Ecuador May, 2011 - Ilinizas N.

Climbed Ilinizas N. today. This was the third time to summit this peak, but first with good weather. Blue sky and sun. Had amazing views of Cotopaxi and Ilinizas South. It was nice to go above 5000m. Enjoyable day.
Looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.

Ecuador May, 2011 - Second Acclimatization hike complete

Had a good day scrambling up Rumiñaui today. It was actually more of a scramble than I thought by taking the direct South summit route. Weather was ok until a storm rolled in behind us during the descent. completely covered the peak we had just climbed with white.
On to Illinizas N. tomorrow.

Ecuador May, 2011 - First Acclimatization hike complete

Went to Rucu Pinchincha once again for yestarday´s acclimatization hike.
This is the third time I´ve been to the 4696m / 150273 ft. summit. It´s great to get out of the city and enjoy the day on this easy going hike. There is a bit of scrambling toward the summit which adds fun. Total round trip of 5 hrs. Weather was ok, a lot of fog and a bit of rain.

The spot device seems to be working well here. you can view the tracking at:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0oAWHSW9x7nDQjqA7MQI2xn4QqZEJiRqV

Planning to go on another hike tomorrow (Rumiñaui, another just for acclimatizing).
This should keep me right on schedule to climb Illianizas N. on Tuesday.

More Ecuador Climbing May 12, 2011

Plans for Ecuador this May are now in place. This will be the third trip to this great country to enjoy some of the volcano climbing it has to offer. There are 10 mountains in Ecuador above 5000m (16,400'). To date I've climbing 3 of them and plan to try two new ones on this trip. It's an excellent place to sharpen skills and gain some altitude training for the upcoming Cho Oyu trip.

The acclimatization program will be similar to before. Enjoying the high altitude city of Quito, hiking Rucu Pinchincha and climbing Illinizas Norte for the 3rd time.
New challenges include Cayambe and Antisana.
Antisana is said to be one of the most beautiful mountains in Ecuador with amazing views of surrounding volcanoes.
As an alternate Illianizas Sur is still on the list and could be substituted if required.

The Plan:















Cayambe (5790m)
















Antisana (5753m)

Cho Oyu Update - now Aug/Sept. 2011

Well, slight changes. Turns out there may be potential ravel and permit issues brewing in Tibet during the April/May climbing season.

Read more here:
Tibet Travel advisory

So, we have now planned to adjust by re-scheduling for what seems to be a much more solid change of acquiring permits and climbing during the August/September season.

A bit of a downer as the preparation for April was going so well. Regardless the training will continue and I'll be even that much more prepared in the fall.

Attached is the climbing day by day chart which was to be used in April. I'll be updating soon with one for Aug. Hopefully this still allows to summit within 40 days. As usual may fluctuate, but good to have a plan.

I'm scheduled to leave Houston ---> Newark ---> Delhi India ---> Kathmandu on Aug 19. A long trip but at least there is an overnight in Delhi.

Cho Oyu is the sixth highest peak in the world. Said to be a good introduction climbing into the 8000m world. There are only 14 mountains in the world above 8000m.











I'll be spending the next months preparing equipment and training. Feeling really good about the training right now. Will be increasing the intensity. can't wait!
sP

Climbing timeline updated

Updated today 11-Oct-10
Looking toward confirming Cho Oyu for April, 2011
sP

Ecuador 2010 - day 8-9 - Chimborazo

Coming off of a great ascent of Cotopaxi I was still able to squeeze in a trip to Chimborazo. At 6,310 metres (20,702 ft) It's the highest mountain in Ecuador and makes for a challenging climb. Leaving from the Whymper refuge located at 5000m we set out for the summit at 12:00am. Going for the north summit of 6,310m that means an altitude incrase of 1300m in one push. In my opinion at the limit of what one should do at this height. Climbing entirely in the dark we reached the summit in 6 hrs. Almost to the exact moment arriving on the summit the sun was rising. This allowed for amazing views of nearly all of Ecuadors large volcanoes. The weather throught the climb was perfect. Almost no wind, no less than 10 below C, and clear. The climb was great until the descent. Climbing the 1300m was tough enough, but what made it more challenging was the relentless incline. Once on the snow line above the ridge the incline seemed to go forever without any rest areas. The only break was after hitting the South summit you must go down slightly before meeting another steep pitch to the true summit (Whymper). However this wasn´t really easy due to breaking trail in fresh snow. I can realistically say it was the toughest single push I've done. Then going down, using nearly all my energy just to summit I had a tough time returning to the refuge. it took nearly 2.5 hrs. Longer than expected. I haven´t felt exhaustion like that on any previous descent. Regardless it was an amazing expierience to climb a beast of a mountain. Another great gem of Ecuador.
sP









View of Chimborazo. This was after the climb. I'll update later with our route details.










View of the Western face we climbed. If you look closely, centre-right, you can see our tracks (used up and down).










Exhausted on the summit. Cotopaxi seen in the background on the left.









Shadow cast by Chimborazo at sunrise. I had previously seen a picture just like this on Wikipedia. It was incredible to see with my own eyes.