Wrapping Up Winter In Ecuador — On To Bolivia Climbing Season!

With the con­clu­sion of our last win­ter Ecuador Glac­i­er Moun­taineer­ing School, we are already look­ing for­ward to the next school adven­tures in Bolivia and the fast arriv­ing sum­mer sea­son! And if you missed Ecuador dur­ing the win­ter sea­son, it all starts up again in June with a nine-day Cotopaxi climb.

(all pho­tos from pre­vi­ous expeditions)

Approach­ing the Cotopaxi sum­mit. Moun­tain Mad­ness photo

MM Guide Ossy Freire along with Ale­jan­dro Laz­za­ti took a group of five climbers to Ecuador ear­li­er this month for our clas­sic Glac­i­er Moun­taineer­ing School. The team was strong, dri­ven, and great sports for deal­ing with the unpre­dictable weath­er con­di­tions that often hit this region. The team was shut out of Cayambe due to extreme­ly low vis­i­bil­i­ty and avalanche dan­ger, but they pushed on to Cotopaxi and stuck with it through a very long but suc­cess­ful day to the sum­mit! Con­grat­u­la­tions to every­one! Two climbers, Marc and Jim, con­tin­ued on with Ossy to Illiniza Norte where they were luck­i­ly grant­ed 2 hours of clear skies for some spec­tac­u­lar views and good pho­to ops. They reached the sum­mit at 9:45 a.m. on March 8! 

Marc says of Ossy and his expe­ri­ence: ​“Thanks again for a GREAT adven­ture! Ossy is a remark­able per­son and moun­tain guide, tell him to keep up the good work!”

Crater at the Cotopaxi sum­mit. Oswal­do Freire photo

Thank you to every­one who joined us this sea­son in Ecuador, and we are look­ing for­ward to a great sea­son in Bolivia as well. If the Boli­vian Andes have been on your list of stun­ning moun­tains to vis­it, or if you are look­ing for a great way to pre­pare your­self for oth­er high alti­tude climbs, join us on our Bolivia Moun­tainer­ing School or our Bolivia climb­ing expe­di­tion in the Cordillera Real.

Ascend­ing Pequeño Alpa­mayo in Bolivia. Ian Nichol­son photo