what a great tour and what fantastic pictures. I am really inspired by the pics of Cotopaxi since this mountain is high on my list for this year! Great job, thanks for sharing,
Awesome trip report! I've only done Rucu Pichincha and Cayambe, but your TR has me salivating to try Cotopaxi one of these days. Ecuador is beautiful, and the people certainly are friendly. That hut on Cayambe is pretty cush by hut standards...
Sorry to hear that. I met Scott Patterson while I was down there, and if you read his summit posts, he dealt with the same sickness issues after eating bad food in the Houston airport. You train for the climbs, take time off of work, then bam! you get bad food. Not fair. It's a great country though isn't it. We all loved it. Hope your overall experience was awesome.
I do not think Marauders was trying to be heroic but rather was being very honest by stating he was "Void of personal high-altitude experience..." Anyone who has climbed a high mountain has had to start somewhere. As Marauders stated they started out on a less technically challenging peak that was a good start. Yes they should have not got into that situation on the top of Cotopaxi with Tracy with AMS but they responded correctly by descending straight away once they were aware of the situation. Perpahs the AMS could have been avoided by more time for acclimatasation at altitude before a summit attempt but this is not obvious to wether it occured or not before in the write up.
As I side note thanks for the excellant photos and write up. They bring found memmories back of my time on some of these mountains.
Your question is valid, and I don't mind sharing more information.
There were 4 people on our team in Ecuador. Good friends who had experience climbing together. Two of them had climbed above 19,000 feet 6 times on different mountains on previous trips. I was the newbie at altitude, as was Tracy.
We climbed three mountains prior to Cotopaxi, each leading us higher and higher. Tracy summited Cayambe in strong fashion, with no recognized symptoms, which is only 350 vertical feet lower than Cotopaxi. All of this information led to the decision that we were all ready to climb Cotopaxi, and then after, Chimborazo at 20,500.
Tracy began feeling symptoms 30 minutes prior to the summit, but mentioned nothing to us although we repeatedly checked to see how everyone was feeling. In addition, she kept pace very well. I never noticed any drag at all. We honestly had no idea anything was wrong. She simply wanted to gut it out and not ruin the summit because we were so close, so she said nothing and kept pace.
I agree that this was a bad communication decision which resulted in a dangerous and scary situation, so I share my experience in a way that might help others to communicate better in a similar situation.
After the summit, Tracy wisely decided to skip the Chimborazo attempt, understanding that she had pushed her limit at that time in an unwise way. We are very blessed to have descended without any further issues. I hope my tone in the report reflected the fact that we do not aim to climb in reckless fashion. That's why I felt such an experience would be helpful to detail for others seeking to gain altitude experience like me.
In addition, I hope you get the feeling that Ecuador is worth every effort to visit. Incredible place!
Reading this as an aspiring mountaineer only fueled my desire to learn as much as I can and get out there and start the learning process. The pictures were great as well as the report. I'm glad you're all OK and congratulations on your summits.
I'm happy the trip went so well overall and you were able to summit most of the mountains as planned. I'm glad Tracy made it down ok too, you did all you should have to make sure the climb was safe - nice work. Keep on climbing baby!
T Sharp - Feb 2, 2007 3:05 am - Voted 10/10
Great Trip Report!Wonderful writing, and photos, congrats on a succesful trip! And oh yeah, altitude sickness in a partner IS scary!
Cheers;
Tim
marauders - Feb 2, 2007 3:46 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Great Trip Report!Thanks a lot! It was a fantastic trip in a great country.
Dan Dalton - Feb 2, 2007 2:02 pm - Voted 10/10
Just awesome...what a great tour and what fantastic pictures. I am really inspired by the pics of Cotopaxi since this mountain is high on my list for this year! Great job, thanks for sharing,
Dan
bolojm - Feb 2, 2007 2:07 pm - Voted 10/10
AwesomeAwesome trip report! I've only done Rucu Pichincha and Cayambe, but your TR has me salivating to try Cotopaxi one of these days. Ecuador is beautiful, and the people certainly are friendly. That hut on Cayambe is pretty cush by hut standards...
eferesen - Feb 2, 2007 3:28 pm - Hasn't voted
Vaary NaiceLike Borat would say. Fantastic pictures and the first story really got my attention. I bet it was a phenomenal trip. Congrats!!!
tradmonkey - Feb 2, 2007 4:51 pm - Voted 10/10
ExcellentWonderful TR and fantastic photos to go along with it. Sounds like you made the most of your trip.
Sebastian Hamm - Feb 2, 2007 5:02 pm - Voted 10/10
Wonderful photos!Good report. I wanna go there!
Thanks for sharing your impressions.
So long! Sebastian
1mvertical - Feb 2, 2007 6:49 pm - Voted 10/10
Like the Report & PhotosThanks for posting, I enjoyed the story. Glad to hear everybody got down ok on Cotopaxi.
mbollino - Feb 2, 2007 9:51 pm - Hasn't voted
Great ReportThanks for such a succinct, authentic, and inspiring trip report!
moneal - Feb 2, 2007 10:40 pm - Hasn't voted
NiceYou had the trip I was suppose to have! I had high winds on Cayambe, I had a virus for Cotopaxi, and (well) you read my Chimbo comments...
marauders - Feb 4, 2007 12:04 am - Hasn't voted
Re: NiceSorry to hear that. I met Scott Patterson while I was down there, and if you read his summit posts, he dealt with the same sickness issues after eating bad food in the Houston airport. You train for the climbs, take time off of work, then bam! you get bad food. Not fair. It's a great country though isn't it. We all loved it. Hope your overall experience was awesome.
T Mac - Feb 3, 2007 4:34 am - Hasn't voted
Sweet!Wow... thanks for posting that.
NuclearEffe - Feb 3, 2007 11:50 am - Hasn't voted
StunningExcellent, i'm just planning a similar trip and your story and your pictures are the best inspiration to me.
Well done.
Whitesail - Feb 3, 2007 3:34 pm - Voted 10/10
Re: Am I the only one who has an issue with this?I do not think Marauders was trying to be heroic but rather was being very honest by stating he was "Void of personal high-altitude experience..." Anyone who has climbed a high mountain has had to start somewhere. As Marauders stated they started out on a less technically challenging peak that was a good start. Yes they should have not got into that situation on the top of Cotopaxi with Tracy with AMS but they responded correctly by descending straight away once they were aware of the situation. Perpahs the AMS could have been avoided by more time for acclimatasation at altitude before a summit attempt but this is not obvious to wether it occured or not before in the write up.
As I side note thanks for the excellant photos and write up. They bring found memmories back of my time on some of these mountains.
moneal - Feb 3, 2007 6:09 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Am I the only one who has an issue with this?Yes, you're the only one. Cotopaxi is a great place for your first high altitude experience. It sounds like they did right by Tracy to me.
marauders - Feb 3, 2007 11:54 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Am I the only one who has an issue with this?Your question is valid, and I don't mind sharing more information.
There were 4 people on our team in Ecuador. Good friends who had experience climbing together. Two of them had climbed above 19,000 feet 6 times on different mountains on previous trips. I was the newbie at altitude, as was Tracy.
We climbed three mountains prior to Cotopaxi, each leading us higher and higher. Tracy summited Cayambe in strong fashion, with no recognized symptoms, which is only 350 vertical feet lower than Cotopaxi. All of this information led to the decision that we were all ready to climb Cotopaxi, and then after, Chimborazo at 20,500.
Tracy began feeling symptoms 30 minutes prior to the summit, but mentioned nothing to us although we repeatedly checked to see how everyone was feeling. In addition, she kept pace very well. I never noticed any drag at all. We honestly had no idea anything was wrong. She simply wanted to gut it out and not ruin the summit because we were so close, so she said nothing and kept pace.
I agree that this was a bad communication decision which resulted in a dangerous and scary situation, so I share my experience in a way that might help others to communicate better in a similar situation.
After the summit, Tracy wisely decided to skip the Chimborazo attempt, understanding that she had pushed her limit at that time in an unwise way. We are very blessed to have descended without any further issues. I hope my tone in the report reflected the fact that we do not aim to climb in reckless fashion. That's why I felt such an experience would be helpful to detail for others seeking to gain altitude experience like me.
In addition, I hope you get the feeling that Ecuador is worth every effort to visit. Incredible place!
Best Regards!
marauders - Feb 3, 2007 11:56 pm - Hasn't voted
Thanks...to everyone for the kind comments.
wetsponge007 - Feb 4, 2007 8:20 pm - Voted 10/10
WonderfulReading this as an aspiring mountaineer only fueled my desire to learn as much as I can and get out there and start the learning process. The pictures were great as well as the report. I'm glad you're all OK and congratulations on your summits.
summitcrazy - Feb 4, 2007 10:03 pm - Voted 10/10
Nice Job BilgeI'm happy the trip went so well overall and you were able to summit most of the mountains as planned. I'm glad Tracy made it down ok too, you did all you should have to make sure the climb was safe - nice work. Keep on climbing baby!
Drizzlepuss - Feb 5, 2007 11:03 pm - Voted 10/10
Nice!Your photos turned out amazing. Cool trip report too. Almost sounds like it was fun... :)
Wynn