Sherrie's Favorite Ecuador Pictures

After reviewing all the photographs I took while in Ecuador, here is the string of Sherrie's Favorites.

Chimborazo Summitted

We made the summit of Chimborazo early Thursday morning (Feb. 24, 2011). The snow conditions were quite challenging....soft and loose (e.g., taking a step up often resulted in the upward bound foot returning to its original position)....unrelentingly steep (e.g., 35%-45% grade the entire way up the ridge to the top)....and the ice axe was rarely helpful (e.g., constantly plunging deep into the snow up to the hilt) and because of this, the ice axe was a constant cause of loosing one's balance and tipping over). In other words, hard work at 18,000 -20,000 feet.

We awoke at 11:00 p.m. after a less than restful sleep in the Chimborazo Mountain Hut and began the climb around 12:00 Midnight when the sky was perfectly clear with an amazing number of visibly bright stars. Somewhere along the way, however, thunder and lightening developed off in the distance...which was enjoyable to watch, but scary because of the possibility it could move in our direction which would have ended our climb (i.e., the guides were pretty clear about the need to terminate summit attempts in the face of a threatening lightning storm). As the climb progressed, and the snow conditions continued to worsen, the weather on Chimborazo began to deteriorate. While the guides didn't say anything, it was clear they were concerned about the possibility of a lighting storm on the mountain and, as a result, picked up the pace as we neared the top. The combination of poor snow conditions for crampons, the onset of nasty weather, an increase in the climbing pace that was in the center of brutal, and all at 20,000 feet made the effort memorable.

The guides know the average time clients typically take to get to the top of the mountain. Also, for each mountain there is a "turn around time." We told the guides to set a pace for the average time, or a time good enough to beat the "turn around time." This request for moderation was primarily because every client had some version of a cold, except for me....I never came down with the dreaded disease for some reason. Despite this "go up slow" request, when we were recovering at the top, the guides told us we were an hour ahead of the average time. I understood the need for speed on this particular day, but going up slower would have been preferred. In the end, it was a massive day climb that was over by 9:30 in the morning....probably before any of my kids crawled out of bed.

Because of the poor conditions, I did not take a lot of pictures....but above are a few, including a rather ambiguous shot of me on top due to the poor visibility.

Roads in Ecuador

On every climb I have made, there is undoubtedly experiences that have nothing to do with climbing that become memorable.  In Ecuador, I was not prepared for the poor quality of the roads.  There seems to be well established main highways....but when one leaves the main roads, one encounters awkward cobblestone or dirt roads.   Now that the rainy season has begun, these dirt roads often turn to mud.  On our way to Cotopaxi National Park, we had to rescue a four wheel drive vehicle stuck in the mud.  We pulled it out, but could but could not get through ourselves...so we had to turn around on the typical narrow one car road, double back about an hour and find a different route.  Here are pictures from the muddy rescue:

 

Anyway...back to our unsuccessful attempt to summit Antisana.  Here are a few pictures from our scheduled summit day when, eventhough the weather was perfect, the avalanche conditions were too severe for our guides and they decided that it was too dangerous to take "couch potato" climbers onto the mountain:

Here is a picture of Antisana from the summit of Cotopaxi:

Antisana is a gorgeous mountain...they say it is one of the Grand Ladies of the Andes.  But, like all beautiful women...except for one, I was only able to look but could not touch. 

 

At the base of Antisana, we slept in tents because of the remote location of the seldomly climbed mountain.  In order to get to advance base camp we drove in four wheel drive vehicles across grassy/muddy wilderness hillsides...getting stuck in the mud once or twice.  As a reminder to all, just because I climb mountains does not mean I enjoy sleeping in tents.  In fact, as I repeatedly tell Sherrie, I prefer to do my camping in hotel rooms.  Here is a picture of the place we stayed right before leaving for Antisana and the place we stayed after climbing Cotopaxi.  The hot spring pools were right outside our room:

Cotopaxi...Successful Summit

Today, our entire climbing team summitted Cotopaxi (19,347 feet).  Here is a picture of me on top, along with some other pictures of the glacier we had to maneuver through:

It was a tough climb.  Up at 12:00 Midnight.  On the summit at 7:30 a.m.  Spectacular glaciers.  I'm pretty tired...as is everyone.  We are going to need the upcoming rest days to prepare for Chimborazo (20,702 feet). 

Going for Cotopaxi

Finally in a place with Internet access.  We are leaving to climb ou second mountain in about 45 minutes.  Moving up to the HUT, eating, getting some sleep....and then up at 12:00 Midnight and off we go.  Wish us luck.

For those of you with access to our itinary, you may have noticed that we are attempting Cotopaxi one day earlier than scheduled.  The reason is that we failed to summit our first mountain, Antisana.  The first mountain was hammered with a foot of wet snow the day before our summit attempt and the guides determined the avalanche danger was too severe to entertain a summit bid....so we never left our tents at Advanced Base Camp....disappointing.  But because we did not engage in a major climb, we did not need the scheduled rest day. 

 We are optimistic about the weather for the Cotopaxi climb tonight/early tomorrow morning.  I will try and post some pictures from Antisana and Cotopaxi when we return tomorrow.

Wish us luck.

P.S.  we have not had Internet Access or phone reception ever since we left for Antisana.  More later.

Second Acclimation Hike

Today was consumed by a second acclimation hike in an Ecuadorean nature preserve.  Some rain and lots of mud.

Last night and tonight, we stayed at the most famous Spa in Ecuador with hot mineral pools located just outside our rooms.  Like I also say, I like to do my camping in hotel rooms.

Tomorrow we will travel to base camp (13,500 ft.) for our ascent of Antisana (18,891 ft.) on Friday morning (12:00 midnight start). There will be no Internet access until at least Friday, Feb.18 late in the evening.  More then.  Wish us luck....if the weather doesn't get better, we'll need it.  It's been raining hard all evening.

Ecuador: Acclimation Hike

A very wet day.  Climbed the biggest mountain near Quito....Ruco Pichincha (15,413 feet).  It rained almost the entire time....a great test for my new Gortex.  I stayed remarkably dry despite the nasty weather.  Me at the top:

Lots of clouds and lots of mud and low visibility for most of the day.  After the climb, we all piled into large van and drove to an Ecuadorian Spa near the first big mountain we will be climbing.  Tomorrow
will be another acclimation hike.  I didn't take many pictures today because of the rain.

Quito, Ecaudor

Quito, Ecuador (elevation 9,350 feet):

Just finished finished a walking tour of Quito.  Lots of churches and pipe organs.  One of the churches:

About to begin the formal equipment check and the lecture on "Leave No Trace"...another way of saying that we will be carting our own excrrement off the mountains we wll be climbing. 

Packing for Ecuador

There it is...the big yellow bag:

It is old, dirty, and filthy....but it has been up Mt. Kilimanjaro where Porters ran past me on the trail enroute to the next camp with the bag on their heads.  It has been carried by mules to the Aconcagua base camp (Argentina).  It has been dragged up Denali and buried in snow while we went for the top.  It rested comfortably in my hotel room in Russia while we climbed Mt. Elbrus.  It has been climbing in Mexico...supported climbs of Mt. Rainier and Mt. Shasta....and now Ecuador....and it stands out from the rest of the bagged luggage at the aiport.

Training: Feb. 5&6, 2011

Climbed Mt. Baldy again back to back on Saturday and Sunday....this time with 15 pounds of excess water which I dumped at the top on Sat. and carried back down on Sun.  I ran into an attorney from Latham and Watkins who claimed he specialized in soft Intellectual Property matters....a competitor.  With the extra weight I was carrying, he was going a bit fast...so I told him about the training water weight and let him go on ahead.  After about five minutes, I decided to increase my pace...caught and passed him and smoked him to the top.  Competitors provide extra incentive.

On Sunday, I was tired and sore from the day before.  My calves were particularly sensitive, and are the first muscle to blow out when climbing on steep snowy inclines.  I suspect climbing tired and sore is good preparation....but I found it more annoying than inspirational.  No racing others on Sunday, just a quick pace...although two climbers in their early twenties passed me on the way up....I was annoyed....not so much at being past, but because they were in their early twenties.

Week of January 31-February 4, 2011

Took Monday and Tuesday off.

Wednesday:  45 minutes on the StairMaster and lifted weights at the YMCA.
Thursday:  45 minutes on the StairMaster and lifted weights at the YMCA.
Friday:  45 minutes on the Stair Climber.

My Everest down summit suit has arrived....looks at bit like a red gumby:

...and another picture from Mt. Baldy:



Training: Mt. Baldy...January 30, 2011

On Sunday, I did something I have never done before.  I climbed Mt. Baldy for the second consecutive day in the Winter.  I was tired from the climb the day before, but went anyway....once again straight up the bowl and between the rocks.  It turned out to be an interesting event. 

The most memorable occurrance was meeting the oldest guy to summit Mt. Everest.  He was 67 when he succeeded.  He tried again last year at 68 and failed to reach the top.  He plans to be on the mountain again this season at 69. 

The Mt. Baldy climb was a lot colder and humid than the previous day (i.e., a nice wet cold) probably because a storm was coming in....and the wind was blowing about 40-50 mph at the top with lots of ice debris flying around.  I also fell near the top.  It was not a "real" fall.  I was leaning into the wind and tipped over and did a face plant in the snow when the wind suddenly stopped blowing for a few seconds.

As I was pulling my face out of the snow, I was reminded of a climb of Mt. Shasta not too long ago.  The conditions were quite similar, except that the wind was more erratic.  My climbing partner and myself (i.e., two of us out of a party of four somehow managed to summit that day) found ourselves being shoved about involuntarily numerous times as well as falling over more times than I can recall when the wind would suddenly evaporate.   

Another interesting event that day on Mt. Shasta occurred early in the climb when our original group of four was still together.  Our first hint that something was wrong was when we heard other climbers yelling.  We looked up towards the top of the steep Avalanche Gulch route expecting to see rocks falling our way (i.e., rocks are always tumbling down that route on Shasta).  It was pretty horrific to see something large tumbling down towards us, but then realizing its wasn't a rock, but a another climber.  He was alternatively tumbling head to toe, and sliding down on his back, head first.  The most likely cause of his fall had to have been the strong gusty winds that were ravaging the top of Avalanche Gulch...he was nearing the completion of a 2,000 foot rapid descent.  As he neared our position, it was clear he was heading towards an old avalanche field full of large ice boulders.  Myself and my summit mate (i.e. Oliver B. for those of you who know Oliver) took off in the direction of the falling climber and somehow managed to jump on him, grab him, stop him, stablize him and prevent him from coming into hard contact with the nearby ice boulders.  He was pretty beat up with at least one broken leg/ankle.

About two minutes after we had anchored him to the slope, we realized that he was now our problem.  We began discussing the now-famous Mt. Everest dilemna....do we leave behind and go on to the summit or help him back down?  [We actually didn't have that debate, but the concept did flash through my mind].  At that moment, it seemed pretty clear that our summit attempt would have to be terminated, and eventhough we had just saved the tumbler from further injury, I found the reality of the situation to be a combination of disappointment in an unexpected truncated climb and satisfaction that we had assisted someone in serious need of help.  However, from out of nowhere, the Mt. Shast Rescue Rangers (...not sure what they call themselves) appeared and took charge which relieved us of the responsibility for the damaged climber.  I later learned that he was evacuated off the mountain by helicopter had been rushed into surgery at the local Mt. Shasta hospital....multiple broken bones.

One last interesting observance about the climber we stopped....every zipper on his back pack was open and the back pack was empty of all contents.  As we worked to stabilize him, his personal stuff would randomly tumble down...seemingly one at a time from up above.  We caught his camera, water bottles and a few other items as they essentially followed his tumble path down the mountain.

After leaving the injured climber, we turned our focus to climbing the steepest and most difficult portion of Mt. Shasta....I know I was, and suspect the rest of my climbing group was also, well aware of the consequences of a slip and fall on that mountain if one were to lose one's ice axe....which is the only way I know how to stop the type of fall we had just witnessed. 

...anyway, I did a face plant into the snow on Mt. Baldy on Sunday, January 30, 2011 when the wind stopped suddenly.