November 7, 2018

Luke and a smiling rope team on the summit of Cayambe

Its always nice to get the satellite phone call saying all’s well, weather was great and, oh yeah, we reached the summit and are already back at high camp.  Pretty much Luke’s words exactly when he called this morning.  Almost no wind up high.  Route had to bank far to the left near the summit to get around the summit bergschrund.  Longer, but safer, is just fine.

Team should already be at the hot springs in the town of Papallacta.  Life’s tough – climb a 19,000’ glaciated peak in Ecuador in the morning, with almost no wind, and spend the afternoon/evening in the hot spring tubs, with a beer in hand and starring at the summit of Antisana.  And, of course, sharing a few war stories about the climb.

All’s just fine in Ecuador.

Phil Ershler

November 6th, 2018

A Beautiful Morning on Cayambe

It’s almost game day for the team in Ecuador.  The gang went to the high hut on Cayambe yesterday.  Weather was nice with some fresh snow on the mountain.  As the hut’s around 15,000 ft, the team benefited greatly from spending last night at that altitude and took today to do a bit of a ‘refresher’ and log a full day at that altitude.  Sleeping now and, weather permitting, head out about midnight Ecuador time for their summit attempt.  It’ll be a big day but they’ve done their homework.  Wish them luck.

Phil Ershler

November 5, 2018

The Ecuador team spent the weekend prepping for higher altitudes.  Everyone had a great day climbing Fuya Fuya on Saturday and finished the day with a visit to Hacienda Pinsaqui just outside of Otavalo for dinner and live music.  There is a bit more rain in Ecuador this November but the team is making the best of it.  The road to our acclimatization hike yesterday on Imbabura was impassable but it didn’t stop this crew.  We were able to drive to just over 10,000 feet and climbed 4,000 vertical feet through the wandering countryside on the slopes of the mountain.  We all spent last night at another Hacienda called Guachala.  Guachala is on the road to Nevado Cayambe, the first big volcano the team will attempt.  After a nice meal Sunday night and a history lesson from the Hacienda’s owner, everyone shot a little pool and slept next to the wood fires in their rooms.  Wish them luck on Cayambe, the team will be climbing Tuesday night!

Luke Reilly

November 2, 2018

Straddling the equator (Camilo Cardenas)

The November Ecuador program is in full swing. All the team members arrived with their duffels. There’s always that moment of anticipation waiting for your duffel to drop onto the luggage carousel, but we hit 100% this time, 7 climbers and 14 duffel bags. First thing on the agenda today after some scrambled eggs was a visit to the equator including a little lecture on astronomy, cool stuff.

Our trip this year lined up with Dia de los Muertos; a holiday devoted to honoring the dead. After a short drive up north to the town of Otavalo, the group visited the beautifully decorated tombstones and witnessed some very interesting festivities. We all finished off the day with some pizza and laughs and are prepping for our first acclimatization hike to Fuya Fuya in the morning. We’re off to a good start!

Luke Reilly