All Ecuador expedition dispatches
Beautiful views in the Andes as our climbers set off for the Ecuador volcanoes! Our team will spend the first few days acclimating on local peaks close to Quito in preparation for Cayambe at an elevation of 18,996 feet. For a detailed overview of this exciting climb please visit our page here.
To the top!
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William celebrating his first summit of Pasochoa. This extinct volcano is located in the Guayllabamba river basin in the Ecuadorian Andes.
Our climbing team is having a cloudy and rainy week across Ecuador so far and we all hope that conditions will get better shortly. Starting in Guachala earlier this week the team moved up towards the hut on Cayambe. Despite a smooth start to our team’s summit attempt last night on Cayambe, the weather very quickly turned shortly after roping up and starting up the glacier. Two hours into the climb up the glaciated slopes of Cayambe the clouds appeared out of nowhere and proceeded to dump wet snow on our team. Not long after, the sky was filled with lightning and thunder. At this point our team quickly descended back to the hut. The weather turned on our climbers when they reached around 5,000 meters. It dumped snow most of the night causing Jared and Andrew to be a bit delayed on the departure trying to wait for the hazardous road conditions to improve. Our team is now assessing options for Chimborazo given the weather and our maximum acclimatization height to date.
Mother Nature always gets the final say.
Thank-you Jared for the update and pictures!
Our climbing team in Ecuador continued their acclimatization climbs outside of Quito with a successful summit of Rucu Pinchincha this afternoon. Jared and Andrew were able to beat the change in weather and are now settled in Papallacta. Our team had just started to descend in the cable car when it started to rain. Jared reports that Cayambe was clear this morning before getting clouded in, and Antisana and Cotopaxi had lenticular clouds over them. Currently low clouds are reported in the surrounding hills while raining on and off at Papallacta.
Yesterday Jared and Andrew had an easy day at Papallacta. Completing a short hike in the park up to one of the lakes in the morning. Our team is healthy and doing well. Onward!
Thank you Jared for the awesome pics!!
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Today our Ecuador climbing team successfully summited Pasochoa (13,860ft) outside of Quito, Ecuador. Jared and Andrew got caught in a unexpected afternoon hail storm on the summit which made for a bit of fun for the descent. It poured and hailed on us on the way down which made for a wet ride home to our hotel in Quito. The team is in good spirits and is enjoying the adventure!
It is currently raining with thunder and lightning in Quito. Jared and Andrew are back at the hotel, sorting through some gear for tomorrow’s climb of Rucu Pinchincha. To view our Ecuador team’s upcoming climbing itinerary click here.
So far, so good! Team is one for one in the summit department!
Pictures provided by Jared. Enjoy! 🙂
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Jeff, José, and I have made a safe and successful ascent of Cayambe volcano! After we finished our acclimatization hikes near Quito we departed for Cayambe hut at an elevation of 15,250 feet. After a hour of driving from Hacienda Guachala we took our expedition vehicle across rocky and steep terrain toward Cayambe. The hut was beautifully located and provided spectacular views of the mountain. After three days of glacier training we prepared our gear and left at 11pm for the summit. After 7 hours of climbing we made it over the last crevasse and to the top on a crystal clear day just as the sun came up over the horizon. We were the first climbing team to reach the summit 🙂 We had an amazing adventure and thank our guide José Luis for his expert guidance and support! I will be posting additional photos from our expedition to the Madison Mountaineering Facebook page!
Onward!
-Andrew Tierney
Photos taken below by Andrew Tierney using a GoPro Hero 4 Black and iPhone 6. Enjoy! 🙂
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Dinner at Hacienda Guachala. The Hacienda Guachalá is known as the oldest hacienda in Ecuador, and the most important hacienda until the middle of the 20th century. The oldest buildings date from the year 1580!
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Breakfast with a view at Hacienda Guachala.
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Middle of the World!
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Happy Birthday Jeff! 🙂 Mountain Birthday’s are the best!
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Jeff with Cayambe in the background!
Glacier training on Cayambe.
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Ladder training in preparation for Jeff’s upcoming Everest ascent!
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Andrew enjoying the fixed ropes and ladders on Cayambe!
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Jeff preparing to cross the ladder.
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Andrew on the summit of Cayambe!
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Jeff on the summit of Cayambe! Rise & Shine!
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Spectacular sunrise across Ecuador!
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Cayambe Hut
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Cayambe Volcano
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Last sunset before we made our ascent!
Yesterday Jeff, José, and I summited Pichincha in record time and enjoyed panoramic views of Cayambe, Cotopaxi (active), and many other notorious mountains across Ecuador. Once we reached the summit at 15,700 feet we had lunch and continued to acclimate as we prepare for the journey to Cayambe hut today. After our climb we checked out of our hotel in Quito and drove a short distance to Hacienda Guachala, a famous establishment that dates back to 1580! As we fell asleep we enjoyed a warm fire in our room and woke up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee on our patio. Today we will journey to the Cayambe hut and begin to review the technical skills that we will need for the climb. Service will become harder to find but I will try and update the blog as soon as I am able. Onward!
-Andrew
Photos taken below by Andrew Tierney
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Bouldering across a rock field as we make our way up Pichincha.
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Jeff and José Luis climbing up the last few steps of Pichincha!
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Jeff and Andrew at the summit of Pichincha (15,700 feet).
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Beautiful views looking over the city of Quito from Pichincha!
Today Jeff Glasbrenner and I explored the rolling country side and completed acclimatization hikes near Quito. We cruised to the top of Pasochoa at 13,860 ft and bagged another nearby summit as well. After a day of hiking we explored the beautiful city of Quito where we saw the historic sites and had an authentic Ecuadorian dinner in town. Tomorrow we will continue to acclimate to the altitude with our amazing guide, José Luis, and climb Pinchincha at 15,700 ft. The weather is beautiful and our team is very excited to begin our journey to Cayambe in the days to come.
To the top!
-Andrew Tierney
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Photos taken using DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone and GoPro Hero4. Enjoy!
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Virgin of El Panecillo overlooking the city of Quito
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Church of San Francisco
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One of my favorite shots looking over the city of Quito!
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Basílica del Voto Nacional – Quito
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Rolling layers of fog made for a beautiful picture here from the summit of Pasochoa (13,860′).
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Jeff and I taking our first summit photo! More to come!!
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Our adventure rig for the week!
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Climbing down from Pasochoa over the rolling hills outside of Quito
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Palace in the Plaza Grande
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Church of La Compañía de Jesús
Congratulations to our Ecuador Volcanoes team for their successful Whymper Peak Summit today at 6,268 m (20,564 ft)!! Luke, Zack and Estalin have reached the summit of Chimborazo, Ecuador’s highest peak! Chimborazo’s location along the earth’s equatorial bulge makes its summit the farthest point on the Earth’s surface from the Earth’s center (aka closest to the sun). This challenging climb with many technical challenges provided spectacular views across the many glaciated peaks in the Andes mountain range. Today on this crystal clear day, we could see Colombia in the north and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Our team is now back in Quito where they enjoyed their celebration dinner. Estalin, Luke and Zack are enjoying their last couple days in the capital city of Quito, experiencing the rich culture and beautiful Spanish colonial architecture.
Thank you Estalin Valladolid for the beautiful photos across Ecuador and great leadership throughout! Cheers team!
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Luke and Zack starting to walk to Base Camp Stubel near Chimborazo.
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Rise and shine! Alpine start on Chimborazo summit day.
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Luke and Zack on their final push to the summit of Chimborazo!
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Last steps to the summit of Chimborazo, in the background you can see Veintimilla Summit at 6,230 m (20,440 ft).
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Whymper summit at 6,268 m (20,564 ft) In the back on the right you can see Cotopaxi!
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Cloud layers rolling in over Luke and Zack.
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Descending from Veintimilla Summit at 6,230 m (20,440 ft).
Descending from the summit of Whymper peak, the background Ilinizas, Cotopaxi, Cayambe and Antizana.
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After the summit of Chimborazo, Luke Zack, and Estalin eating rabbit and guinea pig in Quito.
