30 metres more? just pick me up on the way back down!
Climbing Mt Cotopaxi, Ecuador.
30 metres more? just pick me up on the way back down! belongs to the following groups:
Latin America14-16 April 2002
Altitude, it sucks your energy away. Luckily my partner Anna and our guides Hugo and Jorge were not about to leave me sitting so close to our goal. I wasn’t impressed but 20 minutes later we were on top of the highest active volcano in Ecuador, the 5,897m (19,347ft) summit of Mt. Cotopaxi.
I’d been at this height before a few months earlier climbing Mt Chachani, a 6,075m (19,931ft) volcano just outside Arequipa in Peru. After that climb I distinctly remember telling myself ‘never again’. The throbbing headache and energy sapping lack of oxygen made it a memorable but uncomfortable experience. Some people never learn!
To acclimatize we had spent a few days at around 4,000m (13,123ft) exploring the beautiful Laguna Quilatoa to the west of Latacunga. In theory the longer you spend at higher altitudes the more your body gets used to it.
We were picked up by our guide Hugo in Latacunga as arranged with the agency in Banos. We were keen to make the most of the national park that surrounds Mt Cotopaxi, so we camped for a night close to lago Limpiopungo. The cloud and rain had persisted throughout the day, then in the late afternoon the sunshine arrived and the mountain was revealed rising from the valley floor. Awesome!
We awoke to a cold morning, loaded up the truck and headed off for a short trip to the road end. With the changing altitude the truck was struggling, as the road deteriorated and the angle increased it gave in and ground to a stop. I’m no mechanic so could offer little help, unfortunately Hugo didn’t seem too skilled in this department either and even the ‘whack it with a spanner’ approach didn’t seem to work. An hour or so later another group were on their way down from the mountain with a guide who, as luck would have it, was a mechanic. His tinkerings were a lot more successful and we were soon at our destination, the road end at 4,600m (15,091ft).
We started the climb at a leisurely pace, slowly walking up to the refugio José Rivas, our ‘base camp’ at 4,810m (15,780ft) and our accommodation for our second night.
Here we hooked up with Jorge, a trainee guide who had spent the last week at the refugio helping to guide several different groups. The afternoon was spent exploring the glacier. We roped up, fitted our crampons and refreshed our ice climbing skills hanging off ice walls on four tiny points of metal.
The summit had been an elusive place for the last few weeks, and the night before had seen only one party reach the summit, the first group to make it in several weeks. Hugo and Jorge were keen to make sure that they got us to the top as the weather forecast was perfect and the deep snow was compacting a little to give us a chance
By 8pm we tried to get a few hours sleep before we were to head off around 1am. The altitude and the excitement led to a semi-conscious kind of sleep. Listening to every breath accompanied by a rhythmic thumping in my head, as my heart appeared to be taking big powerful beats to pump the oxygen around my body. The refugio was very quiet with only one other group climbing that day, in peak season however it must be impossible to sleep with 70+ able to stay and climb each night.
At 1am, after a quick breakfast, we stepped out into a clear starlit sky. After the weather of the last couple of days we were relieved to see such a clear view of the stars and the valleys below.
Hugo led the way up the red scoria/scree slope to the snowline, baby steps all the way. At altitude, you just don’t move quickly, over exerting yourself soon takes it’s toll and to reach the top we needed to conserve as much energy as possible.
After around an hour we stopped to rope up and attach our crampons. With ice axe in hand we continued and started to cross the glacier proper, crossing crevasses and snow bridges and weaving our way up the mountain. The sky was beautifully clear and even without trace of the moon the reflection of the starlight on the snow made the torches almost unnecessary. Looking to the north we could make out the lights of Quito sprawling through the valley and to the southwest the snow covered peak of Ecuador’s highest mountain, Mt Chimborazo.
After four and a half hours of weaving our way up the glacier we came to the final push, an energy sapping steep 300m to the summit. After four and a half hours of plodding along slowly at altitude, my body was starting to feel it. I was starting to remember those words of wisdom after my last 6,000m ascent, never say never!
An hour later we were getting close to the top with the light starting to creep into the sky as the dawn broke. I was spent and ready to sit there and let the others carry on without me and pick me up on the way down… Luckily they weren’t listening and pushed me forward.
At just after 6:30am with the sun low on the horizon we finally reached the summit and were rewarded with a spectacular 360º view of Ecuador. The crater was puffing a few sulphurous clouds, but the view was virtually clear in all directions. The pain and fatigue were gone in an instant; we’d reached the top!
We celebrated with a big chunck of chocolate and a nip of ‘whisky’ courtesy of the other group climbing that day. We remembered to wip out the camera and take a few photos, the exertion of the climb having put all thoughts of photography out of our minds until that point, and took a few moments to reflect on the awesome beauty of the summit. It’s a feeling that’s difficult to capture in words. Imagine pushing yourself to the brink of exhaustion then reward yourself with a place so remote, so different to your normal environment with such astounding natural power and beauty and I guess you’d be half way to the feeling.
On the descent we were able to make out more of the deep crevasses we skirted, precarious ice bridges we crossed, and beautiful ice features we passed on the way up. Fatigue was creeping in but we had to keep moving as the ice bridges become less stable as the heat of the day increases. As much as we’d practiced ice climbing and self arrests the previous day, we didn’t really want to try it out for real.
By 10 am we were safely back at the refugio welcomed with a steaming cup of hot chocolate. Unfortunately the following day was our final day in South America, but we left with the knowledge that we’d be back one. As for the mountains, did I say ‘never again’? well, maybe just once more…
Useful links
Expediciones Amazonicas Travel Agency
http://www.amazonicas.banios.com/
Cotopaxi.com – Our route to the summit
http://www.cotopaxi.com/virtualroutes.htm
Information on Mt. Cotopaxi
http://www.ecuador-travel.net/information.volcano.cotopaxi.htm
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