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Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone has used High Summits Ecuador as a guide service and what has been your experience? Also was wondering if could recommend a local (Ecuadorian) guide service.

Thanks in advance.

I went with these guys

http://www.moggely.com/

I used and highly recommend:

http://www.andeanchallenge.com

bird wrote:http://www.sierranevada.ec/en/about/index.php
I used these guys for logistics and travel and stayed in their hotel in Quito. Did not use guides on mountains, but I recommend them highly. For what it's worth, I felt these guys catered to "climbers", while Moggely especially and some of the others catered to tourists.

I also used them last summer. I did use their guides for Cayambe and found them excellent cooks and climbers. I'll use their services again the next time I'm in Ecuador. Cheers!

while moggley catered to both climbers and "tourists" I don't think this is a detriment to him.

He was very hospitable, service top notch, and the guide we used (very helpful on Iliniza Sur where route finding can be a bear) I know we would not have found the right entrance the first time had we not gone with them. We would have spent more time (days not available to climbing other places) trying to figure it out .

+1 for moggley.

Back to the original question. Has anybody had any experience with High Summits (http://www.ecuador-climbing.info/) . Your help is greatly appreciated.

eferesen wrote:Back to the original question. Has anybody had any experience with High Summits (http://www.ecuador-climbing.info/) . Your help is greatly appreciated.

Can anyone shed light on High Summits (http://www.ecuador-climbing.info)? These are guides in Ecuador?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Ahsan

I don't have experience with them. I did look over their site. Prices, schedule, etc all seem reasonable compared to other outfitters in Quito. I don't like the 30% deposit with full payment 30 days prior though. I only put down one deposit last summer and arranged everything else once in-country. Also as they don't list/show any guides they may contract guides as needed instead of having employees of High Summits. They don't talk about themselves--owners, history, etc.

eferesen wrote:Also was wondering if could recommend a local (Ecuadorian) guide service.

Are you set on using them for some reason verses other companies that are known and that SPers have already mentioned?

Cheers!

Haliku wrote:
Are you set on using them for some reason verses other companies that are known and that SPers have already mentioned?

Cheers!

The only reason I like them is how their stuff is organized. (http://ecuador-climbing.info/acclimatiz ... topaxi.htm) Their schedule is set and others outfits have more days in their tours or treks are broken up like 2 days here and then you are on your own and then 2 days here and the cost is not that different. So I was just wondering. I got a quote from Moggeley. Here is Moggeley's Itinerary

STAGE 1 = By your self / $35
7 = Arrivial - INCLUDED = Casa Olympia Private room
8 = Teleferico & Ruco Pichincha 4650m
INCLUDED = Breakfast & Casa Olympia Private room

STAGE 2 = Guided
9-10 = Illiniza N 5126m
9th = Refuge & 10th Valhalla Bunk

11 = free day - Saquisili Thursday Market - by your self
INCLUDED = Breakfast - Dinner & Valhalla Bunk

12-13 = Cotopaxi Climb 5897m
12th = Refuge & 13th Casa Olympia
All INCLUDED Except Lunch & dinner 13th in Quito

I just does not seem that comprehensive. I was inquiring to see if some can validate that these guys (High Summits) are dependable? I got you email and was wondering if your friends in Ecuador would respond about High Summits legitimacy.

Thanks a lot for your help.

Did you ever find out anything about High Summits?

Never did find out about them. Went with Moggely. Moggely service was excellent. Sorry for the delayed response.

This is an old thread, but since it came up on my Google search for High Summits Ecuador, and since I just got back from a trip I booked with them, I wanted to add my feedback. We arranged our December 2011 climbing trip through High Summits, and they were excellent. We proposed a custom itinerary -- Gua Gau Pichincha, Sincholagua, Illiniza Sur, Anitsana, and Chimborazo, along with a rest day in Papallacta (which I highly recommend!) -- and they took care of the rest: arranging guides, hotels, food, and transportation. Their cost was significantly better than the other outfit I worked with initially. What a treat not to have to worry about any of the logistics -- just the weather and climbing!

The guides were, of course, the key, and they were excellent technically, and they spoke English well. They served as tour guides and 4WD guides as much as climbing guides: a couple of the starts (on Sincholagua and Antisana) were out in the middle of nowhere, as we wanted to get off the beaten track just a bit. The owner of High Summits, Isabel, is a climber herself, and she met the guides up at the Refugios on climbs she did herself. Hiring out guides is common, and they have a fairly tightly-knit network. Based on feedback from their clients, they know which are the best guides. Our main guide climbed Cotopaxi when he was 12 and became a competetive rock climber. He was very experienced on all the volcanoes we visited, except for Sincholagua, and he nevertheless found our way up that one no problem, even though he had only climbed it once, years before. They knew what and where the dangers were on each mountain, about how much time we would need, when to climb, and they belayed us safely, when necessary.

After our climbs, we got to spend an extra day in Baños because we didn't need our contingency weather day on Chimbo, and I would highly recommend staying there, as it is a beautiful town, with lots of good restaurants and bars, and rapping the nearby waterfalls was a really fun way to end the trip. Our guides happened to live there, so they took us on a fun tour of the waterfalls in the canyon as a bonus. Really amazing trip! Climbing higher than 6000m in a tropical country was pretty amazing. And spending New Years in Quito is certainly a unique experience.

I strongly recommend High Summits.

Haliku wrote:

bird wrote:http://www.sierranevada.ec/en/about/index.php
I used these guys for logistics and travel and stayed in their hotel in Quito. Did not use guides on mountains, but I recommend them highly. For what it's worth, I felt these guys catered to "climbers", while Moggely especially and some of the others catered to tourists.

I also used them last summer. I did use their guides for Cayambe and found them excellent cooks and climbers. I'll use their services again the next time I'm in Ecuador. Cheers!

used too in october 2010 (for three weeks)
highly suggested

I used HighSummits for a Jan 2010 climb of Chimborazo. I was just shopping around Quito looking for a trip that would fit into the little time I had left and stopped by their office, buzzing the buzzer at street level to be let into their second floor office. I was attached to one of the 10 day Cotopaxi, Chimbo and others groups for the climb up Chimbo, furnished with my own guide for summit day, transportation and all. Isabel Sanchez runs a very professional outfit. They do have their own guides but pick up extras for trips like mine. I contacted them again when I was in Ecuador last winter but didn't use their services only because the dates didn't work out for me this time.

If I had known of their package deals a couple of years ago, I might well have used them. The 10 day trips are well priced but you need to be in shape and younger than me to just arrive in Quito and set off for the climbs with them, especially if you're coming from low elevation. I certainly recommend them.

Another outfit I 've used that I haven't seen mentioned here is mountainlegendsinc.com. Wandering around Quito shopping for climbs to fit my schedule, I met Rene Flores ouside another mountain shop/guide service, we started talking and he had a trip that would work for me. Cayambe, maybe? Anyway, a good reliable company. Rene is a climber, not just a tour arranger. Office hours seemed to be a bit irregular so probably a good idea to email or call Rene or Carol.

I've also used and been very happy with Yanasacha. Owner Hernan Bonilla is a climber himself and guides some climbs. I first met Hernan in 1993 on my first trip to Ecuador before he had formed his own company. I chanced by his office in Dec 2009 and used them that year and on my next trip the folowing year. Good service, good arrangements. These guys like to get up the hill.

Just thought I'd throw a couple more good companies and possibilities into the pot.

JimS