So first, a little background. When I was trying to find somewhere to go someone mentioned to me Cotopaxi and I looked it up. Didn´t look too difficult, but challenging, though by the pictures it looked like people following a trail with ice axes, crampons, etc. I thought, I could do that! I probably should have researched it a little more...but I knew it wasnt going to be easy.
So the day started at Papagayo with a big pancake breakfast and getting all of our gear together. I wasn´t sure exactly what to bring since I wasn´t sure how cold it was going to be on the mountain. Though I packed the usual all Patagonia stuff and then Jean and I waited for our guide to pick us up. While we were waiting 3 more people joined us that were also going to be doing Cotopaxi. Two girls from New York that were super nice, but hadn´t really done any serious climbing before or acclimitized, i don´t think they knew what they were getting into either. Then another guy from Canada, that talked like Cotopaxi was going to be easy and talked like he knew everything, but I could barely understand him since he was from Quebec and they only speak French there. We all were going to have our seperate guides, as Fernando was going to be our guide. Finally at 1030 all the guides finally showed up and we piled into two extremly old cars to head to grab food for the night/morning and then lunch. I didn´t need to borrow too much gear just boots, crampons, ice axe, and harness, though I really wished I had my own boots. Of course they didn´t have any in my size, but i stuffed some insoles in them and played around with them awhile and they ended up working out just fine.
So far so good as we stopped at the local SuperMaxi to get snacks and water. I grabbed some local Ecuadorian candy, but I brought a lot with me (even though my 6lb bag of trail mix has somehow dissappeard..whoops). We also had a chance to walk around a market. They sell everything there from clothes to pig heads, not the most appetizing. Though I was getting anxious already to get to the refuge, where we were staying that night and it just seemed like everything was taking forever. So the roads in Ecuador for the most part are just mud and rocks so when it rains and rains they just become a big mud pit. So sure enough it was raining again and the road to Cotopaxi was just one very long dirt or should I say mud road. To a point where i wasnt sure if we were going to make it through some parts. We even came to a point where a car was already stuck in deep mud and we still managed to get around this car and through the thick mud. I am pretty sure the guides are used to this, but i thought it was wild and we even took pictures and video of this!
Eventually we got to the parking area to get some of our gear on and start the hour trek to the Refuge. Fernando,Jean, and I were the first ones to the refuge, while the girls followed, then Mirko, who made it present that it was a fluke he was the last one up. Haha whatever! We quickly claimed our beds and realized that our group was going to be the only ones attempting to summit Cotopaxi tommorow. We thought that was a little strange, but then again its not high season and even better to know it was just going to be us on the mountain. So the guides made some dinner, the girls got Mountaineering 101, and Jean and I sipped some tea as we talked about our plan for summitting. We decided that we werent going to quit no matter what unless one of us got really bad alttitude sickness. Summitting Cotopaxi was our goal for the trip and it looked like the weather was going to clear up for our hike. And we knew that we had acclimatized and were in much better condition than anyone else. I thought in my head also that if the girls made it to the top and not us, we were just going to end our mountaineering career there! Yeah there is my competitive side coming out again haha
So after a dinner of pasta, popcorn, tea, and some soup we tried to go to sleep at 7pm. Arrgg! Sleeping at 16,000 feet is not easy. And the anxiety of what was ahead wasnt helping either. I tossed and turned for a few hours, then was having trouble breathing, and just getting anxious. I wanted a few hours of sleep and I think I slept for around 30 minutes before I heard the steps I didnt want to hear to wake us up at midnight. I went for a quick bathroom break to be amazed how clear it was with no wind and a nice temperature. I put on my liner socks, hiking socks, light baselayer pant, pataguch guide pants, cap 3 baselayer, R1 fleece, pataguch shell, bacalava, headlamp, gaitors, helmet, gloves with no liners, and the harness,with my down jacket in my bag (Jean thought i was sponsored by Patagonia, I think Im a little obssessed) I filled up on lots of water before we all had breakfast of cornflakes and bread. Yea not really my top choice, but its what they brought. Jean and I were the first ones ready and started are long hike around 1am, that would be the last time we saw the others too until we got back to the refuge.
Hiking in the dark is awesome. You cant see up and really only the feet in front of you. So you just keep going up and just never know when its going to stop (which sucks). The crampons had to go on almost immediatly as the snow was getting pretty deap and the steepness of the slope started right away around 30 degrees. Before I knew it we had just begun and i was already out of breath, this hike was not going to be walk in the park. Hiking in the snow is not for the faint of heart, it takes a lot of strengh and cardio. I tried to keep up with Fernando and jean but was happy with bringing up the rear. The slopes never would subside either. Then I finally could make out the first crevasse....WHOA, that is what a freakin crevasse is! For those that dont know, a crevasse is a deep crack in the glacier and could be very dangerous in crossing as they could be anywhere from 45 meters deep and very wide, you just never know. This occupied my mind for awhile..and Cotopaxi has its fair share of them, we probably crossed at least 10 to 15 of them. The 'trail' itself went up and down th glacier, through crevasses, up steep walls of snow, and a few very tight areas where my backpack had a hard time getting through. What the hell have I gotten myself into! Never did i thought i would be climbing up snow walls, dodging icicles, and dealing with ridicolous exposure. I was now thinking,Why the hell am I doing this, anyway? Somehow, it had never occurred to me to wonder why I might want to climb up an enormous, glacier covered active volcano in the middle of the night. Surely, this is pure craziness - I can think of no other explanation, but hey this is an adventure so I kept going. That was now my word for the rest of the trip...this is crazy and it made Fernando laugh everytime I said it since it was all the time! He replied, I love Colorado girls in his broken English!
Finally about 2 hours later we arrived at the 50 degree slope. Where Fernando went first and tied an anchor in so he could belay us up. I dont have much experience in using crampons and ice axe but was glad I had takin the mountaineering class before I went so I could climb myself up this steep cliffside. After an extremely tiring 45minutes we got to the top of the steep section and continuted to go up. I was still saying this is crazy, but had Jean motivating me too. By this time the sun was finally coming out, so i could finally see up, and up was still a long way away. How could this be!! I felt like we had been hiking for a millon hours already. I was starting to bonk, but kept going as I thought the summit couldnt be too much farther...
False summit after false summit the swears were about to come out of my mouth. And for those that know me pretty well you know that I dont swear often, usually only when Im hiking or I miss a catwalk while skiing. ;-) Fernando kept me close with the rope and just kept telling me a little bit farther and Jean and I were getting each other through this madness of steepness, just think the incline wiht ice and snow on steriods for 5 hours, yup. Fernando then said that he would give me a kiss if I make it to the summit,ahh I said how about i dont get one if i make it to the summit? haha, donät think he understood me. Every corner we would take it seemed like another 40 degree hill we had to crampon up, I didnt think it ever was going to end. Finally after a lot of bitching and my body being super tired, Fernando turns around and says we either can go down or walk for 5 more minutes. Well heck no did I believe we had 5 minutes to go to the summit since he already had said this to me numerous times and we had hiked for hours! But no way was I going down, though sure enough 5 minutes later we I couldnt go any higher. As I took the last few steps, I couldnt believe I was going to make it. 5 hours and 45 minutes later we were at the top and my emotions just took over as I was extremely happy that we had made it and raised my arms in euphoria. Jean and I gave each other a high five and a big hug as it seemed like we were standing on top of the world. The clouds were below us, the sun was shining, and we had the summit to ourselves. It was an experience I cant explain. The massive crater that you can see into is unbelievable. Hiking up, one of the reasons I knew I was close was the smell of sulfur in the air due to the active volcano that we were hiking. Of course I came up to the summit with a celebratory drink! I cracked open my Pilsener beer and toasted to Cotopaxi! 19,374 feet in the air it was the craziest feeling ever as it just seemed surreal. Jean felt the same way as we couldnt believe what we had just done. The altitude wasnt a factor for us either, other than the constant being out of breathe, neither of us had any altitude sickness! Success, since you just never know, but I think the program we did acclimated us perfectly. After 20 minutes on the summit basking in our glory we realized we had to start going down soon before what the locals say 'the mountains wake up' I couldnt believe how there was no wind, and actually some sun for once. I didnt want to leave because to be honest I was much more scared of going down then the going up...as I should have been.
We started the decent around 730am and right away we knew it was going to take awhile as the snow was starting to soften up and was getting caught in our crampons so it made going down much more challenging. As we continuted to take our time down the steep slopes, Fernando belaying us when needed, it was getting hotter and hotter. Not good. Jean was having some trouble with going down as his crampons were snow magnets and every step he would take he would almost slip and was getting exhausted and frustrated. At this time now too you can finally see the scenery and I was lost in it. It was amazing all of th crevasses and how the glacier formation was. Unfortunately, we had to focus on going down as the sun was still shining extremly bright and there werent any clouds. As I marveled at all of the icicles and deep crevasses, I knew what this warm weather meant too, chances of avalanches and crevasses collapasing. We finally stopped after going down a good ways. It literally felt like it was 90 degrees and the sun was burning a hole through my face. Fernando tells us to shed our layers, put on sunscreen, and drink lots of water....FAST. I could tell he wanted us to get off this mountain as soon as possible. He tells us the mountain usually is never this warm and we need to get moving and to really concentrate. Of course at this point, Im a little scared as I know we have about 20 more crevasses to cross and a lot of possible places where avalances could occur. I was wearing only my baselayer top, liner gloves, guide pants, and helmet on the way down it was so hot. I took a big gulp of water and knew that we had to focus and get the second wind, since trouble usually always happens on the way down not on the way up. Jean struggled on the way down, but didnt give up. I was zoned in and made sure each step was the right one, especially down the high exposure spots and crevasses, as one wrong step could mean a lot of trouble.
Finally we reached the 50 degree slope where we had to basically belay each other down. This was super diffuclt because as you are going down you are basically down ice climbing. Its not easy when the snow is soft and you want to make sure you have a good foot hold before you do the next. Jean and I slowly made it down while Fernando undid the anchor and he started down. We walked a little further and waited for Fernando. All of a sudden, he missed a step on the way down and went falling. Jean and I immediately self arrested and I think my heart stopped for a second. Fernando was fast enough that he was able to self arrest eventually also, just before he was about to go into a huge crevasse. Yeah, if he would have gone into that Im not sure what the hell we would have done since Jean and I both didnt have enough experience for a crevasse rescue. But thank gosh we didnt have to deal with that. After getting my breath back we starting again down the trail, fast but precise. Having to go through a few more belay areas, and then one spot where we basically had to dip under a whole bunch of icicles and squeeze through a small opening.
Finally we found a good place to take a break and a great thing happenned..clouds came out! Probably the only time I ever was happy to see clouds. I threw on my shell and knew from there we were going to be fine. Fernando finally took the ropes off of us and I started booking it down, as going down I am much better than going up! haha. As I was going down, something flyes by me on the left, freakin Fernando was using his backpack as a slide and heading down the mountain. Not fair! I took off my harness and joined in on the fun of glissading down the mountain. It took us 3 hours to get off the mountain and one of the best parts was when we finally saw the Refuge. The weather had changed again and it was now snowing, but it was super peaceful and not cold at all. Jean and I took a moment to just reflect on what we had just done and the fact we were the only ones in the group to make the trek to the top. I read an article that less than 50 percent of people that try Cotopaxi actually make it to the top.
We finally walked into the refuge extremly exhuasted, but elated. We checked on the others and found they all got super bad altitude sickness and were unable to go very far. I immediatly changed out of my stuff and just laid on the bed, thinking wow that was amazing. The other guides congratulated us, and Fernando then laid a kiss on my cheek and said Congrats, Colorado girls are the best! We repacked our gear and started our hike down to the car to head back to papagayo for a celebratory dinner and my bed! I slept pretty much the whole ride back, had another beer, and then went right to bed for a little nap before Jean andI met up for dinner and to just talk about Cotopaxi and everything that happenned that day and we both had huge smiles on our faces.
Climbing to the summit of Volcán Cotopaxi is by far one of the most difficult things I have ever done in my life, the view from the top was possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life even though we couldnät see everything and without a doubt, it was the single most rewarding thing I have ever done and would do it again.
Never did I think I would be climbing up a Volcano and getting into mountainering and Im still not sure its for me, but I'm extremely happy I did this and cant wait for more experiences like it. Well tomorrow its chimborazo, but they already told us the snow conditions and weather are horrible, but we are going to give it a go.I hope to add some pictures and cant wait to tell people in person what I experienced.
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