I am climbing Chimborazo and Cotopaxi this coming July, I am looking for someone who has climbed either one who I can email a few questions to.

I've climbed both- ask away.

Woodie

Woodie Hopper wrote:I've climbed both- ask away.

Woodie

me too

Woody and Radson,
Very cool to get such a quick hit on this topic! Let's see, I am going to ecuador in July. We are doing 5 peaks in 7 days which is ambitious but will be a thrill. We are doing the standard route on chimborazo, from pictures it looks non-technical but a grinding climb, true? Does the climb range in slope degree or stay fairly constant. It looks like a 40 degree slope for most of it?
ALso, I have been told to get glacier glasses. I have a pretty good pair of sunglasses (i live in colorado, they are fine for up to 14,000 feet), do you recommend real glacier glasses, Julbo?

woody, just looking at your profile and see you are from denver. i am from colorado springs.
-Josh (wicked good)

7 days? I am not sure of your schedule but in the past I have met some Colorado-ians? who have had somewhat overly optimistic estimations of their acclimatizing ability and suffered accordingly.

I'm not a strong climber and I climbed 4 mountains in 2 weeks, gradually progressing in altitude. By the time I hit Chimbo, I was quite delighted how easily I got to the summit (Not the main summit of 30m? highe,r as clouds were rolling in)

As for glasses, I see people wearing all sorts of glasses but should to be CAT-3 or higher, ( I prefer polarised) and with limited 'leakage' of light from the bottom or the sides.

wickedgood wrote:We are doing 5 peaks in 7 days...

Certainly ambitious. Rucu and Pasochoa are hikes. Norte a little more so. By day 7 we summited Coto and still were worn out. Maybe adjust and just do Norte, Coto and Chimb if you can for the 7 day blitz. Good luck.

it is ambitious, no doubt. right now though I am jogging with a 40lb pack up hill at around 13,000ft at least once a week, going to the gym 3 times a week, and doing some other workouts with a pack at about 7500ft (where i live). we are doing cayembe as one of the others.
So was chimborazo grueling?? it does not look technical, and we are doing it in july and i hear the weather is dry then. any truth to that? also, wondered about the necessity of double plastic mountaineering boots, which i have. I also have winter hiking boots that are crampon compatible, but much less stiff. I like a stiff boot on verticle ice and very steep slopes, but chimborazo and cotapaxi do not look super steep??

We did the Rucu peaks, Cayambe, Chimborazo and Cotopaxi in 9 days (and in that order). I didn't have any significant issues with fatigue, but my partner lasted 2 hours on Chimborazo and had to turn around at the "Castillo" which is before the glacier. I hired an extra guide just in case which was $300 with Moggely and obviously well worth it.

When I was on Chimborazo the ice was very hard, and pretty steep where we were, requiring pro. Cotopaxi has a short moderately steep section near the top, but it wasn't a big deal. If the conditions are going to be anything like I had on Chimborazo you are going to need a stiff boot.

I used Diamox in order to do this itinerary and if you are going to do both Cotopaxi and Chimborazo in 7 days I would not recommend doing them without Diamox.

I would check about conditions for these peaks for July- I'm reasonably sure for one of the peaks July is not a bad time but I can't remember which. I would check with the Moggely guides about that even if you are going with someone else or unguided. If this is true you might need to have extra days planned in case the conditions are not good.

If you have any other questions let me know, and yes I am in Denver, if you are up for a climb or hike sometime let me know!

Regards,

Woodie

The other thing I would like to point out is if you can't arrange more than seven days and are flexible as to which higher peaks you want to climb, you could substitute Cayambe or Antisana for Chimborazo (if Chimborazo isn't in good shape) since one of those may be in better shape since the weather patterns/conditions for Cotopaxi/Cayambe/Antisana are often different from Chimborazo.

Woodie

I'd second Antisana- way more fun than Cotopaxi or maybe even Chimbo. I would highly recommend giving yourself more time. If you are getting yourself around, you will probably have difficulty even navigating the country in that time, and if you are going guided, most decent guides won't take clients who have been at Quito altitude only a few days- the ones that will don't know what they are doing (see recent threads about Aconc. for what happens with fly-by-night S.American guides). Have you been at/near 20,000 feet before? If your hurry is a question of budget- you can stay in Ecuador for two weeks for about 100 dollars more than it costs to stay one week. IF it is a question of time off from work- quit the job that only gives a week off. fuck that. or maybe find a more fun, reasonable trip. Just getting to 20,000 feet does not really mean shit if it is an unenjoyable trip. But, if you are totally set on Coto and Chimbo, have fun, good luck, and try Antisana instead of Cotopaxi, it is a great mountain.

I don't even know if you could do 5 peaks in 7 days, just do to logistics. You'll be amazed at how much of your day is eaten up by travelling a mere 20 miles in a shitty vehicle on shitty 'roads'.

Having made two trips to climb volcanoes in Ecuador I would have to say that 7 days is an unrealistic and potentially dangerous plan if you want to climb both Cotopaxi and Chimborazo, never mind all the others (probably logistically impossible). If you plan to rush up these peaks without proper acclimatization, you should take nifedipine (to protect against pulmonary edema) and dexamethasone (for cerebral edema) as well as diamox. My advice is scale back the number of peaks and lengthen the trip a few days, and you'll have a much better time. Don't forget there are worthwhile cultural experiences to be had too. Re volcanoes to try, Illiniza Sur is worth considering as a warm-up to Cotopaxi, it is nearby, shorter, and more technical.

We are doing a guided tour, perhaps that will help all understand how we oculd pull this many peaks off. And I checked the tour description, we are using High Summits Mountaineering. It is a 9 day tour and we do 5 peaks: Rucu Pichincha,Cayembe, lliniza Norte, Cotopaxi, chimborazo.
who has gone in July? How were the conditions? temps at the summit?Keep the feedback coming!

wickedgood wrote:It is a 9 day tour and we do 5 peaks: Rucu Pichincha,Cayembe, lliniza Norte, Cotopaxi, chimborazo.
who has gone in July? How were the conditions? temps at the summit?Keep the feedback coming!

July is beautiful. My team was there for 15 days in 2007. We only had one day of crappy weather--our climb of Cotopaxi; I still don't believe there is a crater up there. My TR can give you more information.

Your trip is based on the assumption that you are already acclimated to some degree. Doing a peak basically every other day will be tough. You don't have any extra days if weather, transport or health problems become an issue--all part of the game. Good luck. Cheers!