Chimborazo

Drew and I took on Chimborazo, a 20,565 ft inactive volcano this morning, and were able to summit from the refuge this morning.  Although the weather was a lot more forgiving here than Cotopaxi, it proved to be a much more endurance and strength-filled climb as well as taking a huge mental toll.  A couple more days in Quito and it's back to the States.  Check back in here from time to time for some possible happenings in the States.  Thanks for following!

Cotopaxi

As of last Thursday, Drew, Anisa, and I made our way to Anisa's apartment in Quito.  We've enjoyed meals of rice and noodles (vegetarian), hot dogs, and pizza since our arrival.  Drew and I left Quito yesterday for the likes of Cotopaxi, Ecuador's second highest summit at 19,347 ft.  Coto is a part of the Andes and is an active volcano.  We arrived at the refugee, a hut approximately 1000 vertical meters below the summit, and met a few friends of Drew's from his previous mountaineering expeditions in Ecuador.  We slept here for a few hours before starting our ascension of the volcano at around 1am in high winds and lots of ice.  After following Karl, an avid mountaineer and bike racer for many hours, we reached the summit at 6:55am.  Unfortunately, due to the bad weather, we were unable to get any good photos, but I do have a few pretty heinous photos of some weathered climbers. 

Cajas

Today we went out to Cajas, which is a National Park in Ecuador about 30 minutes outside of Cuenca.  This is probably one of the most beautiful places in the world.  Drew and I hiked to the summit of one of the peaks had some lunch and came back to town.  In one of the pictures above, you'll probably see a peak that is bent a little.  Two climbers from Cuenca hooked up a slackline there.  Here's the link to the video trailer.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN9daTEJzmU    Hope you guys enjoy and that everyone is well!  Also, my buddy Drew is blogging this journey too with a little more artsy approach.  Check his blog out at drewsplan.blogspot.com

San Fernando y Cuenca

Drew and I finally made it back to Cuenca for the New Year.  We were invited to a family party by Anisa, a really strong climber from Ecuador, which was an awesome time before heading to a club.  This proved to be a great experience to get acquainted to some Ecuadorian New Year traditions and culture.  Today, we went to San Fernando, a scenic spot with Drew and Anisa for some bouldering.  Besides some late rain, we had a great time. 

Cojitambo y Paute

After spending a night in Cuenca, Drew and I took off to do some climbing in Cojitambo, a small town about one hour by bus fromn Cuenca.  Once we got in town and settle at the hostel, some of the members of the Ecuadorian National Climbing Team showed up including the president of Ecuador's daughter.  It was awesome to spend some time with these folks, and watch them climb the following day. 

Two days later, we took a bus to Paute, another town close to Cuenca with about 50 different routes to climb.  We got here pretty late and did most of the hike in the dark with headlamps.  Our original plan to climb into a cave a couple pitches from the ground was scratched for plan B...sleeping next to the cliff.  After dealing with mosquitos for a couple hours, it started to rain, and Drew and I were stuck under an overhang trying to keep ourselves and our gear and dry as possible.  Once the rain passed, we went back to sleeping with the mosquitos for a few more hours on and off due to more light rain. 

The next morning, Drew led a pitch en route of the cave/shelter, only to get rained on once again.  I lowered Drew and we decided to keep our gear under an overhang while we hiked to the summit of the mountain.  Aside from the thorns, wet shoes, and steep slopes, we had a good time, and met up later with some of the Ecuadorian National Climbing to climb a few routes.

Cuenca

Just arrived in Cuenca, Ecuador, and life is pretty good here.  There's definitely a lot less hussle and bussle here than in Southeast Asia.  Most of the people here are extremely friendly, but the language barrier is a lot more difficult than expected.  Trying to bust out my Spanish skills from high school.  My buddy Drew and I are heading out to a climbing area called Siaosi.  Will definitely post some picture when I get a chance.