Ecuador 2022.01.02 Archives

Ecuador 2022.01.02

Chimborazo High Camp

Our Ecuador Volcanoes team is in a position for their attempt at the summit of Ecuador’s highest mountain, Chimborazo! Lead guide, Estalin Suárez has the day’s audio expedition dispatch:

Hello, this is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ecuador Volcanoes expedition.

Yesterday we went up to the high camp, which is at 17,400 ft., more or less. We did this hike just to acclimitize and also to load some gear to the high camp. We had a really great day and then after we went to our lodge at the bottom of Chimborazo.

Today is January 8th. We are again at the high camp on Chimborazo. Our plan is to get up at 11:00 PM and to start the summit push at midnight. Dan and Jason are feeling pretty well and now they are resting after dinner for a couple of hours.

We are going to give a try for the summit of Chimborazo, the highest mountain in Ecuador. That’s all for now. The weather looks pretty good at the moment. So, yeah!

I’ll keep in touch. Bye!

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

January 9, 2022/0 Comments/by Kurt

Ecuador 2022.01.02

Illiniza Norte Summit!

Our Ecuador Volcanoes team reached the summit of Illiniza Norte today! They are on a roll! 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 January 6th.

We just got the summit of Illiniza Norte, which is 16,813 ft. So, we just got another beautiful, beautiful day on the mountain with almost no wind and with a beautiful sunrise! We started very early in the morning at 5:00 AM from the hut. So, it took us about 2 hours – a little bit more than 2 hours – to the summit and, yeah, we got just a beautiful, beautiful day. Dan and Jason did very, very well and now we are back in our lodge, just resting.

Tomorrow we are going to move to the Chimborazo area. Probably we are going to do a short hike just to keep moving and then on Saturday we’re going to push to our main (ultimate) summit, which is Chimborazo, the highest mountain in Ecuador.

So I will keep in touch! Bye!

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

January 6, 2022/0 Comments/by Kurt

Ecuador 2022.01.02

Today our Ecuador Volcanoes team climbed up to the Nuevos Horizontes refuge (aka the Illiniza Hut) on Illiniza to get into position for their summit attempt of Illiniza Norte early tomorrow morning. 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 the 5th of January and we hiked up to the hut of Illiniza, which the altitude is about 15,000 feet. So, Dan and Jason are feeling pretty good, so we did about 3 hours up to the hut and now we are just resting, waiting for dinner, and getting ready for tomorrow to push to the summit of Illiniza Norte.

Okay, bye!

At the trailhead and ready to head up to Nuevos Horizontes Refuge, the high hut on Illinizas

On the way up to Nuevos Horizontes Refuge

Day one on Illiniza Norte

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

January 5, 2022/0 Comments/by Kurt

Ecuador 2022.01.02

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 January 4th and just hiked up to the summit of Corazón volcano, which is 15,700 feet. We had a really amazing day with blue sky, sunny and no wind. It was a really, really beautiful day. We started to walk very early in the morning at 13,000 feet more or less and we did a little more than 6 hours around, up and down.

Dan and Jason feel really good and they are really excited about the next because every day they are breaking records that they have never been at this altitude before! So, every day is a new adventure for them. That is great, everybody’s feeling well, and really motivated for the next.

So, I will keep in touch. Bye!

Hiking up Corazón

Nearing the summit of Corazón

A new friend on Corazón

Heading down from the summit of Corazón

Descending Corazón

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

January 5, 2022/0 Comments/by Kurt

Ecuador 2022.01.02

Jan 2022 Ecuador Volcanoes Kicks-off!

Our team members arrived in Quito, Ecuador on Sunday and today started hiking Ecuador volcanoes to begin the acclimatization process and ready themselves for the big expedition objective of Chimborazo (6263m/20,549ft), the highest summit in Ecuador and one of the highest active volcanoes in the world. Today they gained 700 meters of elevation by summiting the extinct volcano, Pasochoa. Here’s lead guide, Estalin Suárez with a recap of the day:

Hello this is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ecuador Volcanoes expedition. Today is January 3rd and we hit our first acclimatization summit which was Pasochoa Volcano with an altitude of 13,780 feet.

We had a really, really beautiful day, sunny, blue skies and almost no clouds. Yeah, really a beautiful day. We made it in about 3 hours up and down. Daniel and Jason felt pretty well with that first hike at that altitude, so yeah, it was a great day.

Now we are just at the lodge waiting for some dinner and having some rest and getting ready for tomorrow and the next climb, so bye!