Summit Part II

Wes said they left for the summit this morning at 12:30 am. He said it was pretty challenging. They had to meander through a lot of crevasses and some of them were really huge - you could fit a mobile home in them! He said you couldn't even see the bottom of a lot of the crevasses. There were also a few snow bridges to cross. This was kind of creepy because as they crossed over they couldn't see to the bottom of the crevasse and weren't sure if some of them would hold. As they got closer to the summit they came upon a section where they had to use their ice axe and the tips of their crampons to climb up - it was that steep. They summited at about 7:00 a.m. Wes and Curtis were the only two people up there. Wes said he thinks about four people summited yesterday. He said the weather was great - not too windy, the clouds were all below them, and it wasn't too cold, maybe around 10 degrees. He took a cool picture of the shadow of the mountain that looked like a pyramid. The guys got back to the hut around 9:30 am. Freddy came and picked them up at noon and they got back to Quito at about 3:30 pm. They rested for a little bit and then went out for steaks! Tomorrow they plan on relaxing and enjoying their last day in Quito (although Wes said he is ready to leave because his allergies have been so bad there). Their flight leaves at 12:20 am on Saturday morning but they have to be at the airport three hours early to go through customs (so they will be there at 9:30 pm tomorrow night). They also have to pay $40 each to leave the country. Wes said they had a lot of fun climbing and it was a great trip!

Summit!!!!!

By the pictures posted on the web, Wes and Curtis must have summited Cotopaxi this morning! I will write a more complete update (or Wes will) tonight when I hear from him.

At Cotopaxi Hut

Wes and Curtis are at the climbers' hut on Cotopaxi. They are at about 16,100 feet. They got picked up by Freddy at 10 am. A Russian guy rode up with them. Wes thought he was rude because he kept complaining the whole time about the crime in Quito, etc. It was also making Freddy angry since this is his country. He was defending it saying it is a big city and you can get mugged in New York, Mexico, etc. They got to see a llama on the drive up. Also, the land is pretty fertile so there were a lot of corn crops but primarily potatoes. He said it was very pretty. Freddy took them to about 15,000 feet and then they had to hike the rest of way up to the hut. Wes said it took them about 45 minutes. They got up to the hut at about 3 pm. On the way it kind of sleeted a little bit but stopped pretty quickly. Then the clouds would come and go but it isn't too bad up there right now. Wes said the hut on Cotopaxi is pretty nice. He thinks it is nicer than Cayambe. The bathroom is a separate structure about 40 feet from the main hut. The toilets at this hut do not actually flush. It is what they call a bucket flush toilet. So, you do your thing and when you are done you put the toilet paper in a trash basket. Then you scoop out a bucket of water from a large drum and toss the water into the bowl and that "flushes" it. Wes said that he and Curtis just took it easy for the rest of the day. There are about 10 other climbers at the hut. This one guided group is going for the summit tonight. They only spent one night at 12,000 feet and now are planning on going to over 19,000 feet in a day! This German guy in his early 20s was complaining to Wes about having a severe headache. Wes advised him not to go any higher in elevation since the group wasn't really acclimated and it would be pretty dangerous. Not sure if the guy will listen to Wes or not. There is also a young couple from the UK. Wes said they are about 21 years of age. He said they rented all their clothing and equipment and have never used them before! He doesn't understand these people who think they can just climb a mountain without ever having climbed one before or even training for it. Anyway, the guy comes up to Wes and asks him what country he is from. Wes says the United States. The guy looks at him and then makes a thumbs down motion and boos him! The guy's girlfriend was angry and told him he was being really rude. Wes didn't stoop to his level, he just introduced himself and said he was proud to be an American! Right now Wes said everyone is asleep. He is outside taking pictures. There is a fox that keeps hanging around him. He comes right up to Wes! He is foraging for food or something but is not scared of Wes at all. He said the clouds are all below him and he can see a reddish glow in the distance which is Quito. There is a half moon highlighting Cotopaxi which is really cool. Both guys are feeling really good. They actually contemplated going for the summit tonight but decided since they aren't in any hurry they will stick with the original plan. Tomorrow they will take it easy and do a short hike on the trail to see where they will be heading. Then tomorrow night they will again get up at 11 pm to be on the trail by midnight for their summit push.

More news from Quito...

Wes and Curtis will be picked up at 10 am tomorrow morning for their trip to Cotopaxi. After doing some shopping today they took a cab over to the basilica. Wes said it reminded him of some of the churches in Italy. He said there was a lady outside the basilica selling corn. Wes didn't want any corn but he gave the lady a $1. She looked really confused as to why he was giving her money but didn't take any corn - so then he took a picture of her which made her even more confused. The main currency there is the US dollar. They do have their own currency that are coins but it you give them a $20 and need change it will come back to you in US dollars. They did get a bunch of coins but it turned out to be US dollar coins. The ones with Sacajawea on the back. Wes and Curtis also took a very long hike up to the top of this hill. It took them about 40 minutes to get to the top and it was made up of all stairs and narrow passageways. At the top is a statue of the Virgin Mary. There was also this chicken wire structure in the shape of a donkey. He thinks it is lit up at night or something. Wes said the steps up to the top of the hill reminded him a little bit of the streets of San Francisco - what with the human feces and all! Wes' allergies have really kicked in due to all the diesel fumes in the city. They will spend tomorrow hanging out at the Cotopaxi climbers' hut.

Resting in Quito

Today we are resting comfortably in Quito with scattered clouds slowly building in the horizon. Of course the temperature is perfect as usual and a lot of hustle and bustle throughout the city streets. I'm expecting some light showers similar to yesterday afternoon's cleansing of the diesel fume that saturated the Quito air. After breakfast we casually walked the streets aimlessly with no real goal, but ended up impulse shopping on a few items. The rope we were originally using is about twice as long and twice as hefty as needed so we decided to purchase a smaller diameter and a much shorter rope for our upcoming climb on Cotopaxi. Besides, the bright fluorescent green looks cool. Looking cool seems to be about 9/10's of climbing. The remaining 10th is feeling miserable at altitude asking yourself again and again, "Why did I choose this as a sport?" There is a local laundry shop about 100 meters from where we are staying so we decided to have a few of our clothing items cleaned from our first adventure, climbing Cayambe. The rest of the day we will be unpacking and repacking getting ready for our 2 1/2 hour drive to Cotopaxi. I'm wondering if 2 1/2 hours translates into 4-5 hours?

Made it to 17,800 feet

Wes and Curtis are back in Quito safe and sound. They got up last night at 11 pm and were on the trail by midnight. The weather was very calm, no wind and a small moon. However, apparently the mountain is not letting anyone summit this season. The bergschrund was way too big to try and cross. They saw some other guided groups up there trying to figure out how to cross it but couldn't find a way either. Wes said they were supposed to stay to the far left on the trail but for some reason they went to the far right and were in the middle of all these crevasses and seracs. He said it was very cool but dangerous. Curtis ended up falling into a crevasse up to his knees but he made it out okay. They got as high as 17,800 feet at the bergschrund and that is where they had to turn around. All the other groups turned around there, too. They made it back to the hut at 10:30 this morning. The guide that drove them back to Quito said that no one has summited Cayambe for awhile. He said that there was a natural snow bridge that was allowing people to cross but it collapsed about a year ago. Wes said that even though they weren't able to summit Cayambe they had a really good time on that mountain - doing the ice climbing and repelling, etc. The guys got back to Quito at about 3:30 pm and are at the Sierra Nevada Hotel. Wes said the first room they got did not have any hot water and the shower wouldn't drain. So they got another room which has two beds but is really, really tiny and they are surrounded by all their gear. He said this one doesn't have hot water either so they have to go to the front desk every time they want hot water to let them know. I guess the pilot light or something is not working. Tomorrow the guys will be resting in Quito. On Tuesday they will be driven to Cotopaxi. Wes heard that Cotopaxi has been having some really high winds lately so they will just have to see how it goes.