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I am flying from my home at 300 meters above sea level to Miami, at sea level. 9 hours later, I fly to Quito at 2800 meters. I've never had any difficulty with altitude before, but have only been near this elevation once. In Quito, there is a lift called the Teleferico, which takes you somewhere between 4000 and 4200 meters in 10 minutes, where you can hike to 4700 meters overlooking the city.

My thinking is the Teleferico is perfect to find out if I am acclimated enough to start mountain climbing. If I feel good on top of the Teleferico, I can set off for the 5126 meter altitude of Illiniza Norte or any lower mountain. If I feel bad, it is just 10 minutes back down to Quito plus time waiting in line.

My question is when should I attempt the Teleferico? Obviously, I won't try if I feel at all short of breath or sick in Quito, but what if I feel good when I land?

2800m's won't be a problem. Going up the teleferico for an hour or two probably won't do much either. If I were you I would do some small excercises on the day of arrival in Quito, walk up as high as possible on the second day and do the teleferico and 500m's on the third day. After that you should be good for the approach to 5126m.

Check out some of the companies doing climbing trips down there; their itineraries can be a guide as to what's reasonable to do. Probably just tour Quito the day you arrive and do the cable car the next day. Be aware that there have been reports of violent crime associated with the telepherique - people who took it up and then walked down were victims.

I would spend at the very least 2 days at 2800m before going higher, on the third day go up the Telesferico, head up there for a bit, if you feel good then hike up and down quickly. Trust me you will feel VERY weird if you go up to 4700M right away.

Ideally I would spend 3 days at 2800M, go up and down the telesferico maybe on the 3rd day and on the 4th go up the Telesferico again and hike up, maybe. depends how I feel.

sneakyracer wrote:I would spend at the very least 2 days at 2800m before going higher, on the third day go up the Telesferico, head up there for a bit, if you feel good then hike up and down quickly. Trust me you will feel VERY weird if you go up to 4700M right away.

Ideally I would spend 3 days at 2800M, go up and down the telesferico maybe on the 3rd day and on the 4th go up the Telesferico again and hike up, maybe. depends how I feel.

Good points. When I've gone down to Peru the first day is spent riding the bus from Lima up to 4000 m and back down to Huaraz at a bout 3000 m. The second day we do a hike that gets us up to about 3600 m. The third day we hike up to about 4400 m. Depending on the trip, the fourth day can involve going up to 5200 m.