Climbed with Matt "dad" Sherman and Linda Josephson after spending one night in noisy refugio. Cold & windy on glacier with some frozen precipitation. Several crevasse bridges (more apparent descending) and a traverse of moderately steep terrain - maybe 40 to 45 degrees. Sunny & warm on summit. Impressive crater. Routine descent though snow conditions had softened, of course, and anti-balling plates might have been helpful on crampons.
Route Climbed: normal Date Climbed: 4-January-1998
A very smooth climb with an Ecuadorian guide.
Before visiting Ecuador, I had not even tried to summit any of Europes 4000m peaks! Thus, when I had to abandon my ambitions of observing Mountain Tapir or Spectacled Bear in the wild, I certainly was the amateur on any summit attempt to follow.
It turned out, however, that others were prepared even less. Several tour groups (especially from my home country) failed the same day predictably, because they had not bothered enough to acclimatizise.
Left the hut at 1am... reached the top in 6 1/2 hours.. what an awsome summit. Great views or our next peak, Chimobrazo and other volcanoes...
route does get steep in sections. Roped up toward the top near the Yanasacha Black Band.
Great next step after Orizaba and Ecuador was a great country.
we got caught in the middle of economic uprest and were also robbed at gunpoint by 3 bandito's in Quito. there were 4 of us and they attacked us anyway. i would try to take mace in your luggage or better yet, buy some while your over there as a precaution. This was not fun but we did fight back and fought them off.
recomend carrying mace and only the money you will need at the moment on you. do NOT carry all your cash. Also, carry a copy of your passport, not the original.
We spent 2-nights in the hut, which I highly recommend. Summit day was quite windy, cold, & with variable clouds. There were a few steep sections higher-up, although the last 150 yds. was quite gradual to the summit. Caution! is advised on the way down, as it warms-up, & due to your close proximity to the equator. You'll experience increased balling effect upon your crampons. We stayed the night in Latacunga, which worked-out well, except for some unknown reason, this town wasn't too friendly. I don't have an answer, because the rest of Ecuador was very hospitable. Overall, I would say this is a good mountain, & also a good country to step-up the altitude!
BicRungee - Jul 10, 2002 3:30 pm
Route Climbed: Normal Date Climbed: January 2001Climbed with Matt "dad" Sherman and Linda Josephson after spending one night in noisy refugio. Cold & windy on glacier with some frozen precipitation. Several crevasse bridges (more apparent descending) and a traverse of moderately steep terrain - maybe 40 to 45 degrees. Sunny & warm on summit. Impressive crater. Routine descent though snow conditions had softened, of course, and anti-balling plates might have been helpful on crampons.
Henning Lege - Jun 13, 2002 6:30 am
Route Climbed: normal Date Climbed: 4-January-1998A very smooth climb with an Ecuadorian guide.
Before visiting Ecuador, I had not even tried to summit any of Europes 4000m peaks! Thus, when I had to abandon my ambitions of observing Mountain Tapir or Spectacled Bear in the wild, I certainly was the amateur on any summit attempt to follow.
It turned out, however, that others were prepared even less. Several tour groups (especially from my home country) failed the same day predictably, because they had not bothered enough to acclimatizise.
tiefenthaler - May 19, 2002 5:11 am
Route Climbed: Normal route Date Climbed: 25 April 1987Start at the hut at 4 am. Summited 9:30 am. We were lucky with the weather since the clouds started to come in after 10 am.
thomas.schmeidl - Mar 19, 2002 4:53 pm
Date Climbed: April 1986Summitted with Wolfi and Schol after reaching the crater rim NOT at the highest point.
Zeke - Nov 28, 2001 12:44 pm
Route Climbed: Standard Date Climbed: Jan 2001Left the hut at 1am... reached the top in 6 1/2 hours.. what an awsome summit. Great views or our next peak, Chimobrazo and other volcanoes...
route does get steep in sections. Roped up toward the top near the Yanasacha Black Band.
Great next step after Orizaba and Ecuador was a great country.
we got caught in the middle of economic uprest and were also robbed at gunpoint by 3 bandito's in Quito. there were 4 of us and they attacked us anyway. i would try to take mace in your luggage or better yet, buy some while your over there as a precaution. This was not fun but we did fight back and fought them off.
recomend carrying mace and only the money you will need at the moment on you. do NOT carry all your cash. Also, carry a copy of your passport, not the original.
Elwood - Oct 21, 2001 7:34 pm
Route Climbed: Normal Route Date Climbed: 1/21/99We spent 2-nights in the hut, which I highly recommend. Summit day was quite windy, cold, & with variable clouds. There were a few steep sections higher-up, although the last 150 yds. was quite gradual to the summit. Caution! is advised on the way down, as it warms-up, & due to your close proximity to the equator. You'll experience increased balling effect upon your crampons. We stayed the night in Latacunga, which worked-out well, except for some unknown reason, this town wasn't too friendly. I don't have an answer, because the rest of Ecuador was very hospitable. Overall, I would say this is a good mountain, & also a good country to step-up the altitude!