The CTSS Ecuador team had a successful morning today with 7 climbers, plus their guides, standing on top of Volcan Cayambe, Congratulations from all of us at CTSS!!!

After spending the past few days recouperating at Hacienda La Cienega the team took their bus to the Caymbe National Park entrance yesterday afternoon. From the park entrance 4×4 trucks carried the team the last few miles to the Cayambe Refuge, Refuge Oleas Ruales. A quick dinner was in order as the team tried to get as much sleep as possible before an early (11:00PM!) wakeup. This type of early ‘Alpine Start’ helps climbers avoid afternoon thunderstorms, climb in firm overnight conditions, and descend in softer mid-morning conditions.

Cayambe is located less than 25 miles from the Amazon basin and is well known for its wet and fickle weather patterns. Today, however, our team enjoyed near perfect weather throughout their climb! Good snow conditions, clear skies, and moderate winds allowed our team to ascend the route in about as good of form as could ever be hoped for.

After their descent the team took a short drive to the outskirts of the famous market town of Otavalo. After a climb like Cayambe it’s great to relax for a while, and tonights accommodations at the beautiful Puerto Lago Country Inn are certainly ideal for relaxation.

Tomorrow the team will spend the morning exploring the famous Otavalo Indigenous Market before driving to the Papallacta Hot Springs in the afternoon to continue their recuperation. Climbing mountains is hard work, but recovering from them doesn’t have to be!

Up next, a few of our team fly home at the end of the “Standard” Ecuador Volcanoes expedition while the rest of the team continues on to climb the highest volcano in Ecuador, Chimborazo.

Cheers,

CTSS Team