Ecuador High Altitude Holiday Expedition: Dispatch 5

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 with this great news:

Hello! Good morning. This is Pepe calling from the summit of Cayembe. We are above the clouds enjoying the view. We arrived at 6:30 in the morning!  We left at midnight, so we made great time.  [Antisana to the south of Cayambe poking above the clouds]


[because of poor transmission quality, it was hard to tell if everyone summited; it sounded like everyone did, with one team descending before the others, but the transcriber is not certain]

Ruth wants to get on the phone:

'We just made it to the summit. I almost cried when I made it, but I was laughing hysterically!  It is absolutely beautiful.  We can see all the volcanoes peaking above the clouds that surround us.  I am so happy I made it to the summit.  Really exciting!  We’re really tired and can’t wait to go down now.  Hello to my friends and family.  I miss everybody.  I’m going to come back with lots of pictures and stories. I’m really, really, happy right now.'

John wants to leave a message:

Hello, this is John!  Sending my love to my friends and family.  Think of you ALWAYS.  We’re on the top of Cayambe, and it’s absolutely beautiful. It was a very hard but beautiful climb. We can see Antisana, Cotopaxi, and Chimborazo in the distance.  It's a fantastic day.  Now we’re looking forward to getting down and resting.

This is Pepe again, we’ll call again soon!!!"

[Afternoon clearing]