Hello,

Has anybody climbed Iliniza Norte via the normal route ?

What are the chances to find ice/snow in June ?
Easy climbing ? Easy to find its way through ?

Thanks to anybody who could help

Snow is unlikely, significant snow very unlikely.

I'll tell you first hand that a fair amount of first timers turn around when a little frost or clouds obscure the worn path beyond the tower where you have to leave the summit ridge.

hey g hae you climbed that mountain???

heheheh


How are you doing ?

It would be cool to meet you for some climbing in the winter.
I just finished school and I am FREE!!!!

was there 2 weeks ago, still only holds snow right after a storm. typically melts out the next day. pretty straightforward, recommend as a day trip rather than overnight b/c the hut isn't very nice compared to the others down there, unless you plan to camp which is also popular. send a PM if you like- got lots of pics

Hello tmahon,

Thanks for the advice.

- As a day trip how many hours does it take ?
- What is the altitude gain all over ?
- What's the best way to go there by car ? (taxi, agency, hitch-hike...)

I'd agree with what Tmahon and others have said. Typically the snow coat doesn't stay too long, and the climb's short enough that I'd bypass the hut as well. It wasn't terribly technical but if there IS snow and/or ice on the last part of the route (some guides call it the paso de muerto or some other far-too-frightening nickname) it can be a little tricky.

Far as your other questions go I think it took me about 4-5 up and 3 down, altitude gain being around 3500-4000 (though I'm not positive), and I just hired a driver in the nearest town (Latacunga? I can't recall its name). Hope that helps.

3500-4000 meters or feet ?
If it's meters, that's shit loads to climb )

feet, definitely. i actually have it written down as about 1000 meters. the TH being just under 14K ft. and the summit 16,800 or so.

a few things-
we arranged a ride from a friend in quito, early AM- 2 hour drive to TH, we did the RT and he drove us back for about $70. i can't speak for his availability, he was happy to help. the day before we climbed rucu pichincha, right outside of quito, now accessible by a gondola for about $7 to 13,900, then hike/scramble to the 15,400 ft. summit- great for acclimatizing. an easy cab ride from your hotel/hostal.

you can arrange a ride in a camioneta from latacunga or machachi including a return and stay at either of those places- might not find more than a two door pickup, tight for a group, especially if its raining. those are easier places to get going on your next goal like cotopaxi than is el chaupi.

2 years ago we bused to machachi(1 hour) then bus to el chaupi, near the TH and stayed at a hostal, the only one there, owned by an ecuadorian named vladamir. he also owns the hut at the illinizas and can drive you the remaining miles to the TH and pick you up, as well as pack your gear up to the hut on a mule if you like. he runs everything up there, his hostal in chaupi is real nice(unlike the hut) and will do meals for you as well, none of it too expensive. he can also shuttle you to and from el corazon(acclimatizing peak) if you like. he got us a ride to the cotopaxi hut the nextday.

lots of guide groups like to sleep up at the hut, but in tents, there's plenty of space. they get the time up high but don't have to stay in the hut. for a few bucks you can use the kitchen in there so you don't have to pack fuel. we stayed in the hut, we should have camped outside.

one way isn't better than the other. the day trip is nice, but if you need the extra time up high then i would use the mules to haul up your camp gear and you can spend 2 nights. besides, the hostal is nice and sometimes traveling on the buses adds something to the trip.

we did a fair amount of acclimatizing around here(aspen) before. after the day on rucu, we did the RT in 6 hours- 4 up and 2 down(2 to the hut). it helped that i had been there before so there wasn't much for routefinding on the upper parts of the route. also, there is an express descent down sand/gravel/scree right below the summit pitch that gets you down quick w/o having to repeat the upper scrambling- definitely makes it faster only it connects youwith the trail well BELOW the hut, about the halfway point from the TH to the hut. so if you're staying there you need to climb back up. not a huge deal.

if you were considering illiniza sur you wold have to stay at the hut, that's more than a day trip

did the same as tmahon : bus to machachi, bus to el chaupi and stayed at the hostal owned by vladamir.
as far as difficulty: it's an easy scramble but due to bad weather many people go a bit off route before the summit and make it a moderate scramble ("trek engage' "). As mentioned by Juh33, the crux is el Paso de Muerto, where you leave the ridge for the north face: In normal conditions not a big deal, take few seconds to consider different options and you pass it easily, if going straight forward it would hardly be even a UIAA class III... and the whole thing is for 2m or 3 max.

Climbed it in 1998 and back then, the hut (called Nuevos Horizontes, I think) was a total dump with too many climbers and a crappy stove belching out loads of carbon monoxide. What I found pretty ridiculous was that Vladimir expected to be paid $10 a night for what was then a hell-hole with few environmental safeguards. I stayed both in 1997 and 1998 at Rodrigo Peralvo's really fabulous house/hostel located above El Chaupi and in a great position to do the Three Peaks of El Chaupi (very nice!) and walk all the way across beautiful paramo to the hut. If I were to do it over again, I would definitely camp up high. Maybe a night at La Virgen (and of course depending on acclimatization) or go all the way up to the saddle between Illiniza Sur and Norte, not far from where the hut is. It's only a few hours above the saddle to the top of Norte in good conditions with less than 1500 feet of total gain, if I remember correctly.

Merci Ario ;o)

Sounds good to me. We'll see if we have enough time...