Ecuador High Altitude Expedition #4: Dispatch 1

Ecuador High Altitude Expedition: 

January 7-21, 2011
Climbers: Brett Davis, Steve and Isabel Herstell

Lead Guide: Pepe Landazuri



January 10, 2011
Pepe called at 7:20 am Ecuador and US Eastern time this morning with update:

 "Good morning! This is Pepe calling from Ecuador. I’d like to update you all on the team.   As you probably know, we are working on our acclimatization in anticipation of our high altitude climbs of  Cayambe, Cotopaxi, and Chimborazo on this trip. On Saturday we went to Otovalo market and enjoyed that very much.  There was a lot of activity and, as always, quite a variety of goods to look at.  The 'people watching' was excellent.

On Sunday we climbed up to the summit of Pasachoa [below] as a warm-up. The summit is at 4500 meters, and the group is incredibly fast and fit. We made it there in about 3.5 hours! I’m glad to see them doing so well.

Today is another acclimitaztion hike. We’ll do Gua Gua Pinchincha in the afternoon, which is about 4800 meters. Luckily the weather looks good – it’s going to be very clear.  Saturday was was nice too – we saw Cayembe and Cotopaxi from Otavalo.  I would say we are having excellent luck with the weather so far.  I will call you with more news later, probably tonight."