, but a newly opened crevasse dictated a detour.
Looking down to base camp.
And from the summit we could see Cayambe to the north. (Arguably better than we could see it when we were standing on top.
)Video of the clouds flying over the summit.
Yours truly feeling pretty good on the way down.
Looking back.
And now on to the big one...
Chimborazo (20,549')
This would by my final climb of the trip - and we saved the biggest for last. At over 20,500', Chimborazo is higher than any peak in North America (or any peak north of it on the American continents). So far I had felt physically very good on our climbs - I had trained very hard for this, so that was very gratifying - but Chimborazo made me happy for every second of training, because I think I used all of it. I'm not too proud to admit this one wiped me out, but it was an absolutely incredible feeling to stand at the top. (I'm also not too proud to admit that I shed a few tears up there. Happy ones.)
Fun facts about Chimborazo:
- It is the highest mountain in Ecuador.
- It is the closest place on Earth to the Sun - thanks the the equatorial bulge. (And also the furthest from the center of the Earth.)
- Until the late 18th century, Chimborazo was considered the highest mountain on Earth.
One great thing about this one is that my boys came with me! Well, just to the lodge before I headed up to high camp, but it was a joy nonetheless. The Chimborazo Lodge is one of the most unique places I've ever visited in my life. Owned (and operated) by renowned Ecuadoran climber Marco Cruz, the whole place is clearly a labor of love - and might as well be a mountaineering museum itself!
My boys showing off their respective personalities... Chimborazo trying to make an appearance.
View from our room.
And now for the climb.
For this one we stayed at a more traditional "high camp" - again not much sleep was had ahead of our 1a start.
Chimborazo isn't as technical a peak as Antisana, but it makes up for it with a very consistent, seemingly never-ending 40°+ slope.
I guess clouds aren't so bad when they're below you?
Look back at the lower Ventimilla summit from the main Whymper summit.
Just a few more pictures on the way down.
It was an incredible trip. After all the work that went into making it happen, to have it go as well as it did was very fulfilling. I'm not sure many "big mountain" objectives are in my future, but I learned a ton and got to practice a lot of skills that are hard to work on closer to home. The effect of high elevation on the body is pretty humbling: I lost about 20#s in just two weeks of climbing - and I felt like all I did was eat between climbs! Still toying with the idea of Denali in 2025...
After the climbing was through, my family and I still had a couple weeks to enjoy Ecuador (and the fantastic food in Quito). Just an incredible experience all around - capped off by a long-weekend trip to the Galapagos! It's been a dream of mine since I was very young to go see the tortoises - it did not disappoint.
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