Ecuador High Altitude Expedition: Dispatch 4

Ecuador High Altitude Expedition: November 26- Dec 10, 2010

Lead Guide: Pepe Landazuri
Climbers: Diane Evans, Robert Krueger, Timothy Pattee, John Stephenson, Scott Curtis.

Pepe called Tuesday November 30 at 4:45pm Ecuador (and US Eastern) time with the following update:


"We are now at the Cayambe hut, and we have some news for you.  We have decided to climb tonight because the weather is perfect and the climbing conditions are perfect.  It has been good and cold, so the snow is nicely frozen. 

This team is strong, and they all want to take advantage of these conditions.  So today we practiced skills on the glacier, tonight we had a great dinner (lasagna!!), and now everyone is heading to bed.  We'll only get about 3 hours of sleep.  We're going to get up at 11:00pm and leave at midnight to get the frozen conditions on the whole climb.  We hope to be on top for the sunrise over the Amazon Basin!


Right now it is perfectly clear  We had a gorgeous sunset, and even though it is dark now, we can see the mountain very clearly, and we can even see Antisana and Cotopaxi.  It's really perfect.  And the stars are our like crazy.  You can always see a lot of stars here when it is clear because there is no light from human settlement and because the atmosphere is thin and there is no pollution.  People who haven't seen stars before at high altitude can't believe how many they are. It's eight or ten times as many as most people have ever seen, not twice as many, so it's a very fun experience.  


OK, time for me to go to bed too.  We will try to call you from the summit.  I am going to take both the satellite phone and my cell phone, so I know we will get through.  So we'll call early and then again in the evening.


Talk to you soon!"

Ecuador High Altitude Expedition: Dispatch 3

Ecuador High Altitude Expedition: November 26- Dec 10, 2010

Guide: Pepe Landazuri

Climbers: Diane Evans, Robert Krueger, Timothy Pattee, John Stephenson, Scott Curtis.

Pepe called Monday at 5:55pm Ecuador and Eastern time.

“Hello again!  Yesterday we hiked up to 4700 meters on the Illinizas and everyone did well.  This is a  strong group of hikers. 

After the hiking, we returned to Quito for the night.  It rained during the day, and we got pretty damp, so it was nice to dry out at the hotel.  Today we drove up to Hacienda Guachala below Cayambe and did some more hiking, this time up to the hut at 4600 meters.  We are spending the night at the hacienda – it’s very comfortable! – and tomorrow we will move up to the hut on Cayambe and stay there. 

Today the weather was nice and sunny and the mountain was very clear.  It’s a beautiful mountain, and we all enjoyed the views.  We especially appreciate it after having cloudy weather.

 

It has actually been very fortunate for us that there was stormy weather this past week.  There’s been a lot of new snow in the mountains, and it may be enough to put Chimborazo (above) in really good shape for us.  It has been icy again lately, and it needs this periodic refreshment to make the climb possible.  So the timing could be very good for us.

Tomorrow we will go back to the Cayambe hut and then take a hike up to about 4900 meters.  That should be good for pushing the acclimatization just a little more.  In the afternoon we will review some climbing and glacier travel technique at the hut. 

OK – we’ll call from the hut tomorrow and let you know how we are doing.”

Ecuador High Altitude Expedition: Dispatch 2

Ecuador High Altitude Expedition: November 26- Dec 10, 2010

Guide: Pepe Landazuri

Climbers: Diane Evans, Robert Krueger, Timothy Pattee, John Stephenson, Scott Curtis.

Pepe called Sunday at 4:45pm Eastern and Ecuador time.

Pepe left a message but it is was very poor reception and the sound was distorted.   It sounded like the team did their hike and that they were returning to Quito for the night.

Ecuador High Altitude Expedition: Dispatch 1

Ecuador High Altitude Expedition: November 26- Dec 10, 2010

Lead Guide: Pepe Landazuri

Climbers: Diane Evans, Robert Krueger, Timothy Pattee, John Stephenson, Scott Curtis.

Pepe called on Saturday at 7:20 PST with the following news: 

"Hi, Good Evening! This is Pepe calling from Ecuador. This is the first report for the new climbing season here in the Northern Andes. On this expedition we will try to climb Cayambe, Cotopaxi, and Chimborazo after doing some touring in the countryside and a series of acclimatization hikes.

After breakfast together at the hotel, we drove from Quito to go to the local market at Otavalo. Saturday is the big market day and people come to it from all over the region.  After exploring the market we head to Quicocha Lake where we had lunch.  It's a gorgeous volcanic lake.  Good food, good view!

Right now we are a small town Achopi at the base of the Illinizas (Illiniza Sur on the left in this photo and Iliniza Sur to the right), and tomorrow we will hike to 4,300 meters for acclimatization.  We changed our planned itinerary because on Sunday there is a national census, and everyone is supposed to stay in pone place from 7:00am to 5:00pm.  We figured if we are in the country, no census workers can tell us to go back to the hotel!  

So – we are all doing well and looking forward to some good hiking!  We'll call tomorrow with an update.  By for now."