Route Climbed: standard Date Climbed: winter '99-00
Good climb - and also nice as an acclimitizer for the higher ones. The Paso de Muerte's a little funky but not too technical in good conditions. Suerte!
Route Climbed: January 24, 2005 Date Climbed: Normal Route
I feel for you cp0915 (Courtney)!
Climbed with cp0915, Thomas, and Brett. The Nuevos Horizontes refugio is pretty crummy. The fumes from the stoves going all day long was unbearable. No ventilation what so ever in the hut. Beautiful views of sur as we were climbing up norte.
after a good snowfall, norte turned out to be an excellent mixed climb challenge...considerably harder than in dry conditions...fixed ropes (comforting, but rather unnecessary) were installed at el paseo de la muerte by a guided group ahead of us on the route...the so-called 5.3 summit gully is no more than 4th class on good rock...this was fixed by yet another guided group ahead of us and was also rather unnecessary, though i can appreciate the caution the guides had for their clients...incredible vistas of sur, antisana, cayambe, cotopaxi and chimborazo from the summit ... we had originally intended to do sur on this date, however, the low visibility and crappy conditions we encountered when the alarm went off sent us to norte instead....little did i know at the time, but the sinus infection i woke up with the morning of norte would mean it would be the last ecuadorian summit i would get on this trip... i didnt even attempt coto, chimbo, etc...now i hafta go back
Route Climbed: Normal Route Date Climbed: December 2004
Camped in La Virgen. On the next day, at 5 a.m., directly to the summit - passing Ilinizas-hut. Sunny day with few wind. Surrounding mountains were mostly wrapped in clouds. The route is more interesting in the summit region, because of some rock climbing. A rope could be very helpful!
Got lost on the way up in terrible fog and storm, still managed to get to within 100m of summit from where we could not go higher (I guess we did not find the start of the Paso de Muerte). Hence, if the weather is bad (which it often is on the Illinizas), then a guide might be a good investment (something we obviously only realised afterwards).
Route Climbed: normal route Date Climbed: 12June2004
It was extremely windy and clouds covered the peak, depositing ice crystals on the exposed rocks, when my son Thomas and I climbed this peak. The climb to the summit from the hut took 2 hrs 20 minutes including time spent backtracking and route finding. The climb itself was not difficult, but the conditions were discouraging. There was no view from the summit.
big_g - May 31, 2004 10:50 pm Date Climbed: May 30, 2004
Route Climbed: standard
A little rough in low visibility with some snow and ice present but 8/9 made it to the summit. Did it as a day hike and skipped the hut stay. Fun climb but wished we had some views.
Route Climbed: Normal Route Date Climbed: December 05, 2003
Camped at the end of the road, at 4000m ( place called "La Virgen" ) .
Stunning views of Cotopaxi, Corazon, Ruminahui at sunset .
Very nice and easy walk/scramble to the top of Iliniza Norte in 4 hours from la Virgen, via Ilinizas Hut, on the following day, on dry rocks and screes, with J.Mesias ( guide ) and A. Jackson .
Route Climbed: Normal Route Date Climbed: December 18, 2003
Very fun, but short route (we reached the summit in just 1.5 hours from the hut). Sadly, we had no views during the climb and never even saw the mountain during our 3 days stay at the hut. There was some snow on the route but still no need for crampons. The so-called Paso del Muerto was no problem, neither the gully below the summit (4th class). We also hoped to climb Iliniza Sur and explored the route as far as the entrance to the glacier, including marking it with wands. In the end, we decided not to attempt the route though, since we never had a clear view of the mountain which would certainly have created route-finding problems. We were also concerned about too much unconsolidated snow on the route (tricky descent, avalanches). We left, planning to return later in the trip for another attempt. Great acclimatization trip though and the hut keeper Fernando was very friendly. We returned and climbed Iliniza Sur on January 2, 2004 (see Summit Log).
Route Climbed: Normal route Date Climbed: may 16, 2003
Started at La Virgen with Pepe (our guide) and my wife (and climbing partner) Astrid. Since we had climbed Guagua Pichincha for acclimatisation, the walk to the refugio Nuevos Horizontes was easy. Reached the refugio in 2,5 hours. We were very surprised when our friend Mauricio arrived at the refugio later in the afternoon. He was also guiding two (American) climbers to the summit of Iliniza Norte. It was really good to see him.
After a cold and restless night we started climbing at 6.15 am. Astrid had a terrible headache and wasn't feeling well.
Visibility was poor. Only once we got a glimpse of Corazon through the clouds. After crossing the southern slope of scree and sand, we reached the ridge at about 4900 m. At this point Astrid decided to turn around. Mauricio accompanied her.
On the ridge we were exposed to a strong wind. Also the icy rocks made the climb more exciting. Decided to use one fixed rope on the icy rocks in the couloir just below the summit. No visibility at the summit: I am still wondering whether Iliniza Sur really exists or not..........
Turned back at 15,500' as my son became nervous with the exposure and the bad footing on the loose rocks. It was his first climb with this type of terrain and altitude.
Route Climbed: Normal Route Date Climbed: December 27, 2002
It was the first mountain in the sequenced that our group was planning to climb. The approach to Refugio was quite straightforward though it still required pretty good physical preparation. On the Summit day we took off quite late around 7:30 am. So by the time we reached the summit the top of the mountain was all covered in clouds. Overall it is quite easy mountain to climb in the low 5000's meters. Since it was only our second day at such an altitude some of the members of our party struggle through continues headaches
Route Climbed: normal route Date Climbed: july 15, 2002
this was actually one of my favorite climbs in ecuador - dope views of the other mountains, not too difficult (that's easy to say now). lots of scrambling and loose rock. good acclimitization for cotopaxi. be sure to stay at papa gaya in machachi - very cool place. Sandwiches at 16.800 taste hella good, fo' sure!
Route Climbed: climbed it via North Face, decended via Normal Date Climbed: January 3, 2002
Climbed with my wife Annica Carlsson. Reached summit after hiking from la Virgen. Lots of fog. Access to gully very nasty, too much scree and sand. Nice trip accross the mountain, higly recommended as aclimatization climb.
Route Climbed: Normal Route Date Climbed: 23 September 2002
Climbed normal route from camping at La Virgen (4000m) via hut at 4700m. Woken at 4am by roaring bulls! Watch out for these bulls on the track either side of La Virgen. They are bred for bullfighting and I was told by a local that in a group they are pretty safe, but if you encounter one by itself, run very fast!
Iliniza Norte itself is quite an easy scramble. If you follow the cairn-marked path exactly (as I did on the return) you hardly need to use your hands. I had clear weather with no ice or snow conditions. Very good views of Iliniza Sur and Cotopaxi.
Route Climbed: Normal Date Climbed: November 11th 1999
Didn't really plan to summit, just wanted to get a little more altitude before climbing Sur. The thing was such a bitch I had to though, loose rock almost the whole way, 2 steps up I step down. Great views of Sur.
Cautious - Jun 24, 2005 9:27 am
Route Climbed: Normal Date Climbed: January 2005Nice climb, no technical difficulties to speak of. Coming down was fun.
andre hangaard - May 26, 2005 5:26 pm
Route Climbed: Standard route Date Climbed: 03 May 2005Great climb on a perfect day.
We started early in the morning. Beautiful scenery with Cotopaxi and Chimborazo.
Conditions were excellent - no snow and dry rock. The Paso de Muerte was a piece of cake.
Andinistaloco - Mar 3, 2005 12:56 am
Route Climbed: standard Date Climbed: winter '99-00Good climb - and also nice as an acclimitizer for the higher ones. The Paso de Muerte's a little funky but not too technical in good conditions. Suerte!
ripper333 - Feb 15, 2005 6:20 pm
Route Climbed: normal route Date Climbed: dec 2004approached from way down yonder in el chaupi. great hostel to stay is hacienda san jose.. spent the nite and pushed to
the summit the next day in horrendous weather..
summitted.. and headed all the way back to the
hacienda.. very long day.. and it rained like
crazy all day. good experience all the same.
esugi - Jan 31, 2005 7:29 pm
Route Climbed: January 24, 2005 Date Climbed: Normal RouteI feel for you cp0915 (Courtney)!
Climbed with cp0915, Thomas, and Brett. The Nuevos Horizontes refugio is pretty crummy. The fumes from the stoves going all day long was unbearable. No ventilation what so ever in the hut. Beautiful views of sur as we were climbing up norte.
We will have to go back and climb Sur soon!
cp0915 - Jan 25, 2005 11:38 am
Route Climbed: normal Date Climbed: jan 24, 2005after a good snowfall, norte turned out to be an excellent mixed climb challenge...considerably harder than in dry conditions...fixed ropes (comforting, but rather unnecessary) were installed at el paseo de la muerte by a guided group ahead of us on the route...the so-called 5.3 summit gully is no more than 4th class on good rock...this was fixed by yet another guided group ahead of us and was also rather unnecessary, though i can appreciate the caution the guides had for their clients...incredible vistas of sur, antisana, cayambe, cotopaxi and chimborazo from the summit ... we had originally intended to do sur on this date, however, the low visibility and crappy conditions we encountered when the alarm went off sent us to norte instead....little did i know at the time, but the sinus infection i woke up with the morning of norte would mean it would be the last ecuadorian summit i would get on this trip... i didnt even attempt coto, chimbo, etc...now i hafta go back
bluescrummachine - Jan 13, 2005 6:26 am
Route Climbed: Normal Route Date Climbed: December 2004Camped in La Virgen. On the next day, at 5 a.m., directly to the summit - passing Ilinizas-hut. Sunny day with few wind. Surrounding mountains were mostly wrapped in clouds. The route is more interesting in the summit region, because of some rock climbing. A rope could be very helpful!
maxcz - Oct 17, 2004 6:32 am
Route Climbed: Date Climbed: February 2003Got lost on the way up in terrible fog and storm, still managed to get to within 100m of summit from where we could not go higher (I guess we did not find the start of the Paso de Muerte). Hence, if the weather is bad (which it often is on the Illinizas), then a guide might be a good investment (something we obviously only realised afterwards).
jstanley - Sep 1, 2004 5:38 pm
Route Climbed: normal route Date Climbed: 12June2004It was extremely windy and clouds covered the peak, depositing ice crystals on the exposed rocks, when my son Thomas and I climbed this peak. The climb to the summit from the hut took 2 hrs 20 minutes including time spent backtracking and route finding. The climb itself was not difficult, but the conditions were discouraging. There was no view from the summit.
big_g - May 31, 2004 10:50 pm Date Climbed: May 30, 2004
Route Climbed: standardA little rough in low visibility with some snow and ice present but 8/9 made it to the summit. Did it as a day hike and skipped the hut stay. Fun climb but wished we had some views.
First of many times up this mountain.
edouet - Jan 7, 2004 11:54 am
Route Climbed: Normal Route Date Climbed: December 05, 2003Camped at the end of the road, at 4000m ( place called "La Virgen" ) .
Stunning views of Cotopaxi, Corazon, Ruminahui at sunset .
Very nice and easy walk/scramble to the top of Iliniza Norte in 4 hours from la Virgen, via Ilinizas Hut, on the following day, on dry rocks and screes, with J.Mesias ( guide ) and A. Jackson .
Perfect day to take pictures of Iliniza Sur .
Way back : screes of North Face
Tom Fralich - Dec 20, 2003 7:54 pm
Route Climbed: Normal Route Date Climbed: December 18, 2003Very fun, but short route (we reached the summit in just 1.5 hours from the hut). Sadly, we had no views during the climb and never even saw the mountain during our 3 days stay at the hut. There was some snow on the route but still no need for crampons. The so-called Paso del Muerto was no problem, neither the gully below the summit (4th class). We also hoped to climb Iliniza Sur and explored the route as far as the entrance to the glacier, including marking it with wands. In the end, we decided not to attempt the route though, since we never had a clear view of the mountain which would certainly have created route-finding problems. We were also concerned about too much unconsolidated snow on the route (tricky descent, avalanches). We left, planning to return later in the trip for another attempt. Great acclimatization trip though and the hut keeper Fernando was very friendly. We returned and climbed Iliniza Sur on January 2, 2004 (see Summit Log).
dloring - Jun 10, 2003 8:47 pm
Route Climbed: Normal Route Date Climbed: May 26,2003Easy hike in the fog from the refugio. Good acclimization for bigger, better things. Just too bad the weather didn't cooperate for Sur.
Rockhopper - Jun 3, 2003 2:36 pm
Route Climbed: Normal route Date Climbed: may 16, 2003Started at La Virgen with Pepe (our guide) and my wife (and climbing partner) Astrid. Since we had climbed Guagua Pichincha for acclimatisation, the walk to the refugio Nuevos Horizontes was easy. Reached the refugio in 2,5 hours. We were very surprised when our friend Mauricio arrived at the refugio later in the afternoon. He was also guiding two (American) climbers to the summit of Iliniza Norte. It was really good to see him.
After a cold and restless night we started climbing at 6.15 am. Astrid had a terrible headache and wasn't feeling well.
Visibility was poor. Only once we got a glimpse of Corazon through the clouds. After crossing the southern slope of scree and sand, we reached the ridge at about 4900 m. At this point Astrid decided to turn around. Mauricio accompanied her.
On the ridge we were exposed to a strong wind. Also the icy rocks made the climb more exciting. Decided to use one fixed rope on the icy rocks in the couloir just below the summit. No visibility at the summit: I am still wondering whether Iliniza Sur really exists or not..........
Reached the refugio after 4,5 hours.
Jerry L - Mar 6, 2003 4:42 am
Date Climbed: February 19, 2003Turned back at 15,500' as my son became nervous with the exposure and the bad footing on the loose rocks. It was his first climb with this type of terrain and altitude.
Zhenya77 - Jan 23, 2003 7:21 pm
Route Climbed: Normal Route Date Climbed: December 27, 2002It was the first mountain in the sequenced that our group was planning to climb. The approach to Refugio was quite straightforward though it still required pretty good physical preparation. On the Summit day we took off quite late around 7:30 am. So by the time we reached the summit the top of the mountain was all covered in clouds. Overall it is quite easy mountain to climb in the low 5000's meters. Since it was only our second day at such an altitude some of the members of our party struggle through continues headaches
mookyee - Jan 21, 2003 2:30 am
Route Climbed: normal route Date Climbed: july 15, 2002this was actually one of my favorite climbs in ecuador - dope views of the other mountains, not too difficult (that's easy to say now). lots of scrambling and loose rock. good acclimitization for cotopaxi. be sure to stay at papa gaya in machachi - very cool place. Sandwiches at 16.800 taste hella good, fo' sure!
El Tigre Valderrama - Jan 5, 2003 3:51 pm
Route Climbed: climbed it via North Face, decended via Normal Date Climbed: January 3, 2002Climbed with my wife Annica Carlsson. Reached summit after hiking from la Virgen. Lots of fog. Access to gully very nasty, too much scree and sand. Nice trip accross the mountain, higly recommended as aclimatization climb.
philtower - Oct 1, 2002 1:19 pm
Route Climbed: Normal Route Date Climbed: 23 September 2002Climbed normal route from camping at La Virgen (4000m) via hut at 4700m. Woken at 4am by roaring bulls! Watch out for these bulls on the track either side of La Virgen. They are bred for bullfighting and I was told by a local that in a group they are pretty safe, but if you encounter one by itself, run very fast!
Iliniza Norte itself is quite an easy scramble. If you follow the cairn-marked path exactly (as I did on the return) you hardly need to use your hands. I had clear weather with no ice or snow conditions. Very good views of Iliniza Sur and Cotopaxi.
jasonconnell - Sep 10, 2002 9:14 am
Route Climbed: Normal Date Climbed: November 11th 1999Didn't really plan to summit, just wanted to get a little more altitude before climbing Sur. The thing was such a bitch I had to though, loose rock almost the whole way, 2 steps up I step down. Great views of Sur.
See trip report for Sur