Climbing Tungurahua in 2 days

Tungurahua Province – Ecuador

Elevation:

(16,480ft/5.023m)

Difficulty

Intermediate

Duration

2 days

Itinerary

Day 1: Machachi (10,170ft/3.100m) – Tungurahua refuge (12,467ft/3.800m)

We will drive in the morning south from Machachi 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 (5,906ft/1.800m), 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 we get  (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 (12,467ft/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 (-/-/D)

Day 2:  Tungurahua Summit (16,480ft/5.023m) – Machachi

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 (5,906ft/1.800m) for the hot springs  or straight to Machachi, it will depend on our time and energy. The drive back to Machachi will take us still another 3,5 hours (B/-/-)

Price: Please contact us

Superior service
Private transportation and transfers
Professional Mountain Guide IFMGA (International Federation of Mountain Guide) or ASEGUIM (Ecuadorian Association of Mountain Guides) / ratio 2 climbers – 1 guide
Technical mountain equipment (harness and helmet)
Accommodation in Tungurahua Refuge
All meals during the hikes and climbs (shown above with B: breakfast and D: dinner)
A registered and fully licensed Tour Operator
National Park fees and permits registration
Permanent communication through walkie-talkie between guides and office in case of an emergency
Common gear: Ropes, ice screws, snow pickets, rescue gear
Fully First aid kit (Recommended by NOLS WILDERNESS MEDICINE INSTITUTE)
Rescue or evacuation service in case of any incident in the mountains. (Only Company in Ecuador)
Personal Mountain Gear (warm clothes, sleeping bag, sun glasses, head lamp, etc.)
Single supplement
International flights
Meals and beverages at the hotels (lunch, dinner)
Personal insurance
Tips
Other non-specified expenses

Tungurahua - Ecuador