Climbing Cotopaxi (19,347 ft)

Versión en castellano

At 8 am, we took our time to have breakfast slowly, then returned to the room to finish packing our bags, leave the room empty and the bags with Alfredo. We continued killing time until noon, when we went to the restaurant to have lunch. On the menu: sambo soup to start, chops, chicken, or trout as the second course, and dessert. Mauricio (‘el muñeco’), who is the second guide for the excursion, joined us for lunch. Ecuador requires a certified guide for every two tourists climbing Cotopaxi.

Team B in the summit

At 2 pm we left the Tambopaxi and headed to the parking lot of the volcano. We started walking to the refuge at 3 pm via the zigzag route (there are at least two routes to the refuge). By 4 pm, we were already there. We found many people wandering around the area, more than the previous day. It was a long weekend because the celebration of May 1st (Labour Day) was moved to Friday instead of Thursday. People take the opportunity to go out for a stroll, climbing up to the refuge and some a bit higher to touch the snow. Many have lunch or a snack at the refuge.

At 6 pm there were not many people left in the refuge except for the groups, like ours, that plan to ascend the mountain that night: a Texan named Alexandra, with her guide Ivancito; a couple from Cuenca, Ecuador, dressed up nicely, a group of about nine people, and the four of us plus Romel and Mauricio. At dinner we had quinoa soup, meat stew, and dessert. The three dishes remain formal in almost all our meals in Ecuador.

Our group of 6 stayed in a four-bunk-bed room with a capacity of up to 8 guests. We do not share the room with the other groups. At 7 pm, the power was turned off, leaving all in darkness. We had to turn on the flashlights to finish our bed accommodation. Four hours later, at 11 PM, Mauricio's alarm started beeping, interrupting his snoring. I could swear that, unlike me, he slept soundly. Seconds later, the generator was turned on, and with it, the light bulb in the room, which no one had turned off when we went to sleep, lit up. I turned it off so the kids could keep sleeping. Federica, Mauricio, and I got ready to leave. We were Team A (the adults), leaving at midnight, while Team B (the babies), Marcela, Rodrigo, and Romel, would depart one hour later.

In the refuge's romm

At 12:12 am, 12 minutes later than scheduled, the members of Team A left for the summit. Before leaving, the members of Team B, who had already started getting ready for the climb, did a farewell. It was an emotional moment. The couple from Cuenca left a few minutes after Team A, and ahead of us, already in the distance, were Ivancito and the Texan girl who departed on time.

The walk was going slowly. It was a moonless night, glittered with millions of stars. There were a few clouds, but the sky above us was mostly uncovered, and the wind was blowing gently. To my right side was the abyss, and beneath the lights of Quito and its suburbs. I would say that we could see the whole metropolitan area of the capital, its different valleys full of lights, in contrast to the darkness of what I imagine must be the jungle. Later, I realized it was not the Amazonian jungle but rural spaces.

Resting break

I was well protected from the cold except for the hand that I had out of my pocket holding the ice axe (it was gloved, but I needed the second pair of gloves), and a strip that remained uncovered on my forehead where the plastic strap of the helmet rested.

At 1:30 am, we made our first stop. We have already surpassed 5,200 meters in altitude. I took the opportunity to slip a bonnet over my balaclava, covering entirely my forehead, and also to put on a second pair of gloves. I force myself to drink water and eat caramelized peanuts even though they don't appeal to me. For the last 20 minutes, I was feeling discomfort from the altitude; it's not quite nausea, but it reminds me of Kilimanjaro.

Around 3 am, we stopped for the third time. Federica was cold and put on her down jacket. The process takes time: first, you have to find out the jacket in the backpack, then loosen the harness, take off the gloves, pull the left arm out of the rain jacket, put the left arm into the down jacket, place the rain jacket on top, repeat the last two steps with the right arm, to finally readjust the harness. While we were doing this, Team B, which left exactly at one o'clock, passed us. Again, we forced ourselves to drink water and eat some chocolates, which were rock hard due to the cold. Fortunately, Federica had previously unpacked, crumbled, and placed them in small pieces in the bag along with the caramelized peanuts before leaving.

Close to 4 am, we caught up with team B when they were doing a resting break. Since it was also our turn for a recovery pause, we stopped to hydrate and eat caramelized peanuts again, and once more reluctantly. Romel asked us how we were doing, to which Federica replied: I am destroyed, Marcela commented: Erni, what have you gotten us into? Rodrigo said: my head hurts, Marcela added: I feel nauseous. In short, we were at our best moment. Fortunately, my early discomfort had gone away.

Antisana viewed from Yanisacha

After completing the medical assessment of the situation, team B began to move again while team A finished hydrating and pushing down some chocolates or caramelized peanuts (whichever came first) down their throats.

Shortly after 5 am, Federica could hardly go on, and we stopped at a place called Bear Cave. Bear Cave is a small rock cave covered with ice. It sinks about 50 cm to the right of the path (if you are going up), very close to Yanasacha (which is an iconic and distinctive black rock from the volcano). At that moment, team B was resting at Yanasacha, the last stop before the final summit attack.

The stop inside the cave chilled me, and I had to put on my down jacket, following the steps explained earlier with little precision. We also took the opportunity to hydrate ourselves and force more peanuts down our digestive tracts. We entered the cave at night and watched as the sky turned red and then blue, and although the break wasn't very long, by the time we came out of the cave it was already daytime. Federica regained her spirit and energy. She seemed like a different person.

We still had two stages left: to reach Yanasacha, very close to where we were, and from there to climb a steep ramp with an inclination of about 50 degrees that would take us approximately an hour and a half. Energized by the war cry of 'Yanasacha!', we covered the remaining stretch to that last resting point.

Team B almost in the top

The sight had completely changed: the lights of Quito and the neighboring valleys, where its suburbs are located, had gone out, and the metropolis was covered by a light mantle of low clouds. Above that mantle stood imposing the volcanoes of the region: Pasochoa, Rumiñahui, Iliniza North, Iliniza South, Antisana, Sincholagua... a magical sight, the prize for having ascended so high (around 5,400).

We arrived at Yanasacha when the children and the guide were alredy climbing the steep and immense ice ramp that marks the last stretch of the ascent. They were high up, but not far away, and they looked tiny. We made a very short sixth break there to attend to biological needs and then continued our journey.

The ramp was the toughest section of the trail. Team B reached the summit just as Team A was starting the ramp. Through Mauricio's radio, we learned that Romel had spoken with Ivancito, the Texan girl's guide, who was already coming down, about the possibility of taking Federica back to the refuge with them. Mauricio replied that Federica had recovered and was determined to reach the summit. Shortly after, we crossed paths with them on the ramp, who very kindly repeated their offer to accompany Federica to the refuge. Federica high-fived them, declined the invitation, and assured them that she would also make it to the top.

Descending reaching 'Cueva del Oso'

We continue the climb of the endless ramp. Almost at its end, around 7 am, we crossed paths with Team B when they were already descending. They encouraged us by saying that the worst was over, that we were almost at the end of the wall, and from there things would be easier. By 'easier' they meant a hike of about 20 more minutes, with a positive slope, that is, more uphill, but not as wild as the wall or the ice ramp that we hadn't finished yet.

We finished the wild ramp with Federica smelling the fumes from her empty energy tank. Her strength had faded again, and that last stretch, although less steep, became quite slow. To complete the picture, the volcano was belching its gases more intensely, to the point that the last guide who was coming down suggested we put on our masks. It turned out to be unnecessary; the volcano took pity, a breeze blew, and the air became breathable again. Step by step, at 8:03 am, we reached the summit. It took us 7 hours and 51 minutes to get there.

On the summit of Cotopaxi

The summit of a mountain has magical effects. As soon as she realized she was there, Federica forgot that she was exhausted, a smile lit up her face, and she started dancing the Macarena (Fede style) and high-fiving everyone who was at the summit with us. There weren't many of us, to tell the truth; we were the last group to reach the summit of Cotopaxi that day and were alone. The others had passed us or had stayed behind, like the couple from Cuenca and three or four others whom we found exhausted or unwell on the way up, and we never saw them again.

Climbing Cotopaxi is a physical and mental challenge; without Federica's determination to hold the line, to refuse to throw in the towel, or Rodrigo and Marcela's resolve to overcome the symptoms of altitude sickness, reaching a summit of nearly 6,000 meters is not possible. In Federica's particular case, I do not doubt that she reached the top through sheer force of will, a desire to get there, and an unbreakable determination.

And while the summit has magical effects, these are not entirely permanent; indeed, some disappear as soon as one begins to descend, such as euphoria and energy.

I already mentioned that the ascent to the summit unfolded through shifting gradients, some steeper than others. After three or four slips, Federica decided to butt-slide her way down. Upon consulting the situation with the guide, he approved it in the less steep terrain and gave her instructions on how to hold the ice axe (the piolet) to control the speed of her descent.

So, Federica descended the mountain using different techniques: controlled butt sliding on extended legs and back at a right angle; standing on crampons in steep or narrow terrain; and sliding on the backpack in the absence of a sled, pulled by the guide. I corroborated that this last way of descending, like sledding, is indeed very fun when used at the end of the glacier.

Team A arrived at the refuge at 10:51 am, having covered the entire route in 10 hours and 39 minutes. The place was once again full of tourists. Romel set aside a table for us where he served each of us a plate of fruit with yogurt and a ‘humita’, as a sort of breakfast. After eating it, we went up to collect all the things we left in the room the night before, put them back in the backpacks, and descended to the parking lot. From the parking lot, we went to Tambopaxi to collect the rest of the bundles we left the day before, then to the Cotopaxi National Park Museum to look for stickers of the summits reached, and from there to ‘Hornero’, a chain of restaurants owned by an Uruguayan, to have pizzas with beer for lunch. Finally, we arrived at Tete's house around 4 in the afternoon.

Upon arriving at Tete's house, something exciting happened: we were received with honors! Tete uncorked a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate the achievement. Ximena and Daniel prepared some roasted guinea pigs called ‘Cuys’ with potatoes, another typical dish of Ecuadorian cuisine, which we ate after a sambo soup. There was no shortage of dessert.

Fact Sheet:

Distance:	7.522m From the parking to the refuge: 779m Refuge to summit: 2.982m
Altitud Gain:	+1.259 m / 4,130 ft Parking: 4.638 m / 15,217 ft - Cotopaxi: 5.897m / 19,347 ft.
Time:	Team A: 10h 39m (7h 51m going up + 2h 42m coming down) Team B: 8h 27m (5h 39m ascending + 2h 48m descending)
Difficulty:	High