Hola again!
Yes, on January the 3rd we summited our second Ecuadorian peak: Cayambe at 5790m, the 3rd highest peak in the ecuadorian andes and located exactly on the equator!
Now that I have just slept 14 hours straight, I feel fresh to give you a trip report on this incredible expedition.
My last report was on Sunday evening, so afterwards we packed for our 2 day trip to climb Cayambe. We woke up around 7 am on Monday morning to take a quick shower and make sure we hadn t forgotten any gear for the climb.
After a 30 min taxi drive we arrived at the Ofelia bus station to quickly catch the 9 am bus to the city of Cayambe. I managed to get my pack in the bus instead of having it under and unattended.
The ride allowed us to get our first views of the Ecuadorian country side. A very hilly region with tropical patches near water sources and grasslands in the higher sections. The weather was sunny but always many clouds in the horizon.
After a 90 min drive we arrived on the praca central (city center) of Cayambe.
The town was rather small but the center was very charming with it s old colonial church and buildings.
Once out of the bus, our first goal was to catch an off road taxi. Because of the roughness of the terrain, there were many. After talking to several, we got the best deal with a driver called Freddie who has a white toyota pick up 4x2.
We were starving so we asked him to wait for us for a few minutes time to grab some breakfast/lunch.
We found a small indigenous held restaurant on the praca central who served us excellent chicken with rice, plenty of calories for the coming climb.
We then hoped into Freddie's truck and headed towards the mountain refuge. Before leaving town, we picked up his wife for additional company.
The ride to the refuge was a great way to discover the highlands of Ecuador, with it s communal farms, schools and churches. At the entrance of the ecological park of Cayambe, the road got very rough and the driver showed us his amazing off road skills.
We quickly got our first views of the mountain and were amazed how white and bright it was compared to all the green we had seen on our way.
At one point we even crossed the ecuador by car, we had left the south hemisphere for the northern one.
Because of the extreme roughness of the road, Freddie had to drop us off 2 km before the refuge.
We tightened our packs and started our hike to the mountain hut. It was a wide road in the serra with many wash outs. The slower pace allowed us to observe Cayambe and the evolving weather conditions.
It took us about 50 mins to get to the refuge located at 4700m, the highest place I have ever called bed. The refuge held to it s reputation of being one of the nicest in the country. It had been renovated a few years ago and offered bathroom, stove and descent beds.
Being the only climbers, we had first choice on the bed in the large refuge sleeping room.
Because we had arrived much earlier than expected, we decided to do the dry section of the climb to familiarize
ourselves with the route. The first section is a small rocky hill with many sandy trails heading towards the top. It took us about 45 min to get to the top at 4850m and have a perfect viewpoint of our nocturne route. We were very pleased with what we saw. An ascent at first to a ridge. Then a very long ridge all the way to the easy technical section. There were no signs of any avalanche,icefall or rockfall dangers. The snow seemed very compact and easy to climb. There were well marked tracks from other climbers. It was a beautiful day and we hoped that it would stay that way all night long.
After a quick descent back to the hut, we prepared our "delicious" astronaut food with some local mango juice. Because we wanted to leave at midnight, we decided to go to bed around 1730.
Excited by the climb but mostly because of the altitude, I was completely insomniac, could not fall asleep one second. Millions of things were going through my head but the fact I was not able to sleep was reducing my chances of acclimatization making me nervous therefore unable to sleep. During the night I went out several times to look at the mountain, the weather was perfect but there was some electrical storm happening just behind it. I had seen something very similar in the Annapurnas. This did make me a bit nervous but I had seen a guide arrive during the night, I would take his word to see if it was safe to attempt the summit.
It was a long night, the hours passing by and me not being able to sleep, I felt so focused and energized. I wondered if I was going to feel just like I did when I climbed Rainier, super sleepy and drousy, a lousy and dangerous experience.
Finally, the alarm clock rang and I jumped out of bed to wake up Dean!
He had managed to get some sleep but not much.
We had some chocolate muffins and hot tea. The electrical storm was very active on the other side of the mountain so we were waiting to hear from the guide. As we were preparing our gear, the guide woke up and went outside to asses the weather. He said that the conditions were perfect and that those storms were very located in Ecuador, the gigantism of the mountain blocked them from coming near us... We were good to go since the guide with his 20 years of local climbing was also bringing a client up there.
We left at 0030. The first thing we saw was 2 eyes in the dark. It was an Andean fox! What a great way to start the climb! At first we took the same route we had taken the day before all the way to the summit. I got a bit of a scare when a giant owl flew off a rock just besides me.
It was a very clear night and the half moon was powerful enough to lighten up the whole glacier, ideal conditions. About an hour after leaving the hut we arrived at the glacier. We took our harnesses and crampons out. Roped up and made sure we were well secured. The guide and his client were just in front of us and there head lights were showing the route.
Once on the snow, we felt the climb starting. The slope was gradual but with the altitude, it was rough. Every 40 steps required to stop to allow us to catch our breath. At about 1:30, the moon disappeared behind the horizon and it became pitch dark. Worried of a changing weather, I picked a lucky star and made sure I could always see it. If it disappeared, it meant that the bad weather was here.
Although I had a sleepless night, I felt full of energy and enjoyed my very dark climb. It was really impossible to tell what was around, we just followed tracks from previous climbers. It was not technical at all but required lots of energy to deal with the distance and altitude. Dean kept asking if we had reached a certain elevation, and I would disappoint him by giving him a lower elevation that showed on my watch.
However, we were climbing fast, too fast. I didn't want to make it to the summit in the dark. Sunrise was at 6 so we should start seeing lights around 5:30. We were very close (I felt) at 4:15. So with Dean we just sat on the ridge and rested for 15 min. The wind had picked up so we had to put on our down jackets.
After the very pleasant break, we headed back towards the summit.
We finally arrived at the tricky section where there is some route finding around gigantic crevasses. With the tracks, it was an easy job. We had to cross an impressive snowbridge above a gigantic crevasse that could swallow an entire house. That crevasse was the bergshrund. Once crossed, we traversed under some ice falls and climbed some very steep snow slope. A path had been carved by previous climbers so although it had exposure, it was an easy section. We finally made it to the bottom of the summit. There was only a 50 meter slope to climb before the summit! In normal conditions it would only take us 5 min but because of the altitude, we took half an hour! However, we arrived just before 6 and enjoyed a beautiful sea of clouds. Afar we could see some big volcanoes.
Shot a few pictures and ate a bit, we were truely enjoying our summit. It must have been -20 with the windchill.
However it soon covered up and we were in a total whiteout. Being in a whiteout in those conditions can be dangerous, there were no tracks on the summit because the snow was completely striped by the wind. I had prepared for this event and had recorded our ascent with a gps. I back tracked exactly the same way we came up and found the entrance of steep snow slope. Going through the wrong entrance could result in ending at the bottom of a crevasse.
Near the icefalls, it felt like we were in a different world. Everything white, huge walls of ice, it was foggy and cold but it felt like paradise.
Back on the ridge, the sun appeared and we got a beautiful view of the mountain we had just summited. The sun, heat and calmness of the area gave us that amazing peaceful feeling you get after an alpine climb. The downclimb was an opportunity to take some shots and get a tan at latitude 0. We really took our time going down so it took us about 3 hours to get back to the hut. Once back, we collapsed (Dean still in his climbing boots) and got about an hour of sleep. We then packed and walked back to the drop off area.
On the way down, we met 3 italians who wanted to summit so we gave them as many advices as possible.
We were very happy to see our driver back, it would have been a very long walk back.
We then drove back to Cayambe town and took the first bus to Quito. We were back to our hostal around 15:00 and enjoyed a chinese dinner.
We are very happy with this expedition so far. In only 4 days we managed to go at an altitude of 5790m and still feel good. Our acclimatization tactics seem to work well.
Today was a rest day and we ate a lot (I feel I have already lost a few kilos)
We are leaving tomorrow for 4 days (Illiniza Sur and Chimborazo) and I will provide my next trip report on monday just before we leave for Chimborazo.
Stay tuned!
Adrien
Yes, on January the 3rd we summited our second Ecuadorian peak: Cayambe at 5790m, the 3rd highest peak in the ecuadorian andes and located exactly on the equator!
Now that I have just slept 14 hours straight, I feel fresh to give you a trip report on this incredible expedition.
My last report was on Sunday evening, so afterwards we packed for our 2 day trip to climb Cayambe. We woke up around 7 am on Monday morning to take a quick shower and make sure we hadn t forgotten any gear for the climb.
After a 30 min taxi drive we arrived at the Ofelia bus station to quickly catch the 9 am bus to the city of Cayambe. I managed to get my pack in the bus instead of having it under and unattended.
The ride allowed us to get our first views of the Ecuadorian country side. A very hilly region with tropical patches near water sources and grasslands in the higher sections. The weather was sunny but always many clouds in the horizon.
After a 90 min drive we arrived on the praca central (city center) of Cayambe.
The town was rather small but the center was very charming with it s old colonial church and buildings.
Once out of the bus, our first goal was to catch an off road taxi. Because of the roughness of the terrain, there were many. After talking to several, we got the best deal with a driver called Freddie who has a white toyota pick up 4x2.
We were starving so we asked him to wait for us for a few minutes time to grab some breakfast/lunch.
We found a small indigenous held restaurant on the praca central who served us excellent chicken with rice, plenty of calories for the coming climb.
We then hoped into Freddie's truck and headed towards the mountain refuge. Before leaving town, we picked up his wife for additional company.
The ride to the refuge was a great way to discover the highlands of Ecuador, with it s communal farms, schools and churches. At the entrance of the ecological park of Cayambe, the road got very rough and the driver showed us his amazing off road skills.
We quickly got our first views of the mountain and were amazed how white and bright it was compared to all the green we had seen on our way.
At one point we even crossed the ecuador by car, we had left the south hemisphere for the northern one.
Because of the extreme roughness of the road, Freddie had to drop us off 2 km before the refuge.
We tightened our packs and started our hike to the mountain hut. It was a wide road in the serra with many wash outs. The slower pace allowed us to observe Cayambe and the evolving weather conditions.
It took us about 50 mins to get to the refuge located at 4700m, the highest place I have ever called bed. The refuge held to it s reputation of being one of the nicest in the country. It had been renovated a few years ago and offered bathroom, stove and descent beds.
Being the only climbers, we had first choice on the bed in the large refuge sleeping room.
Because we had arrived much earlier than expected, we decided to do the dry section of the climb to familiarize
ourselves with the route. The first section is a small rocky hill with many sandy trails heading towards the top. It took us about 45 min to get to the top at 4850m and have a perfect viewpoint of our nocturne route. We were very pleased with what we saw. An ascent at first to a ridge. Then a very long ridge all the way to the easy technical section. There were no signs of any avalanche,icefall or rockfall dangers. The snow seemed very compact and easy to climb. There were well marked tracks from other climbers. It was a beautiful day and we hoped that it would stay that way all night long.
After a quick descent back to the hut, we prepared our "delicious" astronaut food with some local mango juice. Because we wanted to leave at midnight, we decided to go to bed around 1730.
Excited by the climb but mostly because of the altitude, I was completely insomniac, could not fall asleep one second. Millions of things were going through my head but the fact I was not able to sleep was reducing my chances of acclimatization making me nervous therefore unable to sleep. During the night I went out several times to look at the mountain, the weather was perfect but there was some electrical storm happening just behind it. I had seen something very similar in the Annapurnas. This did make me a bit nervous but I had seen a guide arrive during the night, I would take his word to see if it was safe to attempt the summit.
It was a long night, the hours passing by and me not being able to sleep, I felt so focused and energized. I wondered if I was going to feel just like I did when I climbed Rainier, super sleepy and drousy, a lousy and dangerous experience.
Finally, the alarm clock rang and I jumped out of bed to wake up Dean!
He had managed to get some sleep but not much.
We had some chocolate muffins and hot tea. The electrical storm was very active on the other side of the mountain so we were waiting to hear from the guide. As we were preparing our gear, the guide woke up and went outside to asses the weather. He said that the conditions were perfect and that those storms were very located in Ecuador, the gigantism of the mountain blocked them from coming near us... We were good to go since the guide with his 20 years of local climbing was also bringing a client up there.
We left at 0030. The first thing we saw was 2 eyes in the dark. It was an Andean fox! What a great way to start the climb! At first we took the same route we had taken the day before all the way to the summit. I got a bit of a scare when a giant owl flew off a rock just besides me.
It was a very clear night and the half moon was powerful enough to lighten up the whole glacier, ideal conditions. About an hour after leaving the hut we arrived at the glacier. We took our harnesses and crampons out. Roped up and made sure we were well secured. The guide and his client were just in front of us and there head lights were showing the route.
Once on the snow, we felt the climb starting. The slope was gradual but with the altitude, it was rough. Every 40 steps required to stop to allow us to catch our breath. At about 1:30, the moon disappeared behind the horizon and it became pitch dark. Worried of a changing weather, I picked a lucky star and made sure I could always see it. If it disappeared, it meant that the bad weather was here.
Although I had a sleepless night, I felt full of energy and enjoyed my very dark climb. It was really impossible to tell what was around, we just followed tracks from previous climbers. It was not technical at all but required lots of energy to deal with the distance and altitude. Dean kept asking if we had reached a certain elevation, and I would disappoint him by giving him a lower elevation that showed on my watch.
However, we were climbing fast, too fast. I didn't want to make it to the summit in the dark. Sunrise was at 6 so we should start seeing lights around 5:30. We were very close (I felt) at 4:15. So with Dean we just sat on the ridge and rested for 15 min. The wind had picked up so we had to put on our down jackets.
After the very pleasant break, we headed back towards the summit.
We finally arrived at the tricky section where there is some route finding around gigantic crevasses. With the tracks, it was an easy job. We had to cross an impressive snowbridge above a gigantic crevasse that could swallow an entire house. That crevasse was the bergshrund. Once crossed, we traversed under some ice falls and climbed some very steep snow slope. A path had been carved by previous climbers so although it had exposure, it was an easy section. We finally made it to the bottom of the summit. There was only a 50 meter slope to climb before the summit! In normal conditions it would only take us 5 min but because of the altitude, we took half an hour! However, we arrived just before 6 and enjoyed a beautiful sea of clouds. Afar we could see some big volcanoes.
Shot a few pictures and ate a bit, we were truely enjoying our summit. It must have been -20 with the windchill.
However it soon covered up and we were in a total whiteout. Being in a whiteout in those conditions can be dangerous, there were no tracks on the summit because the snow was completely striped by the wind. I had prepared for this event and had recorded our ascent with a gps. I back tracked exactly the same way we came up and found the entrance of steep snow slope. Going through the wrong entrance could result in ending at the bottom of a crevasse.
Near the icefalls, it felt like we were in a different world. Everything white, huge walls of ice, it was foggy and cold but it felt like paradise.
Back on the ridge, the sun appeared and we got a beautiful view of the mountain we had just summited. The sun, heat and calmness of the area gave us that amazing peaceful feeling you get after an alpine climb. The downclimb was an opportunity to take some shots and get a tan at latitude 0. We really took our time going down so it took us about 3 hours to get back to the hut. Once back, we collapsed (Dean still in his climbing boots) and got about an hour of sleep. We then packed and walked back to the drop off area.
On the way down, we met 3 italians who wanted to summit so we gave them as many advices as possible.
We were very happy to see our driver back, it would have been a very long walk back.
We then drove back to Cayambe town and took the first bus to Quito. We were back to our hostal around 15:00 and enjoyed a chinese dinner.
We are very happy with this expedition so far. In only 4 days we managed to go at an altitude of 5790m and still feel good. Our acclimatization tactics seem to work well.
Today was a rest day and we ate a lot (I feel I have already lost a few kilos)
We are leaving tomorrow for 4 days (Illiniza Sur and Chimborazo) and I will provide my next trip report on monday just before we leave for Chimborazo.
Stay tuned!
Adrien
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