I will be going with a friend down to Ecuador for 2 weeks ( +/- a few days as necessary ) in the beginning of January with the intent of getting as much as we can out of the mountaineering opportunities there. Just for some background info, we're from the Northeast US and can handle ourselves with crampons and an ice axe and have technical ice/rock experience but have no high altitude experience and very minimal glacier travel experience. For that reason we want to try to design our trip around...

A. Learning the stuff we don't know, and really learning it well, so in the future we can travel the more moderate glaciated peaks unguided confidently. (Albeit not in Ecuador because I realize guides are required) So things like crevasse rescue and avalanche classes are of great interest to us.

And of course B. Climbing the volcanoes, at least one of which being one of the big ones. (Chimbo, Cayambe, Antisana etc.)

With that being said, we aren't sure if we should focus our efforts on finding a private guide to stick with us for the whole two weeks and customize the trip to our needs, or just a la carte our way through the classes and climbs we want to do. The biggest limiting factor here is budget. We're broke engineering students, so $1,500 a piece is going to be about what we can work with unless $2,000 each is going to somehow unlock the best trip we ever go on. (This may completely eliminate the chance of getting a private guide, we're not sure, that's why I'm posting) If anyone has any suggestions here on how we can get the best bang for our buck, guides we should look into, or whether or not the classes down there are even worth taking in terms of quality, we would really appreciate it.

Trying to make this an awesome learning opportunity and be able to climb some big peaks without blowing through our mostly non-existent life savings. Thanks in advance for any help or advice you can offer.

We're broke engineering students, so $1,500 a piece is going to be about what we can work with unless $2,000 each is going to somehow unlock the best trip we ever go on. (This may completely eliminate the chance of getting a private guide, we're not sure, that's why I'm posting)

Most private guides seem to charge $200-$270 for a two day trip up each big peak, so $1500 is plenty.

I have been in contact with a few guides. I have asked about taking avi and self arrest/ice climb courses prior to the climb. they've said it's not needed. check out carpedm. reviews are all great, cheaper than most and accommodations are inexpensive.

I have asked about taking avi and self arrest/ice climb courses prior to the climb. they've said it's not needed.

Regardless if a guide told you it wasn't needed, I'd highly recommend knowing how to use an ice axe and knowing self arrest for any of these glaciated climbs. It would be a really good idea. If conditions are steep or icy, it can be hard to stop two people with only one person self arresting.

Scott wrote:

I have asked about taking avi and self arrest/ice climb courses prior to the climb. they've said it's not needed.

Regardless if a guide told you it wasn't needed, I'd highly recommend knowing how to use an ice axe and knowing self arrest for any of these glaciated climbs. It would be a really good idea. If conditions are steep or icy, it can be hard to stop two people with only one person self arresting.

I didn't included in my post which I should have was that the inference I got from the guide services was they do that on site. It was not necessary to have prior experience or to spend money on a class. I agree with you 100%

Thanks for the input so far. I realize the avi courses may not be needed for our climbing in Ecuador, but if we can take the class while we're down there it would be nice. Probably a lot cheaper than back in the US. Also, self arrest and ice climbing we already know how to do and have plenty of experience with, it's mainly the glacier travel, crevasse rescue, and avi skills we were interested in.

Anyone have experience with Fredy Tipan, Pablo Purancajas, Fernando Iza, or Edgar Parra? They're all on Explore-Share and if we book directly through them we may be able to afford a private trip with them. But there are some horror stories on here on bad guides in Ecuador, so if anyone has had a good experience with these guys please let me know!

I know Pablo Puruncajas well. He's a good guy and a solid guide, with fluent English. Pablo's dad founded the Ecuadorian Guides Association and Pablo's a full IFMGA Guide. His family runs a guide service called Go Andes Trek and they do a great job. He'll take good care of you or point you to someone who can. Two thumbs up!!!

(Full disclosure - Pablo has worked for me a bunch, but while he has led some of our Ecuador trips, I have no other affiliation with his family or their company.)

I did some climbing with Fredy Tipan, Cayambe and Chimborazo, also did some hikes and smaller climbs for acclimatization, he was a very good guide and a pleasure to be around, he keeps safety first, and is a easy going guy that is good to just hang with, if you want to climb a big mountain while there you can just tell him you want to practice self arrest, glacier travel or whatever and he will take you out to the glacier, I know the Puruncajas family, did not meet Pablo, met his father and a couple of other guys, stayed at their house for a couple of days and was treated like family, did not do any climbing with them just a few days of hiking, but they were great.