2-week trip to Ecuador volcanoes: Cayambe, Chimborazo and Cotopaxi

Transfer to the hotel from the airport of Quito.

We will visit the Indian market of Otavalo, hike one hill above the town of Otavalo and San Pablo lake, the biggest in Ecuador. After an hour and a half, we will stop to enjoy a typical Otavaleño and Ecuadorian meal. We’ll take an afternoon drive back to Quito, stopping at the Equatorial Monument or Equatorial line.

We will make our acclimatization ascent on the Guagua Pichincha or Rucu Pichincha volcano at 4,800m.

We will make a scenic tour across Quito, and also will visit the national ethnological museum and other interesting places.

We’ll depart from Quito at 9:00 A.M., and arrive at the Cayambe volcano refuge by 3:00 P.M. (4,700m).

We will go on the glacier at 8:30 A.M to continue our acclimatization. We will engage in the moderate glacier section to familiarize ourselves with the  climbing techniques and equipment. I will train you on glacier skills, all necessary techniques for climbing the high peaks like Cayambe, Cotopaxi, Chimborazo and other mountains. We’ll learn rope-handling, glacier travel, snow climbing, basic crevasse rescue skills and safety techniques. After 6 hours training, we go back to the refuge for a delicious lunch and early dinner. We will get prepared for a midnight departure to Cayambe.

We’ll get up at midnight for breakfast and final equipment check up. We will leave the refuge at 1:00 A.M. and climb with headlamps for the first 4 hours. We’ll reach the final Cayambe summit at about 9:00 A.M. We will return to the hut around 2:00 P.M.

We will spend our day swimming in the hot pools of Oyacachi. After a relaxing afternoon, we will drive to La Cienega hotel near the Cotopaxi volcano.

We will drive into the Cotopaxi National Park. From here we will have a 45 minute hike with full packs up to the Jose Rivas hut. We will enjoy a hot tea and a short rest before heading out to the glacier for an afternoon review of technical training and equipment preparation.

We will climb for 7 hours to the summit of the Cotopaxi volcano. We will overnight at Hosteria La Cienega.

We will arrive at the lower refuge of Chimborazo “Carrel” at 4,800m around 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon and continue with our acclimatization.

We will walk 40 minutes with full packs up to the Whimper hut on the Chimborazo flank, located at 5,000m.  There, we will rest and prepare ourselves for the early morning departure.

We will climb for 8 or 9 hours to the summit of the volcano. We will  first traverse moderately angled ice slopes, climb through a series of icefalls and up to the steep ice ramps, climbing simultaneously on moderate grounds belaying up the steep pitches. Our team will rope together in order to cross crevasses and finally make it to the summit.

We will spend the day at the colorful town of Baños.

We will drive back to Quito and have a farewell dinner at our hotel.