I did it! I climbed my first glacier! With crampons, ice axes, and ropes, I summited Cotopaxi (highest active volcano in the world) at just under 20,000 ft/6,0000m. On Thursday I was outfitted for my gear (apparently I'm small, because I took the smallest they had in everything), and then we hiked up to the refuge at 4,800m. From there, we (there were six of us climbers and three guides) hiked about forty minutes to the glacier in order to practice using our equipment. Up until this point, I was very unsure how the climb would go. In the past few weeks, I have talked to countless people who hadn't made it due to weather, fallng routes, or just because it was too hard, so I was seriously doubting whether I would even have a chance at making it. But, I knew I would never forgive myself if I didn't at least try, and thank god I did. They showed us how to use our crampons and ice axes, and I thought it was really fun being able to climb straight up a sheet of ice. After having so much fun just playing around on the glacier, I knew I was going to make it so long as I didn't get sick from the altitude. We tried to go to bed at about eight, but between being excited for the climb, and trying to sleep at that high of an altitude with about twenty five people in the same room, it was impossible to get more than just a few minutes rest. At eleven thirty (at night) we got up, packed out gear, ate breakfast, wished the other clmbers luck, and set out with our headlamps to climb the mountain.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with high altitude climbing, here is how it is classified:
High altitude = 1,500–3,500 metres (4,900–11,500 ft)
Very high altitude = 3,500–5,500 metres (11,500–18,000 ft)
Extreme altitude = above 5,500 metres (18,000 ft)
Cotopaxi, at just under 20,000ft, is definitely considered an extreme altitude climb, hence it being so painfully slow. For those of you who have never experience what it feels like to climb in these circumstances, read Greg Hamilton's (an everest climbers) suggestion for an altitude training method: "I suggest going out to the nearest pub and getting completely, and utterly, wasted. Make sure you smoke at least 1 pack of unfiltered Camel's. Get the full ashtray, pour a drink in it and then pour the mixture into a water bottle. When you get home (ideally around 3:30am) stick the vile mixture into your freezer. Put on your best goretex and thermal layer. Climb in. At 5:30am, get out, drink (chew?) the mixture and go run the biggest flight of stairs you can find. Run until your heart threatens to explode. Your dehydration caused by the alcohol should adequately simulate what you may experience at higher altitudes. Your lung capacity should be sufficiently impaired by the smokes to simulate a oxygen poor environment. The freezer episode should adequately replicate a bivy. Drinking the booze/butt mixture should simulate your lack of appetite."
That is pretty much how you feel. Even taking a drink of water leaves you out of breath, everything is a thousand times harder when you are so high up. We were all in groups of three, two climbers and a guide, hooked together with ropes and harnesses (two meters away from each other) so that if someone slipped and couldn't stop them-self with their ice axe, they wouldn't go sliding down the glacier. We had amazing weather, and by moon light you could see the mountain ahead, and a sea of clouds far below us covering the rest of the world. We slowly, very very slowly, climbed up, without taking breaks, through the night and early morning. You got into a rhythm, side step... Cross foot over... Ice pick in. Over and over and over. Though at first it was awkward, after about an hour I got the hang of it and could change up how I was stepping a little so I wouldn't get one side so tired. To give you an idea of how slow we were going, it took us an hour to do 200m, that is painfully slow. At the top, it was even slower as it got steeper and we had to use our ice axes to pull ourselves up instead of just to help us walk. The last hour and a half was really hard, and I was exhausted, but it was just as the sun was coming up and it was by far the most amazing sunrise I have ever seen (no picture sadly, you just gotta trust me that nothing could ever beat it). Then, finally, we made it at. At six thirty, along with the three other groups who made it that day, wea celebrated the fact that we were there. I felt like I was standing on top of the world (well in a way I was, Cotopaxi is the closest point on earth to the sun). After about twenty minutes up there, we started to get cold so we headed back down. I had all my energy back at this point, and wanted to just run the whole way down (ok, speed walk, you can't really run down a glacier). After a fun (I think I was the only one having fun, everyone else just was dead) and fast walk down, not going against the altitude for once, we made it back to the refuge at nine, we had officially done it, and I thought it was really fun. Hardest part? Trying to pee while attached to two guy, while wearing a harness, leggings, shorts, and two pairs of pants, oh, and while on a glacier you really don't want to slide down.
I loved it. It was so much more fun then normal hiking (which is quite boring and frustrating) and seeing as I love the snow, ice climbing seems like the perfect sport for me. I plan on doing as much of it as I can on this trip. Now though, it is going to be all about the mountain biking as I'm in Banos, a small town of 14,000 people known for its biking and adventure sports. Though it is more touristy than I would like, people keep telling me this town is perfect for me, and I now see why. While I am here (probably for a few weeks), I plan on paragliding, bridge jumping, canyoning, white water rafting, and, of course, mountain biking everyday (including a 60km decent to Puyo, a town in the jungle, and hopefully another overnight biking trip).
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