Senad Rizvanovic - Feb 25, 2013 10:34 am Date Climbed: Jan 29, 2011
Nice mountain.
With snow and ice this route can be very sketchy and dangerous, we did it snow conditions, overall nice way to summit this nice mountain.
Jake - Jan 25, 2013 4:15 pm Date Climbed: Jan 25, 2013
Great
Climbed with my friend Pedro from the Refugio. There was exceptionally much of snow but we didn't use the crampons. Really great route and amazing views.
chicagosky - Jan 4, 2012 8:46 am Date Climbed: Dec 28, 2011
A good slog in windy conditions
Windy and wet scree but was a nice climb. Took 3 hours from Refuge to summit stopping for pictures and breaks
Boriss Andean - May 23, 2011 3:21 pm Date Climbed: May 21, 2011
Normal route has couple variants.
Wow!, it’s been more than 2 months since I climbed Illiniza Norte for last time. Despite being rock climbing at low altitudes (Quito, 9,300 ft.) and running my personal half Marathons every weekend I felt completely out of shape and thought I could perform better, a bit of disappointment.
Anyway, it took me exactly one hour to get to the summit (5,126 m / 16,818 ft.) from the refuge. I climbed it in one day leaving early from Quito.
Perfect weather. Sunny and not windy at all. I found the rocks to be loose, actually very loose. Probably because the last climbing parties that tried to climb the mountain during the last couple months couldn’t find the right path to the summit which was fully covered by snow by then, knocking rocks here and there. I still found a snowy/icy traverse below the summit, but easy to negotiate with caution.
Great to be back in the mountains after this long downtime. I know I'll say the same about home in a few months :D.
The normal route has a couple variants since the trail changed a bit during the last heavy snow fall. Therefore this page needs to be updated.
Inday - Feb 20, 2011 12:56 am Date Climbed: Jan 18, 2011
Summit
Conditions were not so good; very icy in the pass.
but the weather and unfortunate conditions kept me from reach its summit...too bad.
Boriss Andean - Oct 23, 2010 3:48 pm Date Climbed: Oct 23, 2010
Finland guys!
Climbed with 4 guys from Finland. Left the refuge at 6:00 am and got to the summit (5,126 m / 16,818 ft) at 7:45 am.
Back at the refuge at 9:15 am. Excellent weather!
Boriss Andean - Aug 9, 2010 11:46 am Date Climbed: Aug 5, 2010
Windy Ridge.
Climbed With Susi (ECU) and Jaime (ECU). Very windy on the southeastern ridge. It got better as we climbed higher to the top.
It cleared off once we got to the summit (5,126 m / 16,818 ft). Very nice views of the lower peaks and surroundings.
Susi needed crampons on the way up. Total climbing time: 2:40 hours.
Boriss Andean - Jul 16, 2010 6:23 pm Date Climbed: Jul 16, 2010
Lots of snow!!
Climbed with Andrea (CAN). It snowed on the approaching to the summit. We had great views once we got to the top (5,126 m / 16,818 ft). Stayed 15 minutes up there and then we headed back to the refuge before another storm hit us.
Alexander (EC), a 12 year old boy came along with us on this climb. Total climbing time: 2 and a half hours.
Boriss Andean - Jan 19, 2010 4:12 pm Date Climbed: Jan 19, 2010
Route Climbed: Normal Route.
Climbed with K'Ashem members from Guatemala. Got to the top after 5 hours of leaving from the trailhead at La Virgen parking lot.
Extremelly windy at the top (5,126 m / 16,818 ft). It was hard to keep ourselves straight.
Got back to the parking lot by the north face.
Boriss Andean - Dec 27, 2009 4:04 pm Date Climbed: Dec 27, 2009
Route Climbed: Normal Route.
Probably my last climb of Illiniza Norte of the year. I climbed from La Virgen parking lot with 6 Austrians. Very fast team, we left the trailhead at 5:45 am and got to the summit (5,126 m / 16,818 ft) at 9:45 am, 4 hours!
It snowed all the way up to the summit. I found I huge boulder that felt 3 days before the climb, injuring a guide and his client.
We headed back to the parking lot by the north face. (7 hours RT).
Boriss Andean - Dec 21, 2009 6:31 pm Date Climbed: Dec 19, 2009
Route Climbed: Normal Route.
Climbed with Coral (USA). Our hike started from La Virgen parking lot at 5:45 am. It rainned during the whole approaching to the refuge.
We started climbing from the refuge at 9:15 am. This time, it snowed during the approaching to the summit. A team from the Mountaineering Club of Caracas (Venezuela) almost kill us. They tried to climb straight up to the summit and threw three big rocks to the climbers below. Luckly nobody got hurt.
Got to the summit (5,126 m / 16,818 ft) after 1 and a half hours of leaving the refuge. A pretty fast climb.. I enjoyed it!
The mountain changed completely in minutes. Thick snow flakes covered Illiniza Norte and the trail.
The Venezuelan Team got lost on their way down from the summit. They got to the refuge just before sunset.
A great climb prior to our Illiniza Sur climb, the next day.
Boriss Andean - Nov 16, 2009 9:38 am Date Climbed: Oct 15, 2009
Route Climbed: Normal Route.
Climbed with 9 french climbers and with Rafael (ECU). Got to the summit after 5 hours of hiking from La Virgen.
Perfect weather. Conditions on the mountain were excellent, no snow at all.
Boriss Andean - Nov 11, 2009 10:48 am Date Climbed: Nov 10, 2009
Route Climbed: Normal Route.
Climbed with 5 germans, Bladimir and Jaime from Ecuador. Got to the summit (5,126 m / 16,818 ft) after 5 and a half hours of hiking and climbing.
Great weather. Didn't find any snow in the mountain. Illiniza Sur is loosing its glacier pretty fast. I studied the route up carefully from Illiniza Norte's top. I'm thinking to climb Sur as soon as I have an off day.
grabbs146 - Nov 5, 2009 12:34 pm Date Climbed: Dec 4, 2008
very fun
great climb...broke in a pair of new boots on this climb.
Boriss Andean - Oct 23, 2009 6:09 pm Date Climbed: Sep 12, 2009
Route Climbed: Normal Route.
Climbed with Ben, Dan, Steve and Duncan (ENG). We started at 4:30 am from La Virgen Parking Lot.
Ben waited for us at the refuge while the rest of us pushed for the summit. A long day for me at work!.. it took us 9 hours to summit and to get back to the truck.
Windy and cloudy, but we were lucky to see the surroundings from the summit (5,126 m/16,818 ft), including Chimborazo to the south. The weather got better on the way down and the following days.
Boriss Andean - Oct 23, 2009 6:08 pm Date Climbed: Jan 4, 2009
Route Climbed: Normal Route.
My first summit of the year!. Climbed with Antonio and Raquel from Spain. It snowed for a while. Got to the top (5,126 m/16,818 ft) after 5 hours of hiking from La Virgen parking lot. Nice views of Illiniza Sur.
Boriss Andean - Oct 23, 2009 6:07 pm Date Climbed: Dec 16, 2008
Route Climbed: Normal Route.
Christine (USA) and I started at 5:30 am from Llovizna Lodge. Got to the refuge at 9:00 am and to the summit (5,126 m/16,818 ft) at 11:45 am. It snowed during our approach to the summit. Got back to La Virgen Parking lot by the north face.
We didn't find any snow on our way up. No crampons or ice axes were needed during the climb.
Boriss Andean - Oct 23, 2009 6:05 pm Date Climbed: Oct 4, 2008
Route Climbed: Normal Route.
Climbed with 8 ecuadorians, but actually I just guided the slowest one, Victor (Russia). We scrambled up by the ridge above the saddle and kept climbing up until we got to Cumbre Villavicencio. The route up doesn't have too much snow as in the last weeks. Kept climbing by the north face and then straight up to the top (5,126 m/16,818 ft).
We got down by the north face of the peak which took us straight down to the ridge above the trailhead.
Pretty good weather during the day and rainy in the afternoon. The refuge's under construction at this moment. There aren't beds or mattresses in the refuge, so we climbed it in a single day from La Virgen Parking Lot.
Boriss Andean - Oct 23, 2009 6:03 pm Date Climbed: Aug 26, 2008
Route Climbed: Normal Route.
Climbed with Trevor (ENG) and Japhy (NEPAL). Initially we were going to climb Illiniza Sur, but avalanche danger made us switch to Illiniza Norte.
We left the refuge around 7:30 am. The mountain was completely covered by snow. We put crampons on as soon as we reached the ridge. An easy climb with not too much wind. Got to the top (5,126 m/16,818 ft) after 2 and a half hours of climbing.
We had a couple of lost items during the climb; Japhy's down jacket and Trevor's piolet.
Senad Rizvanovic - Feb 25, 2013 10:34 am Date Climbed: Jan 29, 2011
Nice mountain.With snow and ice this route can be very sketchy and dangerous, we did it snow conditions, overall nice way to summit this nice mountain.
Jake - Jan 25, 2013 4:15 pm Date Climbed: Jan 25, 2013
GreatClimbed with my friend Pedro from the Refugio. There was exceptionally much of snow but we didn't use the crampons. Really great route and amazing views.
chicagosky - Jan 4, 2012 8:46 am Date Climbed: Dec 28, 2011
A good slog in windy conditionsWindy and wet scree but was a nice climb. Took 3 hours from Refuge to summit stopping for pictures and breaks
Boriss Andean - May 23, 2011 3:21 pm Date Climbed: May 21, 2011
Normal route has couple variants.Wow!, it’s been more than 2 months since I climbed Illiniza Norte for last time. Despite being rock climbing at low altitudes (Quito, 9,300 ft.) and running my personal half Marathons every weekend I felt completely out of shape and thought I could perform better, a bit of disappointment.
Anyway, it took me exactly one hour to get to the summit (5,126 m / 16,818 ft.) from the refuge. I climbed it in one day leaving early from Quito.
Perfect weather. Sunny and not windy at all. I found the rocks to be loose, actually very loose. Probably because the last climbing parties that tried to climb the mountain during the last couple months couldn’t find the right path to the summit which was fully covered by snow by then, knocking rocks here and there. I still found a snowy/icy traverse below the summit, but easy to negotiate with caution.
Great to be back in the mountains after this long downtime. I know I'll say the same about home in a few months :D.
The normal route has a couple variants since the trail changed a bit during the last heavy snow fall. Therefore this page needs to be updated.
Inday - Feb 20, 2011 12:56 am Date Climbed: Jan 18, 2011
SummitConditions were not so good; very icy in the pass.
PAROFES - Feb 7, 2011 7:53 am
Tried twicebut the weather and unfortunate conditions kept me from reach its summit...too bad.
Boriss Andean - Oct 23, 2010 3:48 pm Date Climbed: Oct 23, 2010
Finland guys!Climbed with 4 guys from Finland. Left the refuge at 6:00 am and got to the summit (5,126 m / 16,818 ft) at 7:45 am.
Back at the refuge at 9:15 am. Excellent weather!
Boriss Andean - Aug 9, 2010 11:46 am Date Climbed: Aug 5, 2010
Windy Ridge.Climbed With Susi (ECU) and Jaime (ECU). Very windy on the southeastern ridge. It got better as we climbed higher to the top.
It cleared off once we got to the summit (5,126 m / 16,818 ft). Very nice views of the lower peaks and surroundings.
Susi needed crampons on the way up. Total climbing time: 2:40 hours.
Boriss Andean - Jul 16, 2010 6:23 pm Date Climbed: Jul 16, 2010
Lots of snow!!Climbed with Andrea (CAN). It snowed on the approaching to the summit. We had great views once we got to the top (5,126 m / 16,818 ft). Stayed 15 minutes up there and then we headed back to the refuge before another storm hit us.
Alexander (EC), a 12 year old boy came along with us on this climb. Total climbing time: 2 and a half hours.
Boriss Andean - Jan 19, 2010 4:12 pm Date Climbed: Jan 19, 2010
Route Climbed: Normal Route.Climbed with K'Ashem members from Guatemala. Got to the top after 5 hours of leaving from the trailhead at La Virgen parking lot.
Extremelly windy at the top (5,126 m / 16,818 ft). It was hard to keep ourselves straight.
Got back to the parking lot by the north face.
Boriss Andean - Dec 27, 2009 4:04 pm Date Climbed: Dec 27, 2009
Route Climbed: Normal Route.Probably my last climb of Illiniza Norte of the year. I climbed from La Virgen parking lot with 6 Austrians. Very fast team, we left the trailhead at 5:45 am and got to the summit (5,126 m / 16,818 ft) at 9:45 am, 4 hours!
It snowed all the way up to the summit. I found I huge boulder that felt 3 days before the climb, injuring a guide and his client.
We headed back to the parking lot by the north face. (7 hours RT).
Boriss Andean - Dec 21, 2009 6:31 pm Date Climbed: Dec 19, 2009
Route Climbed: Normal Route.Climbed with Coral (USA). Our hike started from La Virgen parking lot at 5:45 am. It rainned during the whole approaching to the refuge.
We started climbing from the refuge at 9:15 am. This time, it snowed during the approaching to the summit. A team from the Mountaineering Club of Caracas (Venezuela) almost kill us. They tried to climb straight up to the summit and threw three big rocks to the climbers below. Luckly nobody got hurt.
Got to the summit (5,126 m / 16,818 ft) after 1 and a half hours of leaving the refuge. A pretty fast climb.. I enjoyed it!
The mountain changed completely in minutes. Thick snow flakes covered Illiniza Norte and the trail.
The Venezuelan Team got lost on their way down from the summit. They got to the refuge just before sunset.
A great climb prior to our Illiniza Sur climb, the next day.
Boriss Andean - Nov 16, 2009 9:38 am Date Climbed: Oct 15, 2009
Route Climbed: Normal Route.Climbed with 9 french climbers and with Rafael (ECU). Got to the summit after 5 hours of hiking from La Virgen.
Perfect weather. Conditions on the mountain were excellent, no snow at all.
Boriss Andean - Nov 11, 2009 10:48 am Date Climbed: Nov 10, 2009
Route Climbed: Normal Route.Climbed with 5 germans, Bladimir and Jaime from Ecuador. Got to the summit (5,126 m / 16,818 ft) after 5 and a half hours of hiking and climbing.
Great weather. Didn't find any snow in the mountain. Illiniza Sur is loosing its glacier pretty fast. I studied the route up carefully from Illiniza Norte's top. I'm thinking to climb Sur as soon as I have an off day.
grabbs146 - Nov 5, 2009 12:34 pm Date Climbed: Dec 4, 2008
very fungreat climb...broke in a pair of new boots on this climb.
Boriss Andean - Oct 23, 2009 6:09 pm Date Climbed: Sep 12, 2009
Route Climbed: Normal Route.Climbed with Ben, Dan, Steve and Duncan (ENG). We started at 4:30 am from La Virgen Parking Lot.
Ben waited for us at the refuge while the rest of us pushed for the summit. A long day for me at work!.. it took us 9 hours to summit and to get back to the truck.
Windy and cloudy, but we were lucky to see the surroundings from the summit (5,126 m/16,818 ft), including Chimborazo to the south. The weather got better on the way down and the following days.
Boriss Andean - Oct 23, 2009 6:08 pm Date Climbed: Jan 4, 2009
Route Climbed: Normal Route.My first summit of the year!. Climbed with Antonio and Raquel from Spain. It snowed for a while. Got to the top (5,126 m/16,818 ft) after 5 hours of hiking from La Virgen parking lot. Nice views of Illiniza Sur.
Boriss Andean - Oct 23, 2009 6:07 pm Date Climbed: Dec 16, 2008
Route Climbed: Normal Route.Christine (USA) and I started at 5:30 am from Llovizna Lodge. Got to the refuge at 9:00 am and to the summit (5,126 m/16,818 ft) at 11:45 am. It snowed during our approach to the summit. Got back to La Virgen Parking lot by the north face.
We didn't find any snow on our way up. No crampons or ice axes were needed during the climb.
Boriss Andean - Oct 23, 2009 6:05 pm Date Climbed: Oct 4, 2008
Route Climbed: Normal Route.Climbed with 8 ecuadorians, but actually I just guided the slowest one, Victor (Russia). We scrambled up by the ridge above the saddle and kept climbing up until we got to Cumbre Villavicencio. The route up doesn't have too much snow as in the last weeks. Kept climbing by the north face and then straight up to the top (5,126 m/16,818 ft).
We got down by the north face of the peak which took us straight down to the ridge above the trailhead.
Pretty good weather during the day and rainy in the afternoon. The refuge's under construction at this moment. There aren't beds or mattresses in the refuge, so we climbed it in a single day from La Virgen Parking Lot.
Boriss Andean - Oct 23, 2009 6:03 pm Date Climbed: Aug 26, 2008
Route Climbed: Normal Route.Climbed with Trevor (ENG) and Japhy (NEPAL). Initially we were going to climb Illiniza Sur, but avalanche danger made us switch to Illiniza Norte.
We left the refuge around 7:30 am. The mountain was completely covered by snow. We put crampons on as soon as we reached the ridge. An easy climb with not too much wind. Got to the top (5,126 m/16,818 ft) after 2 and a half hours of climbing.
We had a couple of lost items during the climb; Japhy's down jacket and Trevor's piolet.