Family and friends!
Today at 7:00am our team stood on the summit of Cayambe at 18,996 f! We were thrilled to have 100% team success, meaning every individual on the team made it to the top. That’s not always the case on climbs like this, so the summit celebration is that much sweeter when it is!
We were treated to absolutely perfect conditions – bluebird skies, virtually no wind, decent temps, and just-firm-enough snow on the glacier. We couldn’t have asked for a better weather window. To anyone who sent good weather wishes our way, muchas gracis!
We set out from the hut (15,100 ft) right on time at midnight and tackled the first section up the rocky ridge no problem. We were glad to have moved through this section during the daylight on Thursday so we were familiar with it in the dark today. As we crested onto the glacier we could see the city lights of Quito – wild to think we were touring around there just a week ago! We cramponed up at the glacier, divided into our rope teams, and continued upwards under a crystal clear sky of stars. Here on the equator, you can see constellations of both the northern and southern hemispheres depending on season – something we tried to observe overhead during our brief breaks. Most of the time though, we were looking down focused on our footwork!
We made our way up the slopes of the glacier, skirting and at times stepping over a few crevasses. Dawn broke in purple as we were a couple hundred feet below the summit, revealing Cotopaxi blanketed in fresh snow and Antisana, another volcano of this range that’s much bigger than some of us realized! As the sun rose, the shadow of Cayambe lay prominently behind us as we ascended the peak’s west side, and a faint rainbow halo circled the top of the pyramid shadow. A beautiful sight, though none of us understood the physics there. Or we might have been too worked from climbing almost 3,700 ft at that point to figure it out, haha. We moved up the final steep pitch to the summit, tired and totally stoked! Everyone pushed themselves to get there in many respects, both today and in the months leading up to this, and they did it!
As our team member Phil pointed out, the summit of Cayambe is a great size – big enough to fit a large climbing team moving around without risk; small enough that you have perfect 360-degree views and really feel you’re on top of the world! We hung out on the summit for about 30 minutes soaking it in and celebrating together. All the hugs! Summit hugs in giant puffy parkas are simply the best. After taking sufficiently silly photos and sharing summit chocolates, we started the descent.
Descents tend to be challenging and today’s was no exception, but the nice part about descending from nearly 19,000 ft is that the general effects of altitude – headache, loss of appetite – tend to improve rapidly as you lose elevation. We arrived safely back at the hut around 10:30am and about 10 minutes later – you guessed it! – the rain came. Hard to ignore this fortuitous trend! Fingers crossed we stay on the dry side of it. We refueled at the hut with scrambled eggs, rolls, and yogurt – Saturday brunch at its finest. Then we returned to Yanacocha Lodge (goodbye forever, Cayambe hut road, you will not be missed) and have been eating and napping to recover.
Tomorrow we’ll head towards Cotopaxi, still focused on recovering from today’s climb. It was a big and challenging day!
Salud!
The Quinoa Posh Climbers
Fun fact: Cayambe, though the third highest mountain in Ecuador, has the special distinction of being the highest and coldest point on the equator. This volcano is the only place on Earth where the latitude and temperature can both be 0 degrees.
