November 28, 2010
Cotopaxi.
While we were feeding our faces with Thanksgiving dinner and then again with the leftovers the following weekend, our team in Ecuador has been working hard!
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On Thanksgiving day the team left the refugio on Cotopaxi on a great summit day but as Greg said his “mountain senses” were tingling so they dug a snow pit to confirm what they were feeling. Sure enough they found faceted granules about 25-30 inches down on a layer of ice. This made turning around at 17,929ft a little easier…painful nonetheless. Not defeated, the team went horseback riding that afternoon then enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving dinner of their own.
They awoke at their hacienda to some light rain. Next up was Cayambe. As the rain turned to snow near the hut it became clear that the 4×4 jeeps were not going to be able to make it all the way to the hut – what’s a little load carrying amongst friends right? Summit night brought more and more snow with limited to no visibility so climbing Cayambe just wasn’t in the cards.
Good decisions behind them, they’re on their way back to Quito today so a couple team members can head back home on some scheduled flights while some others are stick around for the extension and possibly a climb of Chimborazo or an alternate mountain should Chimbo be unclimbable at the moment.
That’s all for now…
Tye Chapman