Hello Everyone,
This will be the last blog that I write from Ecuador. I am leaving for the airport in an hour and headed back to LAX. Jer and Trav are coming later on a flight this afternoon. Thank you all very much for your support, your prayers, and your many donations you made for this cause. It was a grand adventure.
God Bless and Love Always,
Michael
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Hello Everyone,
I apologize for the lack of a blog for the past couple of days, things have been a bit hectic as we finished up climbing and traveled back to Quito.
As Trav mentioned in his short blog, For the past week the three of us have been working as mountain guides for Gulliver’s Travels, a tour company out of Quito that owns PapaGayo. After our climb on Antisana with Eran, the owner, he offered us work for a few days guiding. Yesterday Jer and I guided on Cotopaxi, Jers client was Yoav, the manager of PapaGayo, who had no climbing experience and had yet to climb Cotopaxi. I had a 20 year old Colombian girl, and a Brazilian man on my rope team. We were part of a larger group of 12, but about an hour into the climb, we were on our own and I found myself guiding a rope team of three at 18,000ft. It was sweet! We did not reach the summit because both of my clients were having trouble with the altitude, but we still had a wonderful morning with an amazing sunrise. Jer, however, did an AMAZING job. He guided Yoav to the summit, and passed over 5 other climbing parties on the way there, getting to the top as the second summit team. I am very very proud of him.
After guiding on Iliniza Norte last a few days ago I got offered a job to stay here, live at PapaGayo, and continue guiding for the next three months……… mom ah, can you call MSU and see if they can refund my tuition payment for this semester?
We are now all back in Quito getting ready for our departure home on Saturday, (Yes I am coming home, guiding will have to wait for a while). The next two days will be spent packing, exploring some of Quito we have yet to see and making sure everything is ready for our trip home.
Below are a few photos from the past couple of days. I will try to post more when I have time.
God Bless and Love Always,
Michael
I apologize for the lack of a blog for the past couple of days, things have been a bit hectic as we finished up climbing and traveled back to Quito.
As Trav mentioned in his short blog, For the past week the three of us have been working as mountain guides for Gulliver’s Travels, a tour company out of Quito that owns PapaGayo. After our climb on Antisana with Eran, the owner, he offered us work for a few days guiding. Yesterday Jer and I guided on Cotopaxi, Jers client was Yoav, the manager of PapaGayo, who had no climbing experience and had yet to climb Cotopaxi. I had a 20 year old Colombian girl, and a Brazilian man on my rope team. We were part of a larger group of 12, but about an hour into the climb, we were on our own and I found myself guiding a rope team of three at 18,000ft. It was sweet! We did not reach the summit because both of my clients were having trouble with the altitude, but we still had a wonderful morning with an amazing sunrise. Jer, however, did an AMAZING job. He guided Yoav to the summit, and passed over 5 other climbing parties on the way there, getting to the top as the second summit team. I am very very proud of him.
After guiding on Iliniza Norte last a few days ago I got offered a job to stay here, live at PapaGayo, and continue guiding for the next three months……… mom ah, can you call MSU and see if they can refund my tuition payment for this semester?
We are now all back in Quito getting ready for our departure home on Saturday, (Yes I am coming home, guiding will have to wait for a while). The next two days will be spent packing, exploring some of Quito we have yet to see and making sure everything is ready for our trip home.
Below are a few photos from the past couple of days. I will try to post more when I have time.
God Bless and Love Always,
Michael
The Guides for Iliniza Norte, Trav and I served as lead guides and Yoav an Marco as assistants.
Trav, on Norte, in the snow and rain, getting 10 clients off the mountain asap.
One of our clients, on a dangerous section of the route.
The climbing party on the way into Cotopaxi.
Enjoying one of my very few beatiful mornings on a mountain, above the clouds.
Myself and my two clients, Alei and Antonio.
Jer and Yoav on the descent from the Summit!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Guiding
So the last few days we are spending in Ecuador are being well spent. I guided four people up a smaller mountain close to were we are staying while Mike and Jer are up on Cotopaxi guiding right now. About 3 days ago Mike and I went and guided a bunch of crazy Columbians up Iliniza Norte. We had to turn around about 200 ft from the top do to weather. It was hailing and the spin drifts were making it hard for people to not slip and fall off the mountain. I'm heading into Quito tonight while Mike and Jer will meet up with me tomorrow after the climb.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
The Last Mountain
Well today was our last official climb. We attempted Antisana, which in my opinion is the most beautiful mountain we have set our eyes on yet. The pictures will give you an idea of how breathtaking it was but really you had to be there. Antisana is known for being shrouded in clouds for most of the day, so for us to drive up and have a complete view of the mountain was unreal. The mountain is surrounded by a huge amount of private property owned by a single family. You have to buy a permit in order to get through the gate. It might seem unfair that the mountain is pretty much owned by this family but it is probably a better situation than that of the other large mountains in Ecuador that are owned by the government. The property is mainly gorgeous green rolling hills with a few horses, cows, or sheep spread throughout. The first thing I noticed was the lack of trash that is so prevalent through out the rest of the country. This was by far the most beautiful area of Ecuador I have seen yet.
We spent the night forty five minutes below the glacier on the edge of the rocky moraine in our tent. We woke up at 11:30 to light winds and a light snow. We are not sure where the snow was coming from because the sky was clear of clouds. The walk to the glacier in the night was uneventful. We roped up, this time with four people as the owner of PapaGayo and Gulliver’s Travel Operations whom we have been getting to know for a while now asked if he could climb with us. The bottom section of the glacier still only had light winds but the further up we walked the more the wind picked up and along with it came a blowing sleet/snow that would melt on our clothes and backpacks and then freeze into a clear coat of ice. It was once again not the most enjoyable weather conditions.
Progress up the glacier was slow because of the many crevasses that needed to be navigated and the lack of any form of a trail. After approximately two hours of walking we all felt good. We decided to take a short break and all had a seat on the snow at around 17,000. For some reason Travis became ill and threw up during our break. He decided that he felt a little better after a short break and like a good climber continued upward and onward. After twenty more minutes the sickness came back and we had a five minute meeting to decide what to do next. Several options were thrown around, Travis did not want to keep any of us from going on, one even included cutting the rope in half and sending two up and two down. In the end I think we made the best and by far the safest decision and all headed back to the bottom of the glacier. At the bottom Michael decided to wait for the sun to come up to get some pictures and Travis and I headed back to the tent to get another hour of sleep before we packed up and headed back to PapaGayo.
Well that is my version of today’s happenings. I hope that Michael and Travis might have some more stories or photos to add later. Since Michael is downstairs conversing with a group of students from Columbia I decided that I would also throw up a few pictures of the trip for everyone to take a look at. All of these photos were taken by Michael.
Thanks for reading,
Jeremy
We had clouds above us, clouds below us, and clouds at our level. When the wind comes around both sides of the mountain you can hear it "whip" back together it can be very loud. I have never heard anything like it before.
Travis putting all his gear on at the bottom of the glacier.
Me taking my gear off. Notice the ice all over my jacket.
A very nice shot of pre-dawn by Michael.
Some horses on the drive out. 
There were a wide varitey of birds on the property. This was some type of hawk that was soaring next to the car for a while checking us out.
We spent the night forty five minutes below the glacier on the edge of the rocky moraine in our tent. We woke up at 11:30 to light winds and a light snow. We are not sure where the snow was coming from because the sky was clear of clouds. The walk to the glacier in the night was uneventful. We roped up, this time with four people as the owner of PapaGayo and Gulliver’s Travel Operations whom we have been getting to know for a while now asked if he could climb with us. The bottom section of the glacier still only had light winds but the further up we walked the more the wind picked up and along with it came a blowing sleet/snow that would melt on our clothes and backpacks and then freeze into a clear coat of ice. It was once again not the most enjoyable weather conditions.
Progress up the glacier was slow because of the many crevasses that needed to be navigated and the lack of any form of a trail. After approximately two hours of walking we all felt good. We decided to take a short break and all had a seat on the snow at around 17,000. For some reason Travis became ill and threw up during our break. He decided that he felt a little better after a short break and like a good climber continued upward and onward. After twenty more minutes the sickness came back and we had a five minute meeting to decide what to do next. Several options were thrown around, Travis did not want to keep any of us from going on, one even included cutting the rope in half and sending two up and two down. In the end I think we made the best and by far the safest decision and all headed back to the bottom of the glacier. At the bottom Michael decided to wait for the sun to come up to get some pictures and Travis and I headed back to the tent to get another hour of sleep before we packed up and headed back to PapaGayo.
Well that is my version of today’s happenings. I hope that Michael and Travis might have some more stories or photos to add later. Since Michael is downstairs conversing with a group of students from Columbia I decided that I would also throw up a few pictures of the trip for everyone to take a look at. All of these photos were taken by Michael.
Thanks for reading,
Jeremy
Travis waiting for our ride that was supposed to show up at 12:00pm. All of our Mystery Ranch packs loaded down and ready to go.
2:00pm our ride shows up. Things around here are pretty laid back.
Our first glimpse of Antisana
Antisana, breathtaking.
View from the tent.
We had clouds above us, clouds below us, and clouds at our level. When the wind comes around both sides of the mountain you can hear it "whip" back together it can be very loud. I have never heard anything like it before.
Travis putting all his gear on at the bottom of the glacier.
Me taking my gear off. Notice the ice all over my jacket.
A very nice shot of pre-dawn by Michael.
Some horses on the drive out. There were a wide varitey of birds on the property. This was some type of hawk that was soaring next to the car for a while checking us out.Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Who Is This Man!?
Well Michael pretty much already gave you the rundown of our climb of Illiniza Sur. Things went very well. The one thing that I wanted to add was how amazing Michael has been performing on the mountains. He did an amazing job today finding the route up Sur after a quick scout the night before and reading and memorizing lots of beta in the guidebooks.
Then much to our surprise after returning to the hut after Sur Michael decided he had not had enough punishment for the day and decided to run up Norte while Travis and I rested in the hut. He did the round trip in an hour and ten minutes. I am pretty sure he is superhuman… or just crazy.
Travis also did very well on the climb today and we look forward to having us with him for our attempt on Antisana.
Thank you all very much for the late night prayers while we are climbing.
Jeremy
Then much to our surprise after returning to the hut after Sur Michael decided he had not had enough punishment for the day and decided to run up Norte while Travis and I rested in the hut. He did the round trip in an hour and ten minutes. I am pretty sure he is superhuman… or just crazy.
Travis also did very well on the climb today and we look forward to having us with him for our attempt on Antisana.
Thank you all very much for the late night prayers while we are climbing.
Jeremy
Hello Everyone,
I am happy to tell you that we have just returned from our first, completely successful climb. We had perfect weather, all three of us made it to the top, it was the most technically demanding climb we have done, and it all went off without a hitch.
God is Good!
Last week when we hiked into the climbing Refugio, the snow conditions were terrible and the avalanche risk was far too great for us to have a go at the climb. We had scouted the route from the summit of a nearby peak and saw two large avalanche slides across the route we were planning on climbing. That was enough to send us home.
Yesterday afternoon we left Papagayo to attempt Iliniza Sur for the second time. Over the past 3 days we had received six or seven hours of sunshine, which was hopefully enough to harden up the snow and reduce the danger of a slide. We were hoping that if Tuesday continued to be sunny, conditions would remain stable and we would be good to go. As we drove towards the Ilinizas however, it started to rain, hard. By the time we were on the mountain road leading to the trailhead there was a foot of water running down both sides of the road. After a wild and wet ride that lasted an hour and a half we somehow managed to make it to “La Virgin”, or the trailhead parking lot where there is a shine to the Virgin Mary. As we sat in the truck watching it pour outside, we tried to decide if we wanted to make the two hour hike into the Refugio, only to spend the night and walk back out in the rain the next day. We had decided to return to Papagayo when a group of climbers came around the corner on their way down from Iliniza Norte. The guide leading the group talked to us for a few minutes and told us that even though there had been lots of rain, the conditions on Sur were actually quite good and that we stood a very good chance of reaching the summit. We decided to give it a go, shouldered our packs and took off into the rain.
When we reached the Refugio two hours later, we were all soaked to the bone. The weather had not improved any and we had pretty low expectations for the following day. We joined a group of ten Germans in the Refugio and waited our turn to use the kitchen. After waiting for hours, the two Ecuadorian ladies cooking for the guided German group were nice enough to serve the three of us all a very nice dinner, which saved us a lot of cooking and cleaning. We went to bed early with the alarm set for one am.
When we awoke and stepped outside we were greeted with a star-speckled sky, the only clouds visible were far below us in the valley floor. Amazing! We quickly threw our gear in our packs, turned on our headlamps and started off into the rocky glacier moraine. After 30 min. of navigating through heaps of gravel and boulders, we took a break on a high point looking towards the start of the climbing route that leads to the summit of Iliniza Sur. Ahead of us lay 2,000ft of ice climbing, route finding, hidden crevasses, and hopefully a clear, sunny summit. We put on our crampons, tied into our rope and pushed on.
We moved very quickly, navigating well in the dark, and before we knew it we were 500ft below the summit. All that was left was a large crevasse to cross and a 400ft headwall of steep snow and ice to climb. It was only 3:30 am and we still had two hours until the sun would rise. We took a long break and made the last push for the summit. We reached the top at 4:45 am. The sky was still clear and we could see the glow of village lights for miles around. We bundled up in our down jackets and waited for sunrise. We had ended up on enough summits in with no view at all; we were determined see the sun rise on this one. After an hour of shivering and foot stomping, we got to witness an amazing show of colors as the sun started to crest the edge of the earth in the far distance. Cotopaxi, Cayambe, Antisana, and many other mountains stood above the clouds as dark silhouettes against the gathering light.
Finally we had success, all three of us on top of a 17,200ft mountain, with beautiful weather. We snapped as many pictures as we could before leaving the summit at 6:05 am, to avoid putting ourselves on the lower glacier when the sun would start causing the snow to slide. Our descent was fast and uneventful, we were back at the Refugio at 7:15am, very happy and content with what was our most enjoyable, challenging, and exciting climb thus far.
For all of you who made an Iliniza Sur donation of $200, thank you very much. There were lots of you and we appreciate your generosity and desire to help the people o Sudan.
For now we are resting up back at Papagayo. We are hoping the weather continues to be as nice as it was this morning for our attempt of Antisana on Saturday morning. At this point, it looks like Antisana will be our 6th and last climb. We were still playing around with the idea of attempting Chimborazo, but this recent news article will probably be the deciding factor in not trying to climb Chimbo. Tungarahua is very near Chimbo and the ash that is spewing from this volcano is makeing condions on Chimbo somewhat dangerous. Time will tell.
December 28, 2007
Ash and steam spewing from Tungarahua volcano.
Authorities in Ecuador ordered the evacuation of 1,200 people living around Tungurahua volcano after the mountain began producing nearly constant activity.
People from 10 villages were sent to sleep in shelters and were allowed to tend their crops only during daylight hours.
Volcanic tremors rattled windows miles away as the mountain emitted an intense glow from its crater and spewed a plume of fine ash.
Tungurahua, or “throat of fire” in the indigenous Quichua language, has been active since 1999.
An August 2006 eruption severely damaged or destroyed nearly 5,000 homes. Ash spewed from the mountain covered some 475,000 acres (197,000 hectares) of farmland.
Below are some of the Pictures of our amazing climb this morning.
Enjoy.
The ACC flag, hard to make out in the early morning light.
The sun rising over the avenue of Volcanos. 
Down climbing the route on the descent.
Early morning view of Iliniza Norte, dusted in new snow.
Our route, in red, from the Refugio to the summit. 3 hours total. Fast!
I am happy to tell you that we have just returned from our first, completely successful climb. We had perfect weather, all three of us made it to the top, it was the most technically demanding climb we have done, and it all went off without a hitch.
God is Good!
Last week when we hiked into the climbing Refugio, the snow conditions were terrible and the avalanche risk was far too great for us to have a go at the climb. We had scouted the route from the summit of a nearby peak and saw two large avalanche slides across the route we were planning on climbing. That was enough to send us home.
Yesterday afternoon we left Papagayo to attempt Iliniza Sur for the second time. Over the past 3 days we had received six or seven hours of sunshine, which was hopefully enough to harden up the snow and reduce the danger of a slide. We were hoping that if Tuesday continued to be sunny, conditions would remain stable and we would be good to go. As we drove towards the Ilinizas however, it started to rain, hard. By the time we were on the mountain road leading to the trailhead there was a foot of water running down both sides of the road. After a wild and wet ride that lasted an hour and a half we somehow managed to make it to “La Virgin”, or the trailhead parking lot where there is a shine to the Virgin Mary. As we sat in the truck watching it pour outside, we tried to decide if we wanted to make the two hour hike into the Refugio, only to spend the night and walk back out in the rain the next day. We had decided to return to Papagayo when a group of climbers came around the corner on their way down from Iliniza Norte. The guide leading the group talked to us for a few minutes and told us that even though there had been lots of rain, the conditions on Sur were actually quite good and that we stood a very good chance of reaching the summit. We decided to give it a go, shouldered our packs and took off into the rain.
When we reached the Refugio two hours later, we were all soaked to the bone. The weather had not improved any and we had pretty low expectations for the following day. We joined a group of ten Germans in the Refugio and waited our turn to use the kitchen. After waiting for hours, the two Ecuadorian ladies cooking for the guided German group were nice enough to serve the three of us all a very nice dinner, which saved us a lot of cooking and cleaning. We went to bed early with the alarm set for one am.
When we awoke and stepped outside we were greeted with a star-speckled sky, the only clouds visible were far below us in the valley floor. Amazing! We quickly threw our gear in our packs, turned on our headlamps and started off into the rocky glacier moraine. After 30 min. of navigating through heaps of gravel and boulders, we took a break on a high point looking towards the start of the climbing route that leads to the summit of Iliniza Sur. Ahead of us lay 2,000ft of ice climbing, route finding, hidden crevasses, and hopefully a clear, sunny summit. We put on our crampons, tied into our rope and pushed on.
We moved very quickly, navigating well in the dark, and before we knew it we were 500ft below the summit. All that was left was a large crevasse to cross and a 400ft headwall of steep snow and ice to climb. It was only 3:30 am and we still had two hours until the sun would rise. We took a long break and made the last push for the summit. We reached the top at 4:45 am. The sky was still clear and we could see the glow of village lights for miles around. We bundled up in our down jackets and waited for sunrise. We had ended up on enough summits in with no view at all; we were determined see the sun rise on this one. After an hour of shivering and foot stomping, we got to witness an amazing show of colors as the sun started to crest the edge of the earth in the far distance. Cotopaxi, Cayambe, Antisana, and many other mountains stood above the clouds as dark silhouettes against the gathering light.
Finally we had success, all three of us on top of a 17,200ft mountain, with beautiful weather. We snapped as many pictures as we could before leaving the summit at 6:05 am, to avoid putting ourselves on the lower glacier when the sun would start causing the snow to slide. Our descent was fast and uneventful, we were back at the Refugio at 7:15am, very happy and content with what was our most enjoyable, challenging, and exciting climb thus far.
For all of you who made an Iliniza Sur donation of $200, thank you very much. There were lots of you and we appreciate your generosity and desire to help the people o Sudan.
For now we are resting up back at Papagayo. We are hoping the weather continues to be as nice as it was this morning for our attempt of Antisana on Saturday morning. At this point, it looks like Antisana will be our 6th and last climb. We were still playing around with the idea of attempting Chimborazo, but this recent news article will probably be the deciding factor in not trying to climb Chimbo. Tungarahua is very near Chimbo and the ash that is spewing from this volcano is makeing condions on Chimbo somewhat dangerous. Time will tell.
December 28, 2007
Ash and steam spewing from Tungarahua volcano.
Authorities in Ecuador ordered the evacuation of 1,200 people living around Tungurahua volcano after the mountain began producing nearly constant activity.
People from 10 villages were sent to sleep in shelters and were allowed to tend their crops only during daylight hours.
Volcanic tremors rattled windows miles away as the mountain emitted an intense glow from its crater and spewed a plume of fine ash.
Tungurahua, or “throat of fire” in the indigenous Quichua language, has been active since 1999.
An August 2006 eruption severely damaged or destroyed nearly 5,000 homes. Ash spewed from the mountain covered some 475,000 acres (197,000 hectares) of farmland.
Below are some of the Pictures of our amazing climb this morning.
Enjoy.
Trav, at the trailhead. More rain.. you have all seen lots of these kinds of pictures already, nothing new.
Jer, approaching the Refugio, the rain had turned to wet snow at this elevation.
1:30 am, leaving the Refugio with amazing weather.
Jer, on the summit, digging shelter in the snow to wait for sunrise. 
The ACC team, on the summit, together.
The ACC flag, hard to make out in the early morning light.
The sun rising over the avenue of Volcanos. Down climbing the route on the descent.
Early morning view of Iliniza Norte, dusted in new snow.
Our route, in red, from the Refugio to the summit. 3 hours total. Fast!
Thanks again for all your support, we have one mountain left to climb and then its a few days of rest before we return home to good ol Montana.
God Bless and Love Always,
Michael
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Hello Everyone,
Happy New Years!
Below are pictures of our climb of Volcán Rumiñahui Sur that we did yesterday as well as our game plan for the remaining two weeks here in Ecuador.
Happy New Years!
Below are pictures of our climb of Volcán Rumiñahui Sur that we did yesterday as well as our game plan for the remaining two weeks here in Ecuador.
View of Rumiñahui from the pasture in front of Papagayo, A sunny sunrise finally!
The route we took yesterday, assended via the ridge on the left and descended down the face on the right. A long day, with no trails and lots of falling rock.
Trav making his way up the south ridge.
Down climbing on very very loose rock.
View of the ridge line from the summit of Sur as the clouds cleared after a short snowstorm.
All three ACC climbers, together on a summit, with good weather and our summit flag!!
Amazing.
Jer, making his way through waist deep grass on the descent
Travis and Jer finishing the hike out tothe lake. All in all, about a 9 mile day.
As I mentioned in an earlier blog, we have changed our climbing plans around a little bit. After discussing it a lot between the three of us we have decided to forgo our attempt on Chimborazo, the highest mountain in Ecuador ($1000 sponsorship, for those of you who sponsored us). We did so for a couple of reasons.
First, conditions on the mountain for the past few weeks have not been good for climbing. We were in touch we a group of climbers from Colorado who attempted it last week and they did not even start the climb due to safety concerns. Weather has not improved any since than and conditions are still not reasonable, a near by active volcano has been depositing ash on the slopes of Chimborazo as well, only making the conditions worse.
Second, As you all know, Travis has not been able to handle high elevations well and has shown signs of Acute Mountain Sickness when we have climbed above 16,000ft. For our last two big climbs, Cotopaxi and Cayambe, he has not been able to join us, but has been stuck sitting at camp waiting for our return. As you can imagine, this does not help his spirits at all. Even though Jer and I made it to the top of these mountains, we were not doing it as the ACC team and it didn’t feel right. This being the case, we have decided to forgo our attempt of Chimborazo and focus instead on some of the smaller mountains that Travis can climb with us. Our climb of Rumiñahui Sur took us to 15,400ft and all three of us felt very good on the summit. Now that Travis has spent at least 4 days above 15,000ft, he should better acclimatized and ready to try something a little bit taller. This afternoon we are leaving to attempt Iliniza Sur, for the second time. It has an elevation of 17,200ft and is a technically more demanding climb than Chimborazo is. It is a beautiful mountain and one that many people sponsored us for ($200 sponsorship). We are looking forward to climbing it and hoping that the snow conditions on the mountain have improved.
After we attempt Iliniza Sur, we will return to Papagayo for another day of rest and leave to attempt our last mountain, Antisana, on the 4th. Once we return from Antisana on the 5th or 6th, we will have six days left until our return home. If all goes well on the next two mountains, we will have climbed six peaks above 15,000ft here in Ecuador. Considering the weather conditions which have made climbing very difficult, it will not be a bad finish at all. We will spend the last six days here, cleaning and packing our gear for the trip home, catching up on some much needed rest, and taking some time to explore some parts of Ecuador that we have not had the chance to do yet.
Hope you all had a wonderful New Years,
Keep your comments coming; they are always very encouraging to us.
God Bless and Love Always,
Michael
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