November 30, 2011

Chimborazo (Photo: Jorge Anhalzer)

The sat phone call just came in from Greg Vernovage.  Our Chimborazo team is at high camp.  Weather is reasonable and route conditions seem reasonable.  They need weather to hold through tomorrow and the team will need to put in a big effort to pull this one off.  But, they’ve got a chance.

Tune in tomorrow and we’ll let you know what happened.  Chimborazo is a BIG mountain – over 6000 meters and higher than Denali.  It’s best attempted with a small, strong, team.  No walk in the park, this one.

Phil Ershler

November 28, 2011

Greg, Romulo and crew are back in Quito.  He took a minute to email a couple of photos and a brief dispatch (below).  Final celebratory dinner this evening and then most members fly home in the morning.  A couple of members are staying to attempt Chimborazo with Greg and Romulo.  This is a tougher climb and everything will have to be perfect to have a safe shot.  We’ll let you know.  – Phil Ershler

“Another great day on the summit.  It was clear that not many teams had been through the bergschrund for a while. A steep bergschrund is an understatement but we had great snow conditions.  With a strong team, we made it to the top of Cayambe and had the views as a reward. About five minutes before standing on top, we heard a sound.  This sound was very familiar to Romulo and he looked back and smiled.  I smiled back as we saw the ultralight of a long-time friend of Phil and Romulo.  Jorge Anhalzer came cruising by, working the air and getting up to our elevation.  It could not have been timed any better on this perfect day.

We celebrated our second successful climb in Ecuador and the weather held again.  Perfect climbing with Antisana and Cotopaxi in the background.  What a great day!  Back in Quito now to say until next time to some of our team and for the rest, we are gearing up for our trip out to Chimborazo tomorrow morning.”

Greg Vernovage

November 27, 2011

Approaching the summit (Photo: Phil Ershler)

Another good day in Ecuador and another good summit for the team.  Greg Vernovage called in this morning to report the team reached the summit in good conditions.  A bit of tricky route finding to cross the bergschrund just below the summit but Ecuadorian guide, Romulo Cardenas, did a super job with this, as usual.

They’re already back to the refugio and thinking about the hot springs tonight in Papallacta.  A well-deserved bit of luxury after a long day.

Phil Ershler

Terrain on Cayambe (Photo: Phil Ershler)

November 26, 2011

Greg Vernovage called in on the afternoon of the 26^th.  Another great weather day.  Unbelievable.  Good training was had by all and another hit of acclimatization.  Early to bed tonight.

All are doing well and chomping at the bit for an early start in the morning.  Summit number two, with any luck early tomorrow morning.

Phil Ershler

November 26, 2011

The team is at the hut on Cayambe today.  I spoke with team leader, Greg Vernovage, last night.  He reported that the weather remains quite good and that they had the entire hut to themselves last evening.  Nice.  Today’s a training day on a nearby glacier.  Terrain is great to practice the French technique and to further enhance everyone’s acclimatization.

Greg also sent us a photo from the summit of Cotopaxi.  He said the team wanted it on the blog as soon as we could – so here it is!

Happy crew on the summit (Photo: Greg Vernovage)

Phil Ershler