Trip Reports

Antisana - 20 Dec to 3 Jan '10

Written by Team Member Mark Horrell, January 2010

Although Antisana was undoubtedly the highlight of our time in Ecuador, the trip offered a chance to climb a number of volcanoes, each with their own character. In all, 5 out of 5 mountains were successfully climbed by this year's Antisana team. Here are some highlights:

Rucu Pichincha
This volcano overlooking the capital city, Quito, is accessible by cable car up to the paramo grasslands at around 4000m. From here, a pleasant grassy ridge leads to the foot of the mountain, which involves some zigzags up scree slopes, followed by an easy scramble up to the summit. Thierry had only just arrived in Quito that morning after extreme weather had played havoc with his flights, and wisely decided to turn around at 4400m to assist his acclimatisation (although when he turned up at my hotel room at 5am he didn't seem to share my enthusiasm at how lucky he'd been to visit Lima in Peru, Bogota in Colombia, and Quito in Ecuador all in the space of one morning). The rest of us continued to the 4680m summit, by which time the clouds had swept across and we only got occasional glimpses of sister volcano Guagua Pichincha (which erupted as recently as 1999, showering Quito in dust). The return trip involved descending in the world's slowest cable car as it took a whole 45 minutes to crawl back down to the base station at Quito. Again, our companions didn't seem to share the joke when Thierry and I, safely down and waiting outside, watched their car stop just a few metres short of its destination and hang in mid air for nearly twenty minutes. I did film their reaction when they eventually got out, but I expect it will take some editing before Jagged Globe agree to put it on their website.

Ruminahui Central
A lovely walk with a remote feel to it, amongst Ecuador's high altitude paramo, through long paja grass, orange tipped chiquiragua (the paramo's equivalent of heather) and purple lupins, against a backdrop of conical Cotopaxi and more distant Antisana. Another short scramble to the compact 4634m summit before the clouds rolled in again. Good fun running back down the scree slopes.

Iliniza Norte
We camped in grasslands at 3900m before making a 5am start. Weather was beautiful to begin with, and dawn views out across Cotopaxi and Corazon spectacular. Sadly Ruth became ill when we reached the hut on the col between Iliniza Sur and Iliniza Norte, and she and Angus decided to turn around. We thought it strange, because she'd already climbed higher (to 5000m) on Cotopaxi a couple of days earlier, but we only discovered later her illness was not due to altitude sickness at all, but because she'd been drinking a secret stash of Talisker whisky which she and Angus kept hidden from us until New Year's Eve. Thierry, Tony and I continued to the 5126m summit with guides Felipe and Romero. Slightly trickier scramble to the summit this time, not made any easier by loose rocks and 2cm of snow on the surface ... oh, and the large party of 17 German clients with their two guides. Bit of a bottleneck, but things were all very friendly and polite, as they always are between these two great European nations. Got back to the campsite at 1.15 after a little over 8 hours of climbing - more than an hour quicker than Jagged Globe managing director Simon Lowe's team of slow coaches, who climbed the mountain a couple of days earlier as part of the Ecuador Volcanoes itinerary.

Antisana
A wild and remote drive to this mountain on the edge of the Amazon rain forest coincided with the start of a week of perfect weather, so we felt very lucky. Poor Ruth was ill again and had to descend for a couple of days' pampering at a posh hacienda. Dutiful husband Angus went with her, although it was clear to us the intrepid Scottish ice climber was desperate to sink his axes into Antisana's forbidding seracs and crevasses, rather than lie beside a pool in the sun drinking Ecuadorian Pilsener beer. Meanwhile Tony, who had been ill for a week, had made a sudden recovery. I flatter myself for being responsible for his remarkable improvement after reading Edward Whymper's "Travels amongst the Great Andes ..." and discovering Chamonix guide Jean-Antoine Carrel's miracle cure: red wine. Tony took to this course of treatment with great enthusiasm at a peaceful hacienda the previous evening. We were now being guided on a 1:1 basis. Sounds brilliant, but each of us now found ourselves weaving in and out and leaping over crevasses while tied to a guide considerably smaller than ourselves, none more so than me, tied to little Dominica. I managed to avoid lumbering into a crevasse, though I notice she kept the rope a wee bit tighter than I'm used to. We set off at 12.30am, and how our guides managed to navigate an incredibly intricate route through the crevasse fields in the dark, I don't know, but we reached the 5753m summit at 7.30am after what had been definitely one of my all time favourite climbs. A very interesting ascent with lots of variety. And we were lucky with conditions - Dominica told me it was her 10th time on Antisana, and only her 2nd summit. Weather perfect - great views of every mountain in Ecuador, Sangay erupting, and really quite mild. Sweltering descent, however, but all in all most enjoyable and satisfying.

Cotopaxi
Tony and I had booked to do the Chimborazo extension, but after hearing about conditions on the route, we asked if we could swap to Cotopaxi. Apparently there had been very little snow for 6 months, and a steep snow slope had become black ice with lots of rockfall. Later we heard from a Mountain Madness group who used the same local agent as Jagged Globe, that conditions had changed again, and they had to turn back because lots of snow had loaded the route with potential avalanches. So no regrets - Cotopaxi was an excellent alternative. Undoubtedly not as much fun as Antisana - route more straighforward with only one slightly technical section, and had to endure an afternoon in the climbers' hut with noisy sightseers who had brought their screaming kids up from the car park at 4600m (note to parents: small babies not very good with 4800m oxygen levels). Tony ill again - stomach trouble, which I was only too aware of walking behind him on the rope. Strong smell of sulphur halfway up (from the mountain, not from Tony). 5897m summit, which we reached at 6.45am, made up for everything, however, staring down into impressive crater, still active. Very lucky with the weather - amazing views again. Back down at 8.45am after 1am start.

Highlight of the Trip
Definitely summit day on Antisana - right up there among my top mountains. Interesting route, great views, great wilderness experience.

Biggest Disappointment of the Trip
Has to be Angus's Ama Dablam bra story. It was a very funny story which produced a good deal of group banter (eg. "While his companions were tackling rock of grade 5C, Angus was taking a look at something 36D", etc.), but while Angus had around 6 million photos of Scottish ice climbing on his iPhone, he failed to produce the photo of the young lady in question offering him her clothing in the bar of the Summit Hotel, Kathmandu. Still waiting, Angus.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable way to spend Xmas and New Year. Many thanks to our Ecuadorian guides Felipe, Romero and Dominica, who spoke excellent English and were great company, expecially Felipe, who was with us the whole time. Thanks also to my travelling companions Thierry, Angus, Ruth and Tony. It was a great shame Angus and Ruth couldn't share the summits with us, but most of all you have to feel sorry for poor Thierry. This was his 3rd time in Ecuador, and although he finally had perfect weather conditions for climbing, his holiday was ruined when the staff of the hacienda we were staying in on New Year's Eve offended his Gallic sensibilities by making him eat a whole 3-course dinner in less than an hour. And the Croatian Merlot (!?!) didn't improve his digestion, either.

Ecuador offers an unusual combination of interesting mountains and comfortable (even luxury) lodges and haciendas. The Antisana itinerary even has a bit of camping for those like me who like to rough it in a tent for a few nights as well.

Mark Horrell www.markhorrell.com« Previous report | Next report »

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