might face the same problem in Ecuador (as in Peru)...

I can second scott's recommendation. I climbed Cotopaxi and chimborazo with moggley as well. Cotopaxi is climbed by hundreds of beginners each year safely with a guide. Morgan from Moggley's can rent you some boots and gear. I also recommend climbing a 4000, m then Illniza Norte before attempting Cotopaxi.

I'll third Scott's recommendation. Moggeley is great- if you take a two day glacier travel course you would be fine for Cotopaxi and Cayambe if you are fit, acclimatised and have good conditions. Like Radson said, they have everything there for rent if you need it. I used three guides from them and was pleased with all of them. I don't recommend Chimborazo for you until you are more experienced with glacier travel and perhaps some ice climbing and have a better grasp of the risks you will incur with this climb.

There are several trip reports covering Ecuador's major peaks on SP- you may have a better idea what you might experience after you read them. This is a great trip if it's done right. As mentioned above there are quite a few other peaks you can use for acclimatisation that are not technical.

Good luck!

Woodie

Haliku wrote:

dayinthelife wrote:It doesn't seem to be common knowledge yet, but now everyone (foreign) is required to have a guide to enter Cotopaxi Park, so if that's a goal (and it's a reasonable one if you can get acclimitized) then you will have some professional help/leadership.

Can you provide any links or information on this topic? Cheers!

Not exactly, other than that I was there in Dec., climbed quite a bit and did go to Cotopaxi. We arranged for transportation with Guias de Montañas to the Illinizas, Guagua Pichincha, Cotocachi, Cotopaxi, some others. In searching/talking with various outfits for transport, all reported on the requirement of a guide in Cotopaxi (and the Galapagos), for now. So, that's what we did. Since there was a "paro", strike, and the Panamerican was closed (no announcement, it just happens), we would never have figured out how to get to the Park w/o local expertise on that occasion. Took longer to drive to the parking area than to climb and descend!
South American Explorer's Club was also a good source for info, and have good links for climbing and hiking. In our group of four, the added cost of a guide was not a burden. Have a good trip -- we'd all like to go back and try some of the more logistically tricky peaks like Cayambe and El Saltar.

Pitty you had to face that avalanche concern... without that, sure you would have made it to the top.
Qizás la próxima vez !

I agree with most of what has been said here. However, don't be discouraged; with a good guide and intelligent acclimatization, you could still get Cotopaxi and/or Chimborazo in before you leave, though with only twelve days in country, it might be an unpleasant journey. As was said earlier, doing a 4000m peak (Fuya Fuya was suggested earlier, I second this recomendation) then Iliniza Norte, followed by Cotopaxi then Chimborazo would be the reccomended order of events.

A bit more about each of these peaks. Fuya Fuya is easy, there is actually a road all the way to the top. Take a bus heading towards Otovalo, get out at Tabacundo and ask anyone. They'll point the road out to you. A fun trip is to walk up one side of the hill from Tabacundo, camp near Las Lagunas de Mojanda at the top, then walk down the other side into Otovalo.

For Iliniza Norte, take a ride to El Chaupi and ask for Sr. Vladamir, he runs a hostel in the next town up the road. There is a small restaurant just off the side of the road at El Chaupi, and the proprietors know everyone headed that way and will be willing to flag a ride down for you. Vladamir's hostel is very nice, inexpensive, and he will give you a ride to the trailhead in the morning if you want.

For Cotopaxi, there are a number of good guides in the area, Moggely is a very good one, in fact, he runs all of the rescues on Cotopaxi and Chimborazo, so he's pretty experienced.

If you have an option on Chimborazo, make it without the stop at the first refuge. Start up from the bottom alpine early, make it to the second refuge in one go, then summit and back down on the next day. I personally found the extra day at the first refuge to be disastrous to my health.

Also, if you are looking for english speaking company, at kilometer 25 on the pan-am, just short of tabacundo is a road with a sign that says 'Picalqui' walk down this road a quarter of a mile and take a left. You will be walking onto la fundacion de bretheren y unida, or FBU, run by a friend of mine named Stuart. Actually if you are going to stop by there, let me know, I owe him some stuff.

Best of luck, and enjoy Ecuador, its fantastic.