Ecuadorian Andes Archives

Ecuador 2022.07.25

Summits on Iliniza Norte (5126m/16,813ft)

Today our Ecuador team topped out on the 16,813 ft. (5126m) summit of Illiniza Norte as they continue their acclimatization. Here’s lead guide Estalin Suárez with a recap of the day:

Hello to everybody! This is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ecuador Volcanoes expedition. Today we got the summit of Iliniza Norte, which is 16,800 feet.

We got a great, great day – beautiful weather, very clear. We started very early in the morning. We could see the sun rise along the avenue of volcanoes in Ecuador. Very, very happy we got finally good weather on this expedition. Now we are at the lodge just resting after our good lunch as well and yeah!

Tomorrow we are going to just have a rest day and then get ready for the big one!

Okay, bye!!

Climber Kevin G. ready to head out

Sunrise climbing on Illiniza Norte

Sunrise on the Avenue of Volcanoes, Ecuador

Morning alpenglow

Sunning views of Ecuador’s volcanoes

Climbing on Illiniza Norte

Summit success 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 daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions. Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.“

– Instagram:

July 29, 2022/0 Comments/by Kurt

Ecuador 2022.07.25

Corazon Cumbre!

Today, the team climbed another eroded and extinct volcano, “El Corazon,” located about 40 km southwest of Quito. The name Corazon means “heart” in Spanish and is said to refer to the two gullies on the north west slopes which, when seen from the distance, appear to join together in the shape of a heart. While the weather has been challenging thus far, the team has kept high spirits and looks forward to the days ahead! Lead guide, Estalin Suárez, check in with today’s dispatch:

Hello! This is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ecuador volcanoes expedition – today is July 27th.

We, Mr. Kevin Gary and I, climbed El Corazon volcano which is 15,700 feet. We didn’t have much luck with the weather – it was cloudy, a little bit rainy, and even some snow, which is very very weird for this mountain! We actually got a lot of snow on the way up, but it was okay! It was challenging and we had to push a little bit harder, but finally we got the summit! It was a nice climb – a little bit different with the snow. We’re still motivated. Hopefully the weather improves the next few days.

Now we’re at the lodge just resting and waiting to have dinner! Hopefully tomorrows weather will be better. Bye!

Ascending the snow covered slopes of Corazon.

Rope team navigating the challenging weather on Corazon.

Climber, Kevin Gary approaching the summit!

Cumbre!

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 daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions. Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.“

– Instagram:

July 27, 2022/0 Comments/by Mike

Ecuador 2022.07.25

Ecuador Volcanoes Expedition is Underway!

Acclimatization hike in Ecuador! Dark, but beautiful skies up above!

Our Ecuador volcanoes expedition has begun! Today, the team started the acclimatization process, reaching the summit of Pasochoa at 13,779 feet. Lead guide, Estalin Suárez, check in with today’s dispatch:

Hello! This is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ecuador Volcanoes expedition – today is July 26th.

We just started the acclimatization process with the summit of Pasochoa volcano (4200m/13,779ft) which is 13,800 feet. So, we had a nice hike, even though the weather wasn’t that good – a little bit cloudy and we got some rain at the summit. But, it was good, it was good.

Now we are in a nice lodge just resting and getting ready for tomorrow. So, that is it for today!

Guide, Estalin and climber, Kevin on the summit of Pasochoa!

Climber, Kevin on Pasochoa.

Among the clouds during todays acclimatization hike in Ecuador.

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 daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions. Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.“

– Instagram:

July 26, 2022/0 Comments/by Mike

Ecuador 2022.03.01

Chimborazo Summit!

Yesterday our team reached the summit of Chimborazo (6263m/20,543ft) – Ecuador’s highest peak and the closest point to the Moon and furthest from Earth’s center! Garrett, Victor (@VictorVescovo), and Estalin left their high camp on Chimborazo (5304m/17,400ft) at midnight and climbed through a mild electrical storm (lightning) to reach the summit at 6 AM on a clear morning.

They had some nice views at the top of this massive glaciated volcano, then made their way down and are now safely back in Quito. They feel very lucky as the previous week the weather and route conditions (snowstorms, deep and unstable snow) made it impossible for climbers to reach the summit of Chimborazo.

This concludes our private expedition to Ecuador, next up is our Mount Everest and Lhotse expedition in Nepal that kicks off in a couple of weeks! Stay tuned!

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:

March 11, 2022/0 Comments/by Garrett

Ecuador 2022.03.01

Cotopaxi Summit!

Victor V. and Garrett on the summit of Cotopaxi!

The Madison Mountaineering team of Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo), Estalin Suarez, and Garrett Madison had a great climb of Cotopaxi (5897m/19,347ft)! Despite some challenging weather conditions over the last few days their summit morning was nice with some great views from the top!

Victor’s ice axe has been with him to the top of Everest, the bottom of the ocean (Mariana Trench Challenger Deep) during his Five Deeps Expedition and now the summit of Cotopaxi. The climbers were also able to test out their Omega Speedmaster Moonwatches on the climb, the first watch worn on the Moon! Thanks to Omega for helping sponsor the climb!

The team is resting in Banos for a day before heading off to Chimborazo, Ecuador’s highest peak and the closest point to the sun. Fingers crossed for good weather and route conditions, as recent teams have turned back on their Chimborazo summit attempts due to deep snow.

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:

March 8, 2022/0 Comments/by Garrett

Ecuador 2022.03.01

Greetings from Ecuador!

Our team of Garrett Madison, Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo), and Estalin Suarez have begun their mountaineering program by acclimatizing on some ancient and extinct volcanoes before heading to their first objective, Cotopaxi (5897m/19,347ft)! They’ve trekked up Pashachoa, Ruminahui, and are heading to Cotopaxi tomorrow evening to make their first summit attempt. Cotopaxi is a stratovolcano, the second-highest peak in Ecuador and one of the highest active volcanoes in the world.

So far the team has enjoyed some cool and moist weather in the lush countryside.

Stay tuned as they make their way up Cotopaxi and later Chimborazo, Ecuador’s highest peak and also the furthest point from the center of the Earth.

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:

March 4, 2022/0 Comments/by Garrett

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

Illinizas Refuge

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!