Entries by Kurt

Corazón Summit!

Our Ecuador Volcanoes team continued their acclimatizing today with the hike up the inactive, eroded stratovolcano Corazón (4790m/15,720ft).  Lead guide, Estalin Suárez has the day’s audio expedition dispatch: Hello, this is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ecuador Volcanoes expedition.  Today is December 6th. So, today we hiked up to the summit of the […]

Dec 2021 Ecuador Volcanoes Kicks-off!

Our team members arrived in Quito, Ecuador on Saturday and today started hiking Ecuador volcanoes to begin the acclimatization process and ready themselves for the big expedition objective of Cotopaxi (5897m/19,347ft), the second-highest summit in Ecuador and one of the highest active volcanoes in the world.  Today they gained 700 meters of elevation by summiting […]

Orizaba Summit Push coming up!

At high camp on Pico de Orizaba, our Ecuador Volcanoes team is preparing for the summit push! Today we did a good acclimatization hike and refreshed climbing skills we’ll need for our ascent of el Pico de Orizaba. Now the team is in bed in our camp at the foot of the mountain. We’ll get […]

Rest Day in Puebla

With a rest day in Puebla, our Mexico Volcanoes expedition team had a chance to explore the historic town.  Terry Sylvester, expedition leader, checks in with today’s dispatch: Hello, this is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mexico Volcanoes expedition.  It’s Friday, October 22nd. Today we had a rest day in Puebla.  We had […]

Iztaccihuatl High Camp

Now at high camp on Izta, our Ecuador Volcanoes team is preparing for the summit push! Hello from high camp on Izta! We made good time here this morning and enjoyed a lunch of ramen and carnitas (seasoned pork). Now we’ll rest until dinner. We’ll do an alpine start tomorrow morning and hopefully be on […]

Acclimatizing on Iztaccihuatl

Our Ecuador Volcanoes team is continuing their acclimatizing on Izta and will be moving up to high camp before the coming summit push: Hi from La Joya camp! We’ll spend a second night here before moving to high camp mañana. Today we took a scenic acclimatization hike to 15,400′. All is well. Elevation: 12,952.72 ft. […]

Second October Mexico Volcanoes Expedition Underway!

Our second Mexico Volcanoes expedition this month kicked off yesterday in Mexico City.  Here’s expedition leader, Terray Sylvester, with coverage of today’s activities and what’s next: Hello, it’s October 18th and this is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mexico Volcanoes expedition!  Yesterday our trip started with a visit to the Teotihuacan pyramids on the […]

Mexico Volcanoes – Expedition Recap

Lead guide, Terray Sylvester, provides this detailed recap of our very successful Mexico Volcanoes expedition – the first of two this month! Hello, this is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mexico Volcanoes expedition that is just ending today, October 12th. Over the last 10 days we had a great trip! It started out […]