My main goal for coming to Quito was to climb Cotopaxi and Chimborazo. The local climbing agency recommended me to do some acclimatization climbs before attempting those. And so I met my guide Diego, and start an 8-day continuous climb to summit 5 volcano peaks including Cotopaxi and Chimborazo.
A sign showing some of the volcanos in the area.
Thanks to spending 3 weeks trekking in Nepal, I cruised through the first 2 peaks, Pasochoa(4200m) and Ruco Pichincha(4696m).
When we got to the Illinizas, the weather started to show its true face of April. In Ecuador, you can climb all year round, except for April. Constant snowfall and unpredictable temperature often drastically reduce your summit chances. The night before we suppose to summit Illiniza Norte, the temperature dropped drastically. Diego and the shelter caregiver quickly hid in the warmth of their sleeping bags while we waited for the water to be boiled.
The cold didn’t bother the little fox outside of our shelter. Smelling the delicious chicken that the shelter caregiver cooked up, the little fox hoped for some leftovers. Well, it unfortunately has to wait for us to fill our bellies first.
(Illiniza Norte (5126m) in the sunset)
The next morning, my guide Diego delayed our starting time. It was too cold, he said, “it snowed.” Snow is to be expected on most summits, however, it is unusual for Illiniza Norte. Because of that, most climbers do not carry crampons with them. Neither did we.
(The morning light lit up all the surrounding as we climbed up. Especially beautiful was Cotopaxi.)
And the early morning went on relatively uneventful despite the snow. We got to the traverse, 200 meter below the summit, the snow started to take it’s toll. Without the help of crampons and ice axes, we tried to use safety and walking sticks to help us navigate. However, it became apparent that it was way too slippery. Diego turned to me and said “sit down. We are going to wait a bit for the sun to melt the snow and the ice on the rocks.” Wait? How long do we have to wait for? As I sat down, the cold and my fear of heights started to sink in. It didn’t help that the name for the traverse is “Paso de la Muerte”, or Pass of Death.
As I was sitting there, Diego was busy trying to find places to secure both of us. Then we dug. One foot-hole at a time to get us over the traverse.
Having navigated the traverse, I felt like a true mountaineer at the summit of Illiniza Norte. Diego was just relieved that neither one of us fell.
