Express Climbs

Day 1: Quito - Chimborazo Refuge (16,400ft /5.000m)

We will drive south from Quito (9,186ft/2.800m) towards the city of Ambato (8,858ft/2,700m) through the Avenue of the Volcanoes for about 5 hours until we get to the Chimborazo`s reserve. We will walk up from Hermanos Carrel refuge (15,744ft/4,800m) for about an hour to the Whimper’s Refuge (16,400ft/5.000m), where we will have dinner and get some rest until 11 pm. There will be an early light breakfast served just before we get our gear ready and start hiking up (-/BL/D)

Day 2: Refuge - Chimborazo Top (20,702ft/6.310m) - Quito

At midnight, we will start our climb to the top of Ecuador’s highest mountain, Chimborazo, which will take us about 8 to 10 hours. We will get to the top (20,702ft/6.310m) early in the morning. It is a perfect place for resting and pictures of the beautiful Andean surroundings. After some rest, we will start our descending to the Refuge. It will take us 3 to 4 hours. Once in “Whymper Refuge” we will pack our gear and go down to “Hermanos Carrel Refuge”, where our transportation will be ready to take us back to Quito (B/BL/-)

Day 1: Quito - Base Camp (15,580ft/4.750m)

We will leave from Quito (9,186ft/2.800m) early in the morning and drive east for about 3 hours through the Andean highlands until we get to Laguna Santa Lucia (14,118ft/4.300m). Depending on the road conditions, we will drive up the highest we can for another 30 or more minutes to the end of the road. Once there, we will put our backpacks on and continue for an hour up to the base camp (15,580ft/4.750m) located right below the glacier. We will use the rest of the day to relax and hang out around until dinner, which will be served by late afternoon (-/BL/D)

Day 2: Antisana Summit (18,891ft/5.758 m) - Quito

We will wake up at midnight and depart to the top (18,891ft/5.758 m) around 1 am after a light breakfast. The climb will take us about 6 to 8 hours. The first part is about an hour hike to the glacier, where we put the crampons on and start the glacier ascent. Once at the summit we will take our time for pictures of the crater and surroundings and then we will head back to the base camp in 2 to 3 hours. At the base camp we will rest, pack our belongings, have something to eat, drink and go down to the car, from where we return back to Quito (B/BL/-)

Day 1: Quito - Nuevos Horizontes Hut (15,580ft/4.750m)

We will leave from Quito (9,186ft/2.800m) in the morning and drive through the Avenue of the Volcanoes until we get to the village of “El Chaupi”. We will continue driving up until we get to “La Virgen parking lot” (12,795ft/3.900m). Once there, we will start a 3-hour hike up to the “Nuevos Horizontes Hut” (15,580ft/4.750m). We will relax for the rest of the afternoon. Dinner will be served by late afternoon (-/BL/D)

Day 2: Illiniza Norte Summit (16,818ft/5.126m) - Quito

Our climbing day starts at 5 am. We will have a light breakfast, pack our climbing equipment and leave the refuge an hour later. We will continue hiking up towards the saddle formed between both peaks and then to Illiniza Norte summit (16,818ft/ 5.126 m). The approach to the top involves an easy 3-hour scrambling. Once at the summit, we will enjoy and admire the beautiful surroundings. The return back to the refuge will be done in about 2 hours. At the hut we will have something to eat and drink. Then we will pack our stuff and go down to the La Virgen parking lot and drive back to Quito (B/BL/-)

Day 1: Quito - Nuevos Horizontes Hut (15,580ft/4.750m)

We will leave from Quito (9,186ft/2.800m) in the morning and drive through the Avenue of the Volcanoes until we get to the village of “El Chaupi”. We will continue driving up until we get to “La Virgen parking lot” (12,795ft/3.900m). Once there, we will start a 3-hour hike up to the “Nuevos Horizontes Hut” (15,580ft/4.750m). We will relax for the rest of the afternoon. Dinner will be served by late afternoon. (-/BL/D)

Day 2: Illiniza Sur Summit (17,267ft/5.263m) - Quito

Our climbing day starts at 2 am. We will have a light breakfast, pack our climbing equipment and leave the refuge an hour later. We will continue hiking up towards the saddle formed between both peaks and then to Illiniza Sur summit (17,267ft/5.263m). It will take us between 4 to 5 hours to get to the top. The way back to the refuge will be done in about 2 hours. Once here, we will have something to eat and drink. We will pack our stuff and go down to the La Virgen parking lot and drive back to Quito (B/BL/-)

Day 1: Quito – Carihuairazo Refuge (13,776ft/4.200m)

We will drive in the morning south from Quito (9,186ft/2.800m) for about 2, 5 hours towards the city of Ambato (8,858ft/2,700m) through the Avenue of the Volcanoes and then we will turn right and keep driving up for about 1, 5 hours more towards west to the Chimborazo Reserve until getting the Carihuairazo Refuge (13,776ft/4.200m), we will accommodate here, the afternoon we will hike around, rest, sleep etc. Dinner and overnight in the Refuge (-/BL/D)

Day 2: Carihuairazo Refuge (16,459ft/5,018m) - Quito

We will get up very early in the morning, have a light breakfast and get ready with all our gear. Depending on the road conditions we will use our 4WD vehicle to drive for about 20 minutes to get the 14,268ft/4.350m. From this point we will start our hike to the  tiny glacier  on the base of the mountain,  which it will take us  about 3 hours and then  we still have another hour to get to the summit on a steep eroded moraine, some scree, loose rock and the last sections some scrambling. From the summit we can appreciate the big beautiful glaciers of Chimborazo on its northeast side, all the summits of Chimborazo. We will go back in about 2 hours to our 4WD vehicle and drive back to the refuge, here we will pack the rest of our belongings and drive further to Quito (B/BL/-)

Day 1: Quito – Tungurahua refuge (12,464ft /3.800m)

We will drive in the morning south from Quito (9,186ft/2.800m) for about 2,5 hours towards the city of Ambato (8,858ft/2,700m) through the Avenue of the Volcanoes and then we will turn left and keep driving down for about an hour more towards the jungle directions, just before the town of Baños at about 6,560ft/2.000m., will change again the driving direction to the south to get the Sangay National Park entrance and finally will drive still for about 40 minutes  until  9,186ft/2.800m, where our vehicle will be left, from this point we will  start our  3, 5 hours hike to the Tungurahua Refuge (12,464ft/3.800m), this trail will leads  us through a very impressive vegetation zone, as we hike higher we will notice many  life zones and how the vegetation will change  gradually to a shorter one and less diverse. We will get dinner and overnight at this place (-/BL/D)

Day 2:  Tungurahua Summit (16475ft/5.023m) - Quito

We will wake up very early in the morning will get some light breakfast and prepare all our needed equipment, we will still start walking on some short Coriaceous vegetation for  about 1,5 hours, then the trail will turn into a sandy and scree terrains for most of the ascension, depending on the  weather conditions the very last  part will be snowed, so it will be necessary  to bring and use our crampons,  after  5- to 6 hours of this very exceptional adventure,  we finally will get our prize , ¡ the summit of Tungurahua!, where we could really admire the impressive deep crater, the beautiful surrounding mountains like El Altar, Sangay, Chimborazo among other, the greenest  of the Amazon Jungle  on the east side of the Mountain and much more;  depending on the weather conditions  we will stay on the summit for several minutes, and then we will start our descent to the refuge  for about 2 to 3 hours, we will rest for a few minutes and will pack our belongings in order to keep going down for another 2 hours to where our vehicle was left on the previous day; from this point we will drive   either to Baños town( 5,904ft/1.800m) for the hot springs  or straight to Quito, it will depend on our time and energy. The drive back to Quito will take us still another 3, 5 hours (B/BL/-)

Day 1: Quito (9,184ft/2.800m) - Vaqueria Inguisay (11,644ft/3.550m) – High Camp “Campo Italiano” (15,088ft/4.600m)

We start from Quito  at (9,184ft/2.800m) very early in the morning, we will get  breakfast on the way, we will be driving for about 4,5 hours until the trailhead at 11,644ft/3.550m, in Vaqueria Inguisay or known also as Boca Toma, where the horses and porters will be ready to load our climbing expedition gear and goods for the next 4 days up to the high camp,  it will take us 5 to 7 hours to get to the High Camp  knows as  “Campo Italiano”  at 15,088ft/4.600m, where we will set up our tents and accommodate our climb  gear inside the tents, depending on the season, it will be on the snow or on the sandy place, we will have some time to rest until the dinner time. Overnight and dinner in the tents (B/BL/D)

Day 2: High Camp – El Altar Summit (17,450ft/5320m) – High Camp

We will wake up around midnight, get some light breakfast, and put all the gear on in order to start hiking towards the summit. The first section is going to be flat, we might need to negotiate some crevasses, and soon we will be climbing some  ice runnels of 50° to 70°  2 to 3 pitches and we will find some platforms, and again some ice runnels, 2 to 3 pitches and the very last  section we will be climbing on a very interesting  almost vertical mixed wall, once on the summit, we will have our time to look around, do some photos, and have something to eat and prepare our rappels off for descending the mountain. It will take 10 to 12 hours the whole climb. We will get our hike camp and stay overnight here (B/BL/D)

Day 3: High Camp (15,088ft/4.600m) - Vaqueria Inguisay (11,644ft/3.550m) - Quito

We will get a relaxing morning, have breakfast and start packing all the things in order to walk down for about 4 hours to the Village of Vaqueria Inguisay, where the transportation will be ready to transfer us for another 4, 5 hours to Quito (B/-/-/)

Day 1: Quito (9,184ft/2.800m) - Base Camp (13,448ft/4.100m)

We start from Quito at (9,184ft/2.800m) early in the morning, we will be driving for about 3,5 hours through the amazing “Avenue of the Volcanoes”, then to the East looking on the south side of Cotopaxi Volcano, the drive will be very demanding over very swampy  terrain, where a good 4WD will be needed, we will try  to get as high as  we can with our vehicle, which usually is around 12,464ft/3.800m, on this point we will  organize our climbing and camping equipment in our backpacks and will hike up for another 3 to 4 hours to the  Base  Camp (13,448ft/4.100m),  we will set up our tents and accommodate all our gear inside of them, and will relax the rest of the afternoon, if there is enough time we will go to check  the route, and fix some  ropes on the first section of the mountain. Dinner will be served by late afternoon and overnight in the tents (-/BL/D)

Day 2: Base Camp – Quilindaña Summit (16,134ft/4.919m) – Base Camp

We will wake up early in the morning around 3:00 Am., get some light breakfast, and put all the gear on in order to start hiking towards the base of the wall, we rope up, and depending on the terrain condition we also put our crampons on, and start our first climbing pitch; the first sections are a lot of scrambling, and  very loose volcanic rocks, we will be climbing for many hours  until getting the saddle between South and North Summit at above 15,416ft/4.700m, from this point we will have better and steeper  terrains with more solid and compacted rocks; there are  many  good cracks which offer excellent places for protections with cams and nuts, these last 200m will be done in 2-3 hours and finally we will get to the summit of  “ Ecuadorian Matterhorn”, the views  are  unique specially of the bigger neighbours like Cotopaxi and Antisana,  beautiful lakes on the base and much more.  The descent will be done by using many rappels, the first part will be easy and stable, and nevertheless the lower sections will be more complicated due to the poor rock conditions, the entire climb will take us between 11 to13 hours. We will go back to our Base Camp by late afternoon for dinner and overnight in the tents (B/BL/D)