Climbing Chimborazo!!!

Hi,

Well i´m safely back from my first serious mountaineering attempt...Have to say this was the physically hardest thing i have ever done!!! Didn´t make it to the summit but did make it to 6000m, almost 3/4 of the way up. The last section involved climbing a huge glacier with crampons and a ice axe. It was bloody tough going and i almost made it to the top before hitting the 'wall' and becoming completely exhausted and unable to take another painful step.

We started the hike at 10pm from the refugee so was a unusual experience hiking up a mountain in complete darkness and only being able to see 2ft in front! None of us really got much sleep either as we arrived at 3pm and had dinner at 5 before going to bed at 6!! Don't think i've ever gone to bed that early before! It was a really different weekend experience. There were 7 of us all up 3 guys, one tough english girl + 3 excellent guides!



The conditions were also very tough with near gale force winds blowing and a -15 wind chill factor! Yeeckks..One tough army guy in our group of 4 was the only one to make it up. I saw his one and only pic from the summit and he looked completely miserable so I don´t feel so bad about not making it up!!!


So am now back in Quito planning my next trip - to a somewhere warm and a bit more inviting, the Galapagos islands! Enjoy the pics, hasta semana....