Pasochoa Archives

Ecuador 2023.11.18

Ecuador Volcanoes expedition is underway!

Our team on the approach to Pasochoa volcano (Photo by Estalin Suárez)

We are thrilled to be back in the Ecuadorian Andes! Our team arrived in Quito, and with a good nights sleep after a long day of travel, our team has headed for the mountains and begun their climbs on the Ecuador Volcanoes. The team completed their first acclimatization hike, and with a few more days of acclimatization ahead, look forward to climbing some of Ecuador’s highest peaks, Cayambe and Chimborazo! Expedition leader, Estalin Suárez checks in with this dispatch from Ecuador:

Hello! This is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ecuador Volcanoes expedition – today is November 19.

We just did our first acclimatization hike, it was the Pasochoa volcano (4200m/13,800ft). We got the summit, had some really nice views of all the volcanoes surrounding, and had a really great day! We got 13,700 feet and now we are in a really nice lodge resting and getting ready for tomorrow.

Our next hike is going to be the Corazón volcano (4790m/15,720ft). Stay tuned! Bye.

The team on the summit of Pasochoa Volcano! (Photo by Estalin Suárez)

At the trailhead (Photo by Estalin Suárez)

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:

November 20, 2023/0 Comments/by Garrett

Ecuador 2023.01.16

Summit on Pasochoa Volcano!

Another Madison Mountaineering expedition is underway in Ecuador! The team is wasting no time starting the acclimatization process, reaching the summit of Pasochoa Volcano on the second day of the expedition. Expedition leader, Estalin Suárez, checks in with this dispatch from Ecuador:

Hello, hello! This is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ecuador Volcanoes expedition – today is February 17.

We started a new expedition! Today we summited our first acclimatization peak which is Pasochoa (4200m/13,779ft) at 13,780 feet. The weather was really good! We got some sunshine and a little bit clouds, but mostly very good. At the moment we are in a really nice lodge called Los Martinoz just resting. In the afternoon we got a little bit of rain, but at the moment it is getting better!

Tomorrow we are going to the national park of Cotopaxi (5897m/19,347ft) just to do another hike for the acclimatization. Stay tuned!

Hiking along through the Ecuadorian Highlands!

On the trail towards the summit of Pasochoa!

Hands up if it’s been a good first hike in Ecuador!

Among the clouds while nearing the top of Pasochoa.

The view from the lodge at the end of a good first day!

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:

January 17, 2023/0 Comments/by Garrett

Ecuador 2023.01.02

Ecuador Volcanoes Expedition Kickoff!

The team during their acclimatization hike of Pasochoa Volcano!

The Madison Mountaineering Ecuador Volcanoes expedition is off to a great start after the entire team reached the summit of Pasochoa Volcano! This summit comes as part of the teams acclimatization efforts, as bigger mountains are on the horizon for later in the scheduled itinerary. Expedition leader, Estalin Suárez, checks in with todays dispatch from Ecuador:

Hello! This Estalin calling in for the Madison (Mountaineering) Ecuador Volcanoes expedition.

Today we started our acclimatization process with a summit of Pasochoa Volcano (4200m/13,779ft), which is 13,700 feet. The weather was quite good – a little bit cloudy, but we could reach the summit! All the group did it – all the group reached the summit.

Everybody’s feeling good, motivated for the next mountains. We just got dinner here at the lodge, now everybody is going to have a rest and get ready for the next mountain!

Keep in touch and talk tomorrow!

Climbers on the summit!

Our climbers ascending the 13,000′ trail towards the summit of Pasochoa!

Traversing the ridge line on the way towards the summit!

Our team on the walk out from a successful first climb!

Cloudy skies did not stop the fun!

Ascending Pasochoa!

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:

January 4, 2023/0 Comments/by Garrett

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 2022.01.02

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!

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!

Hiking up Pasochoa

Descending Pasochoa

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 3, 2022/0 Comments/by Kurt

Ecuador 2021.12.04

Cotopaxi Summit!

Our Ecuador Volcanoes continued their perfect summit streak by reaching the trip ultimate summit of Cotopaxi, the second-highest point in Ecuador! Lead guide, Estalin Suárez has the day’s audio expedition dispatch:

Hello, this is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ecuador Volcanoes expedition. I’m glad to say that today we got the summit of Cotopaxi, which is 19,347 ft. With this we finish our 9-day climbing tour in Ecuador with 100% success!

Yesterday we started, more or less, at midnight. It took us six hours to reach the summit and then less than three hours down. We had an amazing day – really good weather, almost perfect! Carter and Saskia are very, very happy with the results of our expedition.

Enjoy the pictures and visit Ecuador!

Bye!