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.