21 MARCH – 4 APRIL
PREPARE FOR THE SEVEN SUMMITS WITH THE BBE MOUNTAINEERING SCHOOL!
These are tough climbs, which require specific skillsets. Building effective storm camps, crevasse navigation and rescue techniques, climbing with full packs, fixed rope ascension, and formulating a climbing strategy are all necessary topics to cover. Participants should arrive with a healthy desire for enduring mountain conditions. Nonetheless, Ecuador’s lodges and hacienda’s are truly outstanding and offer amazing comfort and fine cuisine for in-between climbs, making this an amazing ‘luxury climbing’ opportunity.
We begin our adventure in Ecuador with an orientation in Quito (9,400 feet – 2,865m), the world’s second highest capital after La Paz, Bolivia. Our time spent shopping and enjoying day hikes serves to acclimatize us before we depart to our first volcano. We then journey to Cayambe where accessible glaciers offer an ideal learning environment. After our summit of Cayambe and a relaxing night back in Quito we drive to Cotopaxi for more tuition and higher altitudes.
You will have a great sense of accomplishment as you stand on top and enjoy the incredible views! In the event that the conditions on Cotopaxi are unfavorable, we have the option to summit Antisana or the Illinizas. Finally we head to Chimbzaro where the trip cumulates with this epic climb as well as a final exam!
Course Topics
- International Travel Considerations: respecting culture specific etiquette, cultural expectations
- Moving skills and climbing techniques, and multi-pitch alpine rock climbing
- Belay techniques, rappelling, and rope management
- High Altitude Physiology
- Acclimatizing strategies
- Heart rate and oximeter charts
- High Altitude Physiology AMS, HAPE and HACE: signs and symptoms, treatment, evacuations and common industry standards
- Rope skills
- The “Art” of Packing
- Equipment awareness and care
- Ice axe positioning, self-arrest, and balance positioning
- Moderate and steep sow and ice climbing, crampon usage techniques, and proper application of combined skills in a variety of terrain
- Glaciology and crevasse pattern prediction
- Roped glacier travel, rope team management, route finding, and crevasse navigation
- Everest climbers – ladder work
- Crevasse rescue
- How to properly set up a camp site, including construction of wind walls
- Proper hydration, including efficient snow melting protocols
- Meteorology
- Trip planning using maps, compasses and altimeters
- Discussion of the mountain environment and methods of evaluating both subjective and objective hazards
- Personal maintenance, hygiene and sleeping in cold environments
- Leave No Trace principals
- Nutrition, and backcountry cooking techniques
Location: Ecuadorian Andes
Length: 15 Days
Trip Dates: 21 March – 4 April
Prerequisites: Backpacking experience; very good physical condition; snow and glacier travel skills
Primary Goals:
- Acquire climbing skills on steeper snow and ice
- Develop a good sense of glacier travel, self arrest skills, self-rescue skills, and fixed line skills
- Acclimatization with intensive training at Cayambe, summit Cayambe (19,000 feet – 5,790m), then summit Cotopaxi (19,347 feet – 5,897m), then finally summit Chimborazo (20,702 feet – 6,310m)
- Experience Ecuador ’s culture and explore is varied ecology
Follow-up expeditions:
Aconcagua Expeditions, Mexico Volcanoes, Bolivian Alpinist, Elbrus
Guide Ratio: 2:1
Group Cost: $5,000 (group of 3); $5,250 (group of 2); $8,000 (1:1 private)
