Successful Climbing in Ecuador’s Expeditions and Schools

The Moun­tain Mad­ness 9‑Day Cotopaxi trip has come to an end and our climbers are back home recov­er­ing from a chal­leng­ing but reward­ing trip. After sum­mits on Guagua Pich­in­cha and Illiniza Norte, the team head­ed for the 19,348-foot Cotopaxi.

The team split up into two groups, with Joshua, John and Ter­ry in one and Joe and Este­ban in the oth­er. The team left the hut at mid­night for the sum­mit push. John, Ter­ry and Joshua reached 18,400 feet at the Yanacha Face and decid­ed to turn around due to the heavy snow. Joe and Este­ban con­tin­ued on up and reached the sum­mit at 6:30 a.m! Con­grat­u­la­tions to both of them!

The team met back down in the hut for snacks and drinks before head­ing back to Rumilo­ma for a cel­e­bra­tion dinner. 

“Joshua did a phe­nom­e­nal job of putting every­thing togeth­er. Of course he did a high­ly skilled job of keep­ing us safe and max­i­miz­ing our chances of suc­cess on the moun­tain. He was also a great trav­el­ing com­pan­ion. His knowl­edge of Ecuador and South Amer­i­ca was impressive.” 

~ Ter­ry T.

(pho­to from pre­vi­ous expedition)

Cotopaxi. Giuseppe Ruffi­no photo

The late Jan­u­ary Ecuador Glac­i­er Moun­taineer­ing School is also under­way, with a suc­cess­ful climb of Guagua Pich­in­cha under their belts already. The team of 5 stu­dents met Sebas­t­ian Car­ras­co in Quito on Sun­day and have already knocked out two acclima­ti­za­tion hikes to 15,670 feet and 16,000 feet. Today the team will start their glac­i­er moun­taineer­ing school and begin their train­ing to pre­pare them for a sum­mit of Cayambe on Tues­day! Wish them luck!

(pho­to from pre­vi­ous school)

Acclima­ti­za­tion hike out­side of Quito. Tino Vil­lanue­va photo