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Mountain Madness
Iliniza Sur 2

Success in Mexico and Ecuador!

Ecuador

Cotot­paxi. MM photo

After sev­er­al weeks of gnarly La Niña weath­er, Moun­tain Mad­ness climbers were able to sum­mit Cotopaxi! Guide Sebas­t­ian Car­ras­co led 5 clients on what he called ​“the best sum­mit on Cotopaxi ever!!” Con­di­tions on the moun­tain have turned many groups away so far this year, but Sebas­tian’s group ben­e­fit­ed from a clear, cold night before their sum­mit attempt, giv­ing them packed snow for easy trav­el and stun­ning views of the sur­round­ing volcanoes.

Climbers on Illiniza Sur — objec­tive of Anti­sana trip. Her­rera photo

Illiniza Sur (l) and Norte — Nine day Cotopaxi trip includes Norte. Her­rera photo

Lots of new snow has improved con­dit­tions on Chimb­o­ra­zo, with groups now reach­ing the sum­mit. Our sea­son runs through Feb­ru­ary with the fol­low­ing trips still available:

  • Ecuador School
  • 9‑day Cotopaxi
  • Ecuador Vol­ca­noes
  • Cotopaxi Trek or Climb

Mex­i­co Volcanoes

Look­ing into Oriz­a­ba crater. Mark Ryman photo

Sum­mit day on Ixta. Mark Ryman photo

Jan­u­ary 15 depar­ture con­firmed — only 9 days!

Great mem­o­ries were forged on the sum­mits of Iztac­ci­hu­atl and Oriz­a­ba this month. Guides Hec­tor Ponce de Leon, Ale­jan­dro Cruz Rojas and Stephen Web­ber began the excur­sion in the ancient Aztec City of Teoti­hua­can, fol­lowed by a hike to the Alto­zomoni Hut to begin acclima­ti­za­tion. The group tem­porar­i­ly adopt­ed the small black dog from the hut, who end­ed up fol­low­ing them to the sum­mit of Ixta! 

After a day of rest in Puebla, the group moved on to con­quer Oriz­a­ba. They prac­ticed rope tech­nique, ice safe­ty and basic skills at 14,000 feet and pre­pared for the com­ing ascent. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, one of the climbers, David, could not join the group to the sum­mit due to the increas­ing pain from his new boots. Anoth­er good climber thwart­ed from the curse of new boots! Each team made it to the sum­mit with smiles on their faces! The descent back to the hut wel­comed them with cel­e­bra­to­ry tacos and beer. 

Don’t miss your chance to climb these Latin Amer­i­can vol­ca­noes! Call us to get your spot on our con­firmed Jan­u­ary trips! 800−328−5925.