Trip Reports
On Thursday we drove from Quito up to the hut at the base of Cayambe, a beautiful volcano covered in glaciers and snow rising to 18,996 ft in the central Andes of Ecuador. The weather was beautiful and we had great views of the mountain as we drove up the rugged 4wd road 1.5 hours…
Vanessa Blasic called in, utilizing her ever-growing Spanish skills, to report that the team is at the hut on the flank of the 18,997 foot Cayambe Volcano. They will sleep for a few hours before awakening before midnight to start their ascent. The weather looks a bit challenging, but hopefully, the winds will abate somewhat…
Vanessa called in again this evening, this time from a climber’s hut situated at near 4500m on the flank of the peak they climbed today, the 15,700′ Guagua Pichincha. The goal of the past two days has been to build as solid a platrom of acclimatization as possible, so that they will be well prepared…
Vanessa Blasic called in after the team completed an acclimatization ascent of the 15,413 foot Rucu Pichincha, an active stratovolcano situated above the capital city of Quito Ecuador. The team took a gondola or teleferrique up to the trailhead and climbed through tall, straw-like alpine grass to reach the summit. Tonight, they will camp up…
We had a great acclimatization hike today on the 13,700 ft Volcan Pasachoa, an extinct volcano on the outskirts of Quito. It was a beautiful day, but clouds coming up from the Amazon Jungle to the east obscured the views of the upper reaches of Cotopaxi and Chimborazo off in the distance. Tomorrow we’ll be…
The Blasics are building up a foundation of acclimatization while taking in some of the sights in and around the capital city of Quito, Ecuador. They toured the historical Old Town of the city, including La Catedral (the Metropolitan Cathedral of Quito), which dates back to the late 1500’s. They also took advantage of being…
We would like to warmly thank the Blasics for joining Mountain Trip on yet another expedition, this one to climb the three highest peaks in the Andean country of Ecuador. Greg, Nick and Vanessa arrived last night into the capital city of Quito, where Mountain Trip co-owner Bill Allen and our Ecuadorian support staff met…
A final dispatch from lead guide Adam Smith: We climbed the breathtaking 16000-foot ridge towards high camp and passed the remaining climbers on their descent. Arriving to a deserted camp at 17,200 feet and watching the final groups round Windy Corner and out of sight, the isolation sunk in. It is a wild and special…
Thank you Brandon, Dawn, Will, Sam & Josh for an excellent trip. To me a successful trip ends with people in high spirits about what happened and excited about what will happen next, and this Denali trip did. While we were out there, we enjoyed good weather, a classic route and a few weeks in…
The team arrived in base camp early in the afternoon today, and shortly after hopped in ski planes and were in Talkeetna. They are spending tonight enjoying the relative civilization of Talkeetna and will be coming back to Anchorage tomorrow. Congratulations to everyone on the team for working hard and getting down safely. This was…