Closer to the Cumbre (Summit)

After the hedonism of an all-u-can-eat Christmas Eve buffet, a week at the beach, and more than a couple New Year's Eve cocktails, Erin and I decided to repent with five days on nearby Cotapoxi.






I had been on Cotapoxi earlier in December with Andrew Clinkingbeard, but his leather boots became too cold, and we turned around fairly early into the summit day. I was determined to get closer to the summit this time...

While not technically hard, Cotapoxi's 19,000 feet is demanding. Lots of people climb Cotapoxi every year with guides. $300 bucks, physical stamina, a mild penchant for suffering, and some good weather will get you to the top of this, one of the tallest active volcanoes in the world. We spent a couple nights in the park acclimatizing on nearby Rhuminaui, and then went for it Saturday night at midnight.

Most of the folks we started with turned around within an hour, the weather was truly horrible. It wasn't really raining, but the moisture from the clouds kept condensing on us, and freezing in the 40mph wind. But, you never know, the weather could get better. We pushed on, following a friend of mine who was guiding a large group. Two other climbers joined Erin and I, and it was nice to have some company on the mountain with Blaze and Dominic, two Polish students from Yale ignoring their dissertations and climbing instead!

At about 18,000 ft. we threw in the towel. Even if we made it, there would be no view from the top, and the weather was getting worse, nearing a white-out. I still haven't heard from my friend who was guiding, he pushed on with his clients toward the summit. I hope he's okay.

Some brief observations for my climber friends:

• Not a bad climb, never more than 40 degrees, though I hear it nears 50 at the top
• Normal time is 6-7 up and 2-3 down
• The refugio is at 15,400, so it's a big day to the summit
  
• Most of the bridges were well covered, it was sometimes really hard to tell where the crevasses were
• Saw a "guide" with a poncho on, yeah, like the orange ones you wear to a football game
• Many guides do not have helmets for their clients, seems odd
• Bad accident the day before our climb: guide and client were glissading with crampons on! They went for about 300 meters out of control, and, the client broke her ankle. Luckily some SOLO guys from VT were there, and did a good job of splinting and evacing her. Glissading with crampons!?!
• Most people don't acclimatize, but there are tons of great peaks around Cot. to do so on!
• The refugio is expensive, and full of clients suffering from AMS, not very pretty
• Much better is to stay at Hacienda Tambopaxi at 12,000 feet until your summit evening. 6 Dollar camping, amazing dinners, and hot showers!

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