Final update on this expedition 2012 that I just finished this friday.
After a double success last week-end (Cotopaxi and Iliniza Sur) myself and Dean really needed a rest in Quito.
We took Monday through Wednesday to rest, visiting the nearby indigenous town of Otavalo, the Quito vivarium and other local sightseeing.
Unfortunately, instead of resting, we both got sick. Dean had real difficulties breathing and I lost a lot of weight. Our 4 summits, 3 above 5000m, had burnt us down. Our love for climbing had almost been affected.
However, Chimborazo was still on the list and we wanted the dream to come true.
I was really apprehending this climb for several reasons:
- The weather, one of the coldest and windiest volcano in Ecuador. Did not want to get any frostbites.
- It is a deadly mountain, many climbers have been killed by rock falls,avalanches or simply slipping down the icy 50 degree 1800m long slope.
- Our physical condition, we had both been sick and were no longer at the top of our shape. To succeed this climb, we had to be at our best.
But with all these doubts, we both had summit fever and wanted to accomplish this climb.
On Thursday morning, we both felt better and ready to take on the ascent.
I had called our driver Pablo to bring us to the Chimborazo hut with return to Quito at an excellent price.
Our driver arrived at 8:20, 10 minutes before our scheduled time to start our 5 hour journey to the hut.
With the experience we had gained in Ecuador, we took only the essentials, especially that were planning to be back the next day. Compared to most climbers, our bags were really small.
On our way to the refuge, we picked up Pablo's wife who contributed to our long spanish conversations about the Ecuadorian culture and society.
About 3 hours after leaving Quito, we started to leave the greenery of the lower valleys to arrive in the Chimborazo region.
As we gained elevation with the 4x4, the land was getting dryer and the populations more sparse. Once reached the altitude of 4000m, we came across only a few indigenous villages with Quechua (Inca language) names.
At 4500m, trees completely disappeared, we were in a desert with a few bushes. And suddenly appeared this immense mountain, a geographical structure I had never seen elsewhere in the world, El Chimborazo!
The seen was unreal, for once, we had an unobstructed view of our climb. This gigantic volcano in the middle of the huge desert plain. Dozens of vicunhas (wild lamas) added to the surreal of the location.
Myself and Dean asked Pablo to stop the car several times so we could take pictures of such a beautiful and unique scene.
Pablo took a left off the asphalt road to head towards the refuge parking lot. We finally had made it to our drop off point. Suddenly all our fears had disappeared, we were simply stunned by the location we were at.
As soon as we got out of the car, we were sent right back to reality. At 4700m, it was bitterly cold. We combined cold and sun protection and gave Pablo and his wife a return time for the next day. We gave him a" hasta luego" and he gave us a "suerte".
The refuge involved a 2 km hike to an elevation of of 5000m, one of the highest refuges in the world. As the hike started in the mist, memorials of dead climbers appeared on the side of the trail. Many,many bodyless tombs of adventurers just like us who had attempted to climb this beast. People from around the world, Ecuador, Venezuela, USA, Germany...and France.
Although frightening, this was a good reminder that Chimborazo was not a friendly mountain. However, coming from the region of Mont Blanc, which is the deadliest mountain in the world (because of it's popularity and ease of access), this did not slow me down towards the refuge.
After a 30 min climb, we finally made it to the Whymper hut, named after the british who was the first one to summit the mountain a 150 years ago.
I was greeted by a large group of medical students from Harlem. It was a good opportunity to joke about altitude sickness and other effects of the higher elevations.
We quickly set our quarters and went straight to dinner.
We found out from the hut keeper that the previous nights had offered great opportunities to summit. Tonight was full of uncertainties, especially that we were the only ones in the refuge.
At about 17:00 we headed for bed. Of course, I took a cocktail of pills. Advill and Aleve for head and muscular pains, diamox for altitude, and 2 sleeping pills. I was a bit in a mess.
Thanks to the sleeping pills, I quickly passed out in a dreamless condition.
At 22:00 my alarm rang. It was climbing time...
I quickly went down to the refuge dining room to discover that 2 other teams had arrived during our sleep.
This reassured me as were not going to be the only ones on the route that night.
Very nervous, we had to force ourselves to eat. I should have not taken 2 pills to sleep. I felt very dizzy, but I did not feel any other pain.
We geared up and headed outside. The weather was very clear and we could see the moon rise on the other side. It was bright but not enough to not use our headlamps.
We were the second team to start. At first, we followed a trail at the bottom of the route. It gradually got steeper. Dean was coughing a lot which got me somehow worried. We were not going very fast and quickly got passed by the last team.
The most dangerous section of the route is called "El Corridor" (the gulley") which is located under a rock tower (el castillo) that spits rocks all the time. A few weeks before our attempt, a rock had fallen on a guide splitting his head open.
This is where I wanted to hurry. Luckly, it had recently snowed a lot and had consolidated the rock face. This meant that little rocks were falling.
At an altitude of 5300, we arrived on a mix of snow and ice which required us to use our crampons. I was a little bit ahead of Dean, so I hid under a large rock to wait for him. Once we got back together, we started going up the recededing glacier of Chimborazo.
It was a tricky route finding job as our goal was a ridge high on the mountain as we had to find our way between giant icefalls. Because of the absence of any crevasses, we hadn't roped up at this point.
Because of my ease of breathing, I arrived much faster than Dean to the ridge. This section of the route is a killer... An 1800m line of steep 50 degrees ice and snow with many hidden crevasses. This was going to be hard.
I had the rope so I started doing all the knots to save time. Dean would just have to tie himself in and we would get going.
We again got together but this time the rope would not allow us to separate each other.
We started our very slow steep line straight to the summit.
Dean was heavily affected by his breathing. I was on fire and wanted to make it to the top. He was also very motivated but I felt he was struggling a bit. Usually, I would have let him lead, but because of his condition, I decided to be first.
Each step was tough. To keep up a good pace, I encouraged him to take 20 steps and to take a breather. 20 steps, stop, 20 steps stop. If we failed to do all 20, I would add the missing steps to the next series.
It was working well, Dean had picked up pace and we were catching up with the other 2 teams.
Suddenly, the 1st team turned around. They quickly descended to our level. Worried, I asked them the reason of their abandonment. The client had severe altitude sickness. He could not go any further. Chimborazo had won against them.
We were only 2 teams left on the mountain now.
The wind had picked up and it was getting very cold, too cold...
I continued with our technique, screaming each step as they were a victory, 1,2,3,4...20!
However, my nose was getting numb. I took off my right glove to adjust my hood. But a sudden wind burst let me drop my thermal mitten to the ground. Immediately, my essential piece of gear started slipping down the slope. Dean made an attempt to catch it but missed by a few cm.
The glove disappeared in the guts of Chimborazo.
I immediately took an emergency heat pack that I stuck under the liner of my right hand (luckily, I had a thin liner that I put under my high altitude mittens). I felt like a fool. How could I have dropped such an important piece of my equipment? What was going to happen to my right hand.
Upset and worried, we continued up the slope. We were slow but fast enough to catch up with the first team.
It was now extremely cold. I was climbing with one hand in my pocket and the other with the ice axe.
The wind was very strong and blowing into our faces, this was slowing us down considerably.
I noticed that myself and Dean were now covered with ice. I don't know if the snow was fresh or blown from the summit, but no stars appeared above us. It was cloudy, windy and freezing.
The second team finally turned around 50 m below us. What was going on?
Myself and Dean regrouped, no flat spot to rest, nowhere to hide from the wind. My backpack had now 3 cm of ice accumulated on the top and my red down parka was almost white. Dean's jackets were also frozen. However we kept going. We took ten steps and stopped...
I was looking up... It was terribly windy and Chimborazo was spitting so much snow to our faces already burning by the cold. The moon appeared shyly in our backs, but the top of the volcano was dark and sinister. It did not feel like going up but more liking going down in a deep dark hole. It was no more fun. Our pace was so slow that it reminded me of one of those nightmares where you try to run away but you are unable to move.
I checked my GPS and we were at 5914 m, the highest I had ever been.
However, there was still another 400 m of elevation gain left and probably another 1km of climbing. What was up there? How much colder was it going to get? Would I risk my right fingers?
At higher elevations, you motivation decreases strongly. You forget all the efforts you put in to get to this point. The only things I thought was about my survival and the ones I loved.
I told Dean that we had no choice but to turn around. Today was not the right day. It was a tough decision but it seemed right and still seems right today.
We quickly went down the ridge. About 2 hours after the turn around, we were still on the mountain but less exposed to wind. I could see the top of the volcano with the morning alpenglow and see swirls of snow. However, once the sun was up, the wind died off.
It was hard to see a beautiful day rise on Chimborazo, we could have been up there, we could have made it. But you climb in the present, not in your thoughts. Our present instincts said no and this is why there can be no regrets.
We made it back to the hut and collapsed in our bunk beds. The tiredness made me have hallucinations on the mountain: the morning sunrise had flashed several times, rocks had appeared as humans, we had pushed our full capacities.
Our nap was a series of interrupted sleeps. At 5000m high, this was the best we could get.
We finally got up and packed to meet Pablo back at the parking lot.
He was very disappointed for us but was happy we had made it back safely.
We silently drove back to Quito with a final goodbye to Chimborazo. The volcano was perfectly clear and beautiful. The plains around were being caressed by a rolling mist, Ecuador is splendid.
Did we finish on a defeat or a a success? It is hard to say. Although saddened by not making it, I still have a good feeling of accomplishment regarding those last 2 weeks. Indeed, we climbed 4 peaks, including 3 above 5000m and went very high on our last attempt.
It was exhausting but still feel fresh after so much adventure. I would recommend this program for very fit climbers willing to push their limits. Casual climbers should only do two 5000m peaks and go enjoy the coast the rest of their stay.
Ecuador is beautiful, the people there are honest, proud and welcoming individuals. I was amazed how easy it was to organize everything. Transportation is punctual and reliable and we felt extremely safe everywhere we went. It would be easy to say that this is a perfect big mountain destination.
I will come back for sure, but with my future wife and probably enjoy other parts of Ecuador than just the big mountains. Maybe I'll convince her to climb Chimborazo together and find that missing mitten.
Thank you for following and supporting me, you were all in my thoughts when I was up there.
Adrien.
After a double success last week-end (Cotopaxi and Iliniza Sur) myself and Dean really needed a rest in Quito.
We took Monday through Wednesday to rest, visiting the nearby indigenous town of Otavalo, the Quito vivarium and other local sightseeing.
Unfortunately, instead of resting, we both got sick. Dean had real difficulties breathing and I lost a lot of weight. Our 4 summits, 3 above 5000m, had burnt us down. Our love for climbing had almost been affected.
However, Chimborazo was still on the list and we wanted the dream to come true.
I was really apprehending this climb for several reasons:
- The weather, one of the coldest and windiest volcano in Ecuador. Did not want to get any frostbites.
- It is a deadly mountain, many climbers have been killed by rock falls,avalanches or simply slipping down the icy 50 degree 1800m long slope.
- Our physical condition, we had both been sick and were no longer at the top of our shape. To succeed this climb, we had to be at our best.
But with all these doubts, we both had summit fever and wanted to accomplish this climb.
On Thursday morning, we both felt better and ready to take on the ascent.
I had called our driver Pablo to bring us to the Chimborazo hut with return to Quito at an excellent price.
Our driver arrived at 8:20, 10 minutes before our scheduled time to start our 5 hour journey to the hut.
With the experience we had gained in Ecuador, we took only the essentials, especially that were planning to be back the next day. Compared to most climbers, our bags were really small.
On our way to the refuge, we picked up Pablo's wife who contributed to our long spanish conversations about the Ecuadorian culture and society.
About 3 hours after leaving Quito, we started to leave the greenery of the lower valleys to arrive in the Chimborazo region.
As we gained elevation with the 4x4, the land was getting dryer and the populations more sparse. Once reached the altitude of 4000m, we came across only a few indigenous villages with Quechua (Inca language) names.
At 4500m, trees completely disappeared, we were in a desert with a few bushes. And suddenly appeared this immense mountain, a geographical structure I had never seen elsewhere in the world, El Chimborazo!
The seen was unreal, for once, we had an unobstructed view of our climb. This gigantic volcano in the middle of the huge desert plain. Dozens of vicunhas (wild lamas) added to the surreal of the location.
Myself and Dean asked Pablo to stop the car several times so we could take pictures of such a beautiful and unique scene.
Pablo took a left off the asphalt road to head towards the refuge parking lot. We finally had made it to our drop off point. Suddenly all our fears had disappeared, we were simply stunned by the location we were at.
As soon as we got out of the car, we were sent right back to reality. At 4700m, it was bitterly cold. We combined cold and sun protection and gave Pablo and his wife a return time for the next day. We gave him a" hasta luego" and he gave us a "suerte".
The refuge involved a 2 km hike to an elevation of of 5000m, one of the highest refuges in the world. As the hike started in the mist, memorials of dead climbers appeared on the side of the trail. Many,many bodyless tombs of adventurers just like us who had attempted to climb this beast. People from around the world, Ecuador, Venezuela, USA, Germany...and France.
Although frightening, this was a good reminder that Chimborazo was not a friendly mountain. However, coming from the region of Mont Blanc, which is the deadliest mountain in the world (because of it's popularity and ease of access), this did not slow me down towards the refuge.
After a 30 min climb, we finally made it to the Whymper hut, named after the british who was the first one to summit the mountain a 150 years ago.
I was greeted by a large group of medical students from Harlem. It was a good opportunity to joke about altitude sickness and other effects of the higher elevations.
We quickly set our quarters and went straight to dinner.
We found out from the hut keeper that the previous nights had offered great opportunities to summit. Tonight was full of uncertainties, especially that we were the only ones in the refuge.
At about 17:00 we headed for bed. Of course, I took a cocktail of pills. Advill and Aleve for head and muscular pains, diamox for altitude, and 2 sleeping pills. I was a bit in a mess.
Thanks to the sleeping pills, I quickly passed out in a dreamless condition.
At 22:00 my alarm rang. It was climbing time...
I quickly went down to the refuge dining room to discover that 2 other teams had arrived during our sleep.
This reassured me as were not going to be the only ones on the route that night.
Very nervous, we had to force ourselves to eat. I should have not taken 2 pills to sleep. I felt very dizzy, but I did not feel any other pain.
We geared up and headed outside. The weather was very clear and we could see the moon rise on the other side. It was bright but not enough to not use our headlamps.
We were the second team to start. At first, we followed a trail at the bottom of the route. It gradually got steeper. Dean was coughing a lot which got me somehow worried. We were not going very fast and quickly got passed by the last team.
The most dangerous section of the route is called "El Corridor" (the gulley") which is located under a rock tower (el castillo) that spits rocks all the time. A few weeks before our attempt, a rock had fallen on a guide splitting his head open.
This is where I wanted to hurry. Luckly, it had recently snowed a lot and had consolidated the rock face. This meant that little rocks were falling.
At an altitude of 5300, we arrived on a mix of snow and ice which required us to use our crampons. I was a little bit ahead of Dean, so I hid under a large rock to wait for him. Once we got back together, we started going up the recededing glacier of Chimborazo.
It was a tricky route finding job as our goal was a ridge high on the mountain as we had to find our way between giant icefalls. Because of the absence of any crevasses, we hadn't roped up at this point.
Because of my ease of breathing, I arrived much faster than Dean to the ridge. This section of the route is a killer... An 1800m line of steep 50 degrees ice and snow with many hidden crevasses. This was going to be hard.
I had the rope so I started doing all the knots to save time. Dean would just have to tie himself in and we would get going.
We again got together but this time the rope would not allow us to separate each other.
We started our very slow steep line straight to the summit.
Dean was heavily affected by his breathing. I was on fire and wanted to make it to the top. He was also very motivated but I felt he was struggling a bit. Usually, I would have let him lead, but because of his condition, I decided to be first.
Each step was tough. To keep up a good pace, I encouraged him to take 20 steps and to take a breather. 20 steps, stop, 20 steps stop. If we failed to do all 20, I would add the missing steps to the next series.
It was working well, Dean had picked up pace and we were catching up with the other 2 teams.
Suddenly, the 1st team turned around. They quickly descended to our level. Worried, I asked them the reason of their abandonment. The client had severe altitude sickness. He could not go any further. Chimborazo had won against them.
We were only 2 teams left on the mountain now.
The wind had picked up and it was getting very cold, too cold...
I continued with our technique, screaming each step as they were a victory, 1,2,3,4...20!
However, my nose was getting numb. I took off my right glove to adjust my hood. But a sudden wind burst let me drop my thermal mitten to the ground. Immediately, my essential piece of gear started slipping down the slope. Dean made an attempt to catch it but missed by a few cm.
The glove disappeared in the guts of Chimborazo.
I immediately took an emergency heat pack that I stuck under the liner of my right hand (luckily, I had a thin liner that I put under my high altitude mittens). I felt like a fool. How could I have dropped such an important piece of my equipment? What was going to happen to my right hand.
Upset and worried, we continued up the slope. We were slow but fast enough to catch up with the first team.
It was now extremely cold. I was climbing with one hand in my pocket and the other with the ice axe.
The wind was very strong and blowing into our faces, this was slowing us down considerably.
I noticed that myself and Dean were now covered with ice. I don't know if the snow was fresh or blown from the summit, but no stars appeared above us. It was cloudy, windy and freezing.
The second team finally turned around 50 m below us. What was going on?
Myself and Dean regrouped, no flat spot to rest, nowhere to hide from the wind. My backpack had now 3 cm of ice accumulated on the top and my red down parka was almost white. Dean's jackets were also frozen. However we kept going. We took ten steps and stopped...
I was looking up... It was terribly windy and Chimborazo was spitting so much snow to our faces already burning by the cold. The moon appeared shyly in our backs, but the top of the volcano was dark and sinister. It did not feel like going up but more liking going down in a deep dark hole. It was no more fun. Our pace was so slow that it reminded me of one of those nightmares where you try to run away but you are unable to move.
I checked my GPS and we were at 5914 m, the highest I had ever been.
However, there was still another 400 m of elevation gain left and probably another 1km of climbing. What was up there? How much colder was it going to get? Would I risk my right fingers?
At higher elevations, you motivation decreases strongly. You forget all the efforts you put in to get to this point. The only things I thought was about my survival and the ones I loved.
I told Dean that we had no choice but to turn around. Today was not the right day. It was a tough decision but it seemed right and still seems right today.
We quickly went down the ridge. About 2 hours after the turn around, we were still on the mountain but less exposed to wind. I could see the top of the volcano with the morning alpenglow and see swirls of snow. However, once the sun was up, the wind died off.
It was hard to see a beautiful day rise on Chimborazo, we could have been up there, we could have made it. But you climb in the present, not in your thoughts. Our present instincts said no and this is why there can be no regrets.
We made it back to the hut and collapsed in our bunk beds. The tiredness made me have hallucinations on the mountain: the morning sunrise had flashed several times, rocks had appeared as humans, we had pushed our full capacities.
Our nap was a series of interrupted sleeps. At 5000m high, this was the best we could get.
We finally got up and packed to meet Pablo back at the parking lot.
He was very disappointed for us but was happy we had made it back safely.
We silently drove back to Quito with a final goodbye to Chimborazo. The volcano was perfectly clear and beautiful. The plains around were being caressed by a rolling mist, Ecuador is splendid.
Did we finish on a defeat or a a success? It is hard to say. Although saddened by not making it, I still have a good feeling of accomplishment regarding those last 2 weeks. Indeed, we climbed 4 peaks, including 3 above 5000m and went very high on our last attempt.
It was exhausting but still feel fresh after so much adventure. I would recommend this program for very fit climbers willing to push their limits. Casual climbers should only do two 5000m peaks and go enjoy the coast the rest of their stay.
Ecuador is beautiful, the people there are honest, proud and welcoming individuals. I was amazed how easy it was to organize everything. Transportation is punctual and reliable and we felt extremely safe everywhere we went. It would be easy to say that this is a perfect big mountain destination.
I will come back for sure, but with my future wife and probably enjoy other parts of Ecuador than just the big mountains. Maybe I'll convince her to climb Chimborazo together and find that missing mitten.
Thank you for following and supporting me, you were all in my thoughts when I was up there.
Adrien.
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