Chimborazo & Cotopaxi Expedition

We’ll be received at Quito Airport and transferred to the hotel. Early arrivals will be able to explore the city center. Our first major event will be a dinner reception and team briefing in the evening after everyone has arrived. The night will be spent at our hotel in Quito.

We’ll depart for our first acclimatization summit of the itinerary to 4,696 meters! The aim of this day is to acclimatize. We’ll be taking the local cable car from Quito up to the Pichincha volcano and starting our trek at 3,945 meters. Although it would be ideal to reach the summit of Rucu Pichincha, our main goal is to spend time at high altitude. That may or may not include reaching the top depending on weather conditions and how well our bodies are doing on the very first day of exposure to this environment. After lunch, we’ll descend back to Quito for a late afternoon tour of the old town and dinner. The night will be spent at our hotel in Quito.

We’ll get an early start heading south along the Pan American highway. This will be our first opportunity to see the vast number of Volcanoes that dot the Ecuadorian landscape including Cotopaxi, Illinizas, and Curazon. Although North Illinizas may appear small relative to Cotopaxi and Chimborazo, it is a major achievement in its own right. The climb to the top starts in the upper grasslands before connecting with the bare ridge that we’ll be following all the way to the top. We’ll be stopping for lunch at the mountain refuge just before the summit ridge. From there, it’s a combination of scrambling and trekking until we reach the top. The descent from the summit takes a different path down a rocky scree that reconnects with the grassland trail. This is a full day of trekking and usually ends after sunset. We’ll have dinner as soon as we return to Quito.

The first day of our Cotopaxi climb starts slow. We’ll have the chance to enjoy a full breakfast and aim to check out from our hotel in Quito by around 9:30 am. We’ll be stopping for gear rentals on our way to the national park and lunch will be served at the foot of the mountain before we begin our short trek to the base camp. Trekking time to base camp 4,800 meters is usually around 1 hour. We try to arrive in the early afternoon in order for everyone to have the opportunity to rest both before and after dinner. The summit briefing will be held at dinner time. The night will be spent at the lodge outside Riobamba.

Depending on the mountain conditions and the pace of the team, we’ll be departing base camp in the direction of the summit anytime between 11 pm and 1 am. The trail starts on dry ground with crampons usually not needed for the first 300 vertical meters. Once crampons are on, the trail winds up the glacier with a combination of inclines, flats, ridges, and switchbacks until we reach the base of the crater rim. The last section is usually the most challenging because it is a sustained incline until we reach the summit 5,897 meters. The top is spectacular beyond words. It’s an active volcano after all! After summiting, we’ll return to the base camp for a second breakfast before returning to the carpark. Lunch will be at a restaurant on our way to the Hosteria Andaluza, our accommodation for the next two nights.

After breakfast, we’ll head out for a fun day in the resort town of Banos. There, we’ll have the opportunity to visit the Rio Verde, located in the UNESCO World Heritage site within the Sangay National Park. We’ll also do a short walk down to the second-highest waterfall in Ecuador, the Pailon Del Diablo. They’re also opportunities to bungee jump and zipline for those of us who’re up for it. Lunch will be in the town center followed by free time to enjoy the coffee shops and market streets. We’ll head back to the Hosteria Andaluza for dinner and the summit briefing.

Depending on mountain conditions and how the team is feeling, we may choose to either rest on this day or make our way to Chimborazo base camp. The decision will be taken the night before by the guides and LHO team leader. If we stay for an additional rest day, then we’ll be remaining at the Hosteria Andaluza for the day. If we decide to move to Chimborazo base camp, then we’ll depart after breakfast. Lunch will be on the road to the national park. After checking in to the park we’ll follow the base camp trail that starts at 4700 meters and makes its way up to 5,100 meters at the base of the Chimborazo glacier. Dinner will be at the base camp followed by our summit briefing.

If we decided to remain at the Hosteria Anadaluza for a second rest day, then this day will be our trek to the base camp. (See the previous day’s itinerary for details). If we had already decided to make our way to the base camp, then this is our summit night which begins between 11 pm and 1 am depending on mountain conditions and the pace of the team. The trail immediately starts on the glacier with the traverse of the Castillo, which is the most technically demanding part of the night. The direct ascent to the summit starts at the end of the Castillo ridge with a sustained climb all the way to the Ventimilla summit (6228m), Chimborazo’s small summit. From there the trail levels out before climbing again to the actual summit at 6310m. Time spent on the summit will be dictated by conditions. Once we start heading down, it’s a direct descent to the base camp for our second breakfast before continuing down to the car. If we attempt Chimborazo on day 8 then we’ll be spending this night at the Hosteria Andaluza.

If we trekked to the base camp on the previous day, then we’ll be attempting to summit Chimborazo on this day. (See the previous day’s itinerary for details). After returning to the foot of the mountain from the summit we’ll be heading back to Quito directly. If we had attempted the summit on the previous day, then we’ll be heading back to Quito from the Hoseria Andaluza. Regardless of our starting point, we’ll be having lunch on the road with a farewell dinner hosted in Quito upon our arrival. Our last night together will be spent in Quito.

Our last day together will be dedicated to airport transfers. Breakfast is included on this day.