home : excursions : ecuador

 

Overview

On Jan 19, 2010, Wes and I set out to climb Cayambe and Cotopaxi in Ecuador. And no one we spoke with while planning this trip bothered to tell us that the snow bridge at the bergschrund on Cayambe had collapsed some six months prior and that it was likely the start of a multi-year period during which no one would summit. Thanks Freddie. As such, you can see that our progress on Cayambe stops at this small plateau a little shy of the bergschrund. There were some twelve or fifteen people at the 'schrund trying to find a way across for nearly two hours. When they finally gave up, so did we.

Cotopaxi on the other hand, while slightly more windy, was easily summitted.

 

Tracklogs

cotopaxi-tracklog.txt - the cotopaxi route from refuge to summit

cayambe-tracklog.txt - the cayambe route from refuge to just below the bergschrund

 

Waypoints

Don't forget: positive latitudes (ie, the first number of each waypoint) are North; negative latitudes are South; positive longitudes are East; negative longitudes are West.

Cayambe - Refuge: 0.00855, -78.00967

Cayambe - Summit: 0.029, -77.986

Cotopaxi - Refuge: -0.65660, -78.43861

Cotopaxi - Summit: -0.68047, -78.43777

 

Pictures

The pictures are here.

 

Movies

Wes put together a movie primarily based off a helmet cam. You can find it here.

 

© Curtis Jones, 2010 All Rights Reserved