Climbing Chimborazo

Juhuu, we did it!! Tonight we climbed the top of Volcano Chimborazo (6310m).

We were nervous if we`d make it, as we were neither sure about our acclimatization nor our fitness but in the end everything worked out fine. Our guide Ivo picked us up from Casa del Condor at noon yesterday and we drove to the lower refugee on Chimborazo (4800m), were he cooked a delicious all-vegetarian lunch for us. The street to the lower refugee was crowded with children-loaded buses, bringing them to a day trip on the Volcano. Or, as a matter of fact, the buses were rather empty because the children were running around outside throwing snowballs at each other. In Ecuador you have to go high up to see snow. After lunch we walked to the upper refugee (5000m) were we repacked the backpacks, drank tea, looked curiously at the other climbers and had dinner before hitting the bed at 6 pm The alarm was set for 1030 pm but we didn't sleep much, our heads spinning with thoughts.

The Refugio at 5000m

When the alarm rang we were nevertheless sleep-drunken and didn`t manage to eat much of a breakfast. At 1130 we stepped out into a near cloudless sky, the but-one-day full moon shining brightly and Chimborazo throning high. We were excited! Slowly we set in motion, on foot by the other, and that shouldn't change much the next 5 3/4 hours. The ascent was steep, very very steep, varying from 35 to 55 degrees. Soon we put on the crampons and used the icepick to manage in the snow. The tiredness came soon but we managed astonishingly well. Still, the higher we got, the more difficult it became and in the end we had to stop every second minute, our bodies being so exhausted.

Ivo (our guide) and Anita during a short break

At 0510 am the steepness finally declined and a dance floor of snow broadened out in front of us. Five minutes later all three of us started dancing on top of the Volcano, out of happiness and to chase away the cold (-12 degrees celcius). The moon was still shining but on the other side of the horizon gold, yellow and pink colours predicted the suns arrival. We watched admiring but the cold and wind chased us away before the sun itself rose.

Eirik and Anita on the dance floor at sunrise

It took us over 2 hours to reach the refugee again and the descent was quite painful to our exhausted and tired bodies. The only bonus was that we could watch the valleys awake from their sleep. Now, the only thing we want to do, is sleep ourself.

The shadow of the Vulcan Chimborazo stretching out into the horizon

Anita at our short walk on the resting day to Piedra Negra (black stone)

Cooking at Casa del Condor

On top of Piedra Negra, overlooking Chimborazo

Waiting for Ivo, Eirik whistled and played the guitar while two kids helped out with the strumming.

The beginning of the sunrise at Chimborazo

The route tracked by our GPS

More pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/eirik.sunde/ChimborazoDecember2008#