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GETTING HIGH IN ECUADOR
by Rich Henke
BACKGROUND
Ecuador, one of the smallest of the South
American countries, is geographically diverse. The high Andean range
extends through the country in a north-south direction separating
the hot, humid lowlands on the Pacific coast from the tropical rain
forest of the upper Amazon basin in the east. In addition, Ecuador
is situated directly on the equator. In fact, 'ecuador' is Spanish
for 'equator'. The mountain climber and backpacker has much to choose
from. Ecuador has one of the world's greatest concentrations of
volcanoes of which a considerable number are still active. Chimborazo,
the highest peak at 20,703 feet, is higher than any mountain in
the America's north of it, and is also the highest mountain in the
world measured from the center of the Earth. The weather is often
uncertain in Ecuador, and reading about facts such as these gives
one something to do while waiting out storms in a tent
.
In June 1995, after leading a group of 12 people to the Galápagos
Islands located off the coast of Ecuador, I stayed in Ecuador to
climb. John Otter and Andy Kleist from the Galápagos trip
joined me.
COTOPAXI
Standard Ecuador climbing is not my style.
Typically, people acclimatize a few days in the picturesque capital
city of Quito, at 9,300 feet in a lovely mountain setting. They
then hire a jeep to drive them to a hut, often above 15,000 feet,
spend one or two nights, and then do a one day ascent of a peak
hoping to get back to Quito before altitude sickness sets in. Ascents
usually start in the early hours of the morning. Ecuadorian guides
are often used, since it is difficult to route-find on a strange
mountain in the dark and detailed route descriptions are often hard
to find.
After much discussion, John, Andy, and I decided to climb 19,350
foot Cotopaxi. The second highest and most popular peak, Cotopaxi
may also be the most aesthetic due to the huge semi-active crater
at the summit. It is located in Cotopaxi National Park, a beautiful
area containing a region called the Páramo, at elevations
of 12,000 to 14,000 feet, which has a truly unique plant life. Several
nights spent at these altitudes allowed us to acclimatize before
attempting Cotopaxi.
We spent half a day traveling from Quito to a 12,500 foot lake called
Limpiopungo using public transport, which in Ecuador is efficient
and inexpensive. We were self-contained with tents, climbing equipment,
and food for 5 days. On our second day we day hiked up Rumínahui,
a rocky peak with two summits. We climbed the central summit at
about 15,100 feet and the northern summit at 15,455 feet. Typical
Ecuador weather was evident as we had light snow near the top, and
were caught in a heavy rain on the return to our camp. It also rained
much of the night.
On day 3, we started walking up the road toward the refugio located
on the north side of Cotopaxi at 15,745 feet. We felt that a slow
3000 foot hike with 55 lb. packs would be good for acclimatization.
About half way up, some Ecuadorian tourists felt sorry for us and
offered to give us a lift. Andy agreed to go with all 3 of our packs.
John and I continued to hike but had we kept our packs, we would
probably still be walking.
The Cotopaxi hut is first class. We were there during the week so
we saw the hut in its best light without the weekend crowds. There
are semi-flush toilets (including the bucket of water), fresh rain
water for drinking, bunks with foam mattresses, a huge sunken fireplace
complete with firewood, and beer to buy if you want to get high
faster. Due to the recent bad weather (it rained most of the day
while we hiked up) only one other group was in the hut, a 5 person
party from New Mexico. The weather cleared in the evening which
allowed us to see the route that we would attempt the following
morning. We decided to get up at 1 a.m. and leave at 2 a.m., following
the new Mexico group who planned to leave at 12:30 a.m. When the
alarm rang, Andy had a bad headache. He decided not to go so John
and I were on our own.
The route up Cotopaxi consists of 3 distinct parts. The total gain
is 3600 feet. The first 1000 feet follows a well marked path up
a scree slope. The middle third of the route extends from the start
of the glacier and wanders up through a large crevasse field. Finally,
the upper third is crevasse free but the angle steepens to possibly
40° at a few places.
Everything I had read and heard about the mountain indicated that
the route was relatively safe as long as one stayed on the well
marked path. Based on this, John and I went very light with just
ice axes, crampons, and wands, leaving our rope at the hut. We had
no problems for the first half of the climb. Although it had snowed
several inches the previous day, the track was visible and the route
was fairly well marked with wands. In addition, we had the New Mexico
group's tracks to follow. It was dark with no moon so we climbed
using headlamps.
After about 3 hours, we caught up with the New Mexico group. They
were in the process of turning back due to perceived avalanche danger
and a difficult crevasse crossing. We continued on, seeing no avalanche
danger and crossed the crevasse at a safer location. However, as
we climbed higher, the game changed. The new snow had hidden the
track completely in an area which was likely to have crevasses.
We probed very carefully and slowly, barely avoiding a crevasse
3 feet wide and 100 feet deep which was covered by fresh snow regretting
having left our rope behind. It took us 1 1/2 hours to pass through
this small area before we once again found the well marked path.
The upper third of the mountain went quickly and easily since there
were no crevasses and the snow was firm. We summited at 9:45 a.m.,
almost 8 hours after we started. It was a beautiful day and we had
clear views of the 2000 foot deep crater at the summit as well as
other high peaks in the distance. After a short stay, we descended
the upper third of the mountain in 30 minutes. It then took us over
3 hours to descend the next 1000 feet through the crevasse field.
Our crampons balled up severely, which required us to often knock
the snow off at every step. We had to bypass part of our ascent
route which did not appear safe due to the soft snow conditions.
Finally, it took a long time to cross thin snow bridges across very
deep and unsafe looking crevasses. As before, any travel off the
marked path required tedious probing and checking to avoid hidden
crevasses. We finally reached the hut about 2:30 p.m. finishing
a 12 hour plus day and happy to see the last of the crevasses.
Meanwhile, Andy had recovered and was participating in the spell
binding recovery of 2 frozen bodies in the ice that had been discovered
that morning near the base of the glacier, 1000 feet above the hut.
They turned out to be 2 Swiss climbers who had disappeared 5 years
ago. The hut guardian was so excited about the discovery that he
raced up the scree slope that had taken us an hour that morning,
in a few short minutes, ice ax in hand and continued right on to
the icy glacier in his rubber boots. The climbers were found frozen
under the ice with only their feet sticking out. It is unknown what
had happened to them but they probably fell into a crevasse and
were moved down by the shifting glacier over the last 5 years. While
this was happening, we packed up and found a ride down the mountain
to a nearby town called Latacunga, where we enjoyed a good dinner
and hot showers.
In retrospect, it was a mistake to travel without a rope. Cotopaxi's
reputation as a 'safe' mountain is based on following a guide's
footsteps. In theory, a competent guide will never get off the path,
and will be aware of the quality of the snow bridges. Also, climbers
will not waste time looking for the route, allowing them to summit
quickly and descend before crampon balling up becomes a problem.
However, I think this is false security. The crevasse crossings
I saw on Cotopaxi were dangerous under any circumstances. One crevasse
about 5 feet wide was covered with a bridge less than 2 feet deep
with holes extending through! Going up in the dark early morning
hours hides much of this.
BACKPACKING THE PÁRAMO
Andy departed the following day to catch
his flight home. Meanwhile, John and I had another week and we were
by now well acclimatized. John had climbed Chimborazo on a previous
trip to Ecuador in 1975 so rather than tackle Ecuador's highest,
we decided to do a multi-day backpack just north of Chimborazo and
attempt the 2 summits of Carihuairazo, the 9th highest peak in Ecuador
at 16,471 feet.
Our hike started at 13,200 feet where we got off a public bus and
started walking towards the east with supplies for 5 days. As we
climbed toward the pass separating Chimborazo from Carihuairazo,
we had beautiful views of Chimborazo to the south and passed through
Indian settlements where a herd of 300 llamas and sheep were being
brought back to the village from high pastures at the end of the
day. But it was not to be. The good weather deteriorated quickly,
and although 2 days later we set up a camp above 15,000 feet, we
were not able to attempt the twin summits. We continued hiking east
until we reached the Pan American Highway and returned to Quito.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time in this high Páramo region;
I have never experienced plant life so interesting. The most striking
examples were large green mounds formed by vegetation, several feet
in diameter, that were so firm that one could walk on them.
GUAGUA PICHINCHA
The day before we were scheduled to return
home, John and I climbed 15,724 foot, Guagua Pichincha, a short
distance from Quito. The challenge here is not the summit, which
is reached in 30 minutes from the end of a 4 wheel drive road, but
rather the 3300 foot descent into the semi-active crater where we
saw steam fumeroles and exotic vegetation. The high point (and low
point) was soaking in hot water pools formed by 3 streams cascading
down the cliffs deep inside of this crater. The water was a little
too warm but we managed.
SUMMARY
Airfares to Ecuador are not unreasonable,
and once there, it is very inexpensive to travel around. It is one
of the safer countries in South America. By using local transport
and avoiding rental cars, 4 wheel drive vehicles, and guides, one
can climb and hike in Ecuador for less than $15/day.
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