Cotopaxi
Trip Start
Jan 22, 2009
1
4
7
Trip End
Feb 13, 2009
Cotopaxi, Ecuador
Friday, January 30, 2009
After resting for two days here (I know all this rest seems ridiculous, but it's necessary at these altitudes when exerting the energy it takes to climb), we headed in 4x4 up to the Cotopaxi hut. The hut is a short, one hour hike from the parking lot, and many tourists make the trek to the hut as their Cotopaxi experience. The hut sits just below 16,000 feet and just below the beginning of the glaciers, so for many people, this an opportunity to see glaciers up close and personal without doing much work (hour hike)
Cotopaxi from Iliniza Norte
. The formal name of the hut is Jose Ribas Refuge (Jose Ribas was a famous Catholic priest). It is, without a doubt, the biggest and cleanest mountain hut in which I have ever slept. The bunks even have small mattresses, unlike wooden slats in places like Mexico and Mt. Rainier. Jose Ribas also has a full kitchen. Diego cooked up some delicious soup and pasta, and we rested our heads around six at night for our 11:00 p.m. wake up. We wanted to give ourselves plenty of time to make it to the top. Cotopaxi has a strict 8:00 a.m. turnaround rule. If you don't make it to the top by then, you turnaround. When the Ecuadorian sun hits the glaciers and snow in the morning, they get very dangerous and slippery (think potential avalanche). So, if you're up near the top after 8:00 a.m., you've got a dangerous trek down. I actually slept a little (which is unusual for me before a big climb), but when I woke at 11:00 a.m., I had a sick stomach. First sign of altitude. I guess that happens if you sleep at almost 16,000 feet. I felt a little better after some granola, and we were off at midnight, headlamps on full power. The night was completely clear, and there was little wind. I was layered up but not too heavy. It took us about an hour to get to the glacier, where we donned the crampons and roped up, Diego in front, Howard in middle, and me in back. The glaciers on Cotopaxi were wicked looking, even at night, but they were mixed with packed snow and therefore much easier to climb than the ice of Orizaba in Mexico
Chilcabamba hacienda
. There's only one path to the top, and everyone takes it. There were three other groups on the mountain that night, a total of about twelve people. It's amazing how slow we had to climb to conserve energy and make it to the top. Of course, all the groups were climbing slow. It's necessary. We were on something like a step every two seconds pace. This ended up being funny though when we got passed by the one group that started after us. As we stepped aside to let them pass, I thought to myself, "OMG, they are moving slow. I can't believe they are passing us." And when I looked up an hour later to see how much progress they had made in front of us, they were about 50 feet ahead. Just right in front of us despite passing an hour ago. It's a different world up on a glacier. At around 4:00 a.m., Howard started to lose steam and wanted to find a place to post up while Diego and I went to the top, but again, being the experienced guide that we was, Diego didn't let him quit. We slowed down a little more for Howard but were still on pace to hit the top around 6:30, well before the 8:00 a.m. turnaround.
At around 5:30, we hit the last steep section, a fifty to a hundred foot section that seemed like it was 60 plus degrees steep in the middle of the night
Jose Ribas Hut
. Diego climbed up first and set a belay for Howard and me. This was the only belayed section of the climb, meaning Diego stopped, positioned himself, and prepared to catch us if we fell. This section was difficult. We were basically front-pointing the crampons into the glacier and climbing with ice axe in front. Fun though. After tackling that section, it was a short jaunt to the top. The air was getting pretty thin, but my stomach and head were still okay because we had moved pretty slow. That's the key. The top of Cotopaxi is the most amazing mountaintop I have ever seen. We climbed right up to the edge of the crater, which is almost a half mile wide at its widest point. The crater is covered in glaciers and sinks down several hundred feet, but we could see steam rising around the glaciers. The morning was also perfectly clear. We saw Chimborazo (hundreds of miles away), Antisana, Cayambe, and Iliniza Norte (some of the other 5,000 meter peaks in Ecuador). And there was no one up there. The other groups had already headed down. I don't have the words for this one. One of those mountaintops that makes all the blood, sweat, and tears worth it. I've never felt literally more on top of the world. Mountaintops usually feel high, but this one felt like I was nearing space. It was also super cold. I had all my clothes on, including my 800 fill down coat. Howard said I looked like the Michelin Man. Hey, I'm from Texas. I was friggin' cold. Hands stayed in the gloves. No one to propose to this time. Do not miss the pics on this one.
A new altitude record for me too (19,347 feet), a few feet higher than Kilimanjaro.
