www.ecuadors.org

[Carson]

Just looking for a bit of information from anyone who might have been up Cotopaxi recently...or at all.

My girlfriend and I are in Latacunga right now, and are considering a guided trip to summit cotopaxi. What we are wondering is how technical is it?

What kind of experience is neccessary? We have done a lot of hiking in Canada and have summitted mountains back home, but do not have experience with glacier travel. Is this important to have, or do you get enough from your guide to assend carefully and sucessfully?

As for aclimatization...we have been in Ecuador for about two weeks....about one week in Otavalo and Quito. We are considering going to Laguna Quilotoa.

We are quite fit.

Any suggestions...or comments or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

We are excited to do this...but if it requires background knowledge and experience, we are willing to forgo it....

Thanks!!

[Xaviere]

1. Me too - hiked up as far as the glacier (c.5000m) but couldn't go further as I had no crampons. However, I met a fair few folk in the hut (at c.4800m, from memory) who'd summitted that day and they said pretty much the same thing as phillyboy - not a technical climb.

Up to the refugio area the path is just a slog up steep scree and ash, but much beyond that point you need spikes - the terrain's quite deceptive in places, when you find out the hard way that what you thought was rock is really ice covered with a thin dusting of brown ash!

The views from 5000m were stunning so the panorama from the summit must be something else. Good luck!

[Aabid]

It's not overly technical. I did it without having climbed on ice before. The three or so hours of pre-climb training that you get is generally sufficient. What you do need though is a high level of stamina as it is very steep and every time you look up to see where this section is going to end it keeps getting longer and longer. There were only two in my group (me and one other) and we both made it to the top. We had done an acclimatization trek for the three days before the summit and climbed higher each day, including Rumiñahui which goes to about 4700m and to the snowline on Cotopaxi itself (5000m). You can also do a day trek on the Pichinchas before heading out of Quito which helps.
Best of luck if you do do it

[Quint]

hello,

A lot of tourists go, most fail to summit though, but still pay the 150$ or so. no technical experience is necessary but you do climb up steep from midnight to 8 in the morning. I would advise you to start with El Corazon and Illinizas Norte, both summits you can do alone, if you have maps and lots and lots of water- don't ujnderestimate those, either. we did those and decided we didn't want to be masochistic and go up cotopaxi... up to you, but statistics say 30% actually get up the summit.