Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Ecuador High Altitude Holiday Expedition: Dispatch 3










Ecuador High Altitude Expedition: 
Dec 17-31, 2010


Climbers: Tim Turay, Kat Lange, Stuart Lowden, Tamsin Ainscow, Ahmad Baasiri, John Davis, and Ruth Hartmann.

Lead Guide: Pepe Landazuri


Pepe called at 7:40 pm with this update:

"Hello again!  We are calling you from near the base of Cayembe at about 4,500 meters. We got here around mid-day today.  It was cloudy again this morning, but it is improving now quite a lot. cloudy.  We can see the beautiful summit of Cayambe now and a few stars.


Today we went on another walk to get further acclimatized. Everyone is doing marvelously with their acclimatization!


We had lasagna for dinner, and that was pretty darn good if I do say so myself! Right now everyone is resting and digesting.


4 Day Cayambe ProgramTomorrow we’ll spend the day on the glacier.  We'll go over snow and ice climbing skills, glacier travel skills, and crevasse rescue. Since we have multiple guides for this training, we will divide up based on experience level among the climbers so that we can spend lots of time on the basics with those who need it and for the more advanced climbers, we can work on more advanced skills.


Here are some messages from our climbers:

John: 'I want to say I’m sending my love to Brian and Samatha. We’ll never stop. We went on a hike today and everyone’s doing great.'

Ruth: 'It’s clear and absolutely amazing. Pepe is cooking really good food, too. I have 'inspiration' written in my new underwear.  I got new underwear today. Today it says Climb The Mountain!  We have to drink so much everyday… Everytime I go to the bathroom I feel inspired.  Pepe forgot my pole yesterday so he had to run back up the mountain to get up.  He’s great!'


OK – that's it for now.  We'll call again tomorrow and give you an update.  Bye for now!"

3 comments:

Rob said...

Dear Ruth,
Good to hear that you are "inspired" and enjoying yourself. But a quick question for you: where is the baby John the llama when you're climbing the mountain? Is he with you?
Love Rob

Stephen & Mel said...

Hey Stu & Tamsin! Sounds like a great time so far and beautiful scenery. Keep up the good work and look forward to reading about your climbs. Happy Christmas to all your group!

Katie said...

Hi Tam and Stu, your trip looks well exciting. It is very cold and snowy in England but not as cold and snowy as Ecaudor! Luke is very excited about Christmas. Hope you have a great Christmas Day. Speak soon x x x