Today we´ve had a long haul back to the big city after a few chilled out days rafting and staying with a very cool rainforest community. The last few days have been great fun and we´ve seen a completely different side to the country after the stresses and strains of the mountains. Ecuador is a truly brilliant place to visit and I am very sorry to leave.

This afternoon I´ve been dashing around bartering for hammocks and other tourist junk……now I just have to work out how to get it in that duffle and through the check in weight allowance! As soon as I get back I´ll make the time to write more.

Cheers,
Paul

After arrival the team spent time settling in and we made acclimatisation ascents of some of the smaller (but still spectacular) volcanoes around Quito. After that we moved 60 kms NE of Quito and walked up to the refuge on Cayambe (Ecuador´s 3rd highest volcano at 5790 metres). The refuge is comfortable enough for a few nights and from here we spent time training on the glacier and doing further acclimatisation climbs.

Then on day 3, once the team were ready and all the logistics were sorted) we made an early start for an ascent of Cayambe. The weather had been very changeable right up to the night of the ascent (and the snow conditions had been awful) and I went to bed feeling quite pessimisitc about our chances. But amazingly we awoke at 2am to starry skies and freezing temperatures and enjoyed the most amazing conditions for our ascent (I will be putting photos on the gallery as soon as I can after I get back).

After Cayambe we drove across to the Cotopaxi National Park and based ourselves at the beautiful Tambopaxi Lodge (which sits directly under the mountain) ready for our ascent. We spent a day ferrying loads up to the Cotopaxi Refuge then got a good nights sleep back at the lodge in preparation for the ascent. We awoke to rain but, undeterred, moved back up to the hut ready for a midnight start.

Tragically the great luck we had enjoyed with the weather on Cayambe ran out and we awoke to howling winds that would have made an ascent with novice climbers suicidal. It was an easy, but heartbreaking, decision. The team were really disappointed but fully accepted the decision. Thanks for being so understanding guys.

Cotopaxi will be there for another time and the other mountain experiences we have enjoyed in South America have more than compensated. The rest of the trip is all leisure and includes a rafting trip and a bit of time in the rainforest before we return to Quito for the flight (or rather 3 flights!) home.

Please put Ecuador on your destination hitlist - you will have an awesome time. We now have great contacts with the local guides and have the logistics ready for ascents of all the highest volcanoes. Give us a call if we can help with advice, organising ascents or even put together a tailor made package for you. Wait until I publish the photos…………..you WILL want to come!

Take care,
Paul

The team are currently based in Quito making final arrangements for the mountain phase of the expedition as well as checking out the sights of the city. Initial impressions of the country are great. This is also an important aid to acclimatisation as the city is located at 2850 metres. Tomorrow we are walking up a local volcano to a height of 4200 metres then gradually increasing the height gains until our ascent of Cotopaxi in about 8 days time. Several teams have been unsuccessful in the last week due to poor weather but hopefully we will get a long enough weather window for our ascent.

I´ll try to update the blog as often as possible.

The last few weeks have been really busy with climbing courses, a large scale activity week for a local school, private guiding work and a variety of mountain biking courses. I´ve been assisted by Dan, Craig, Cal and Simon who have all been helping to keep the wheels turning. Thanks to you all.

Then of course it´s not ideal to finish the days instructing to finalise packing for a month overseas - but I´ve had to do that too! This years expedition is to climb Cotopaxi in Ecuador. This is a first visit to the country for me and I can´t wait as I´ve heard so many great things about it.

While I´m away Cal will be manning (or womaning!) the phones and we can still help you realise that great adventure - so please get in touch and we´ll do all we can to help.

But I’ve got excuses! We don’t like to do things by halves at Peak Mountaineering so while the usual flurry of summer activities goes on around us, we’ve moved house and office! Long term this will be great as we will have a brilliant purpose built office and storeroom. Unfortunately this won’t be for about 6 to 8 weeks so we are currently living the caravan dream instead! Logistically this is quite a challenge as we’ve lost our landline number and don’t have our usual super speedy broadband but we do have a great view - and ducks quacking at the door. Please bear with us if it takes a bit longer to get back to you than normal………..but please keep getting in touch!

Of course a mere house and office move doesn’t stop the outdoor activities and, as always at this time of year, it’s uber hectic. I’ve been running a learn to lead course with Mel and Mel (yes, that really is 2 Mels!), mountain biking with Charlie and Dan, kayaking with a school group from Cheshire and running a 5 day multi-pitch climbing course in Snowdonia. Meanwhile Craig has been running an ML refresher with Jeremy and there’s been technical advisory monitoring sessions bubbling away in the background too. Oh yes, and Sally took Ali and Mike on a mountain biking skills day in the Derwent Valley. Tonight I’m blasting down to Cannock to run a 2 day outdoor first aid course immediately followed by a 5 day activity week for a local primary school and Craig is running an introductory climbing course in the Peak District. Phew!

Of course we’ve been loving the other summer sport action too. The Tour De France is compulsory evening viewing (good effort Lance) and the World Cup was great (particularly after the stress of England keeping us hoping was finally put behind us!). The Grand Prix has also been gripping too. Oh yes…….and the weather has been great too.

There really is never a dull moment…………………I really hope you are having a great summer too.

The weather over the 2 days was blistering and the groups were great fun – recipe for a really enjoyable weekend! Saturdays group focussed mainly on protection placement and belay building then Sundays group covered some revision of these skills before moving on to look at lead climbing skills (using ‘ghost’ rope back ups). Of course lots of other bits of info were shared during each day and the days were run as flexibly as possible to account for different needs. It is always brilliant to be out with such like minded people. Many thanks to all the participants and I hope you found the sessions useful.

While we were sunning it up at Stanage, Al was sweating around the trails on a private guided mountain bike day. Tina, Matt, Dave and Max are all returning customers who can’t get enough Peak MTB action (who can blame them!). Al took them on one of his uber link ups from Hayfield, via Edale, Rushup Edge and eventually, 5 litres of water per person later…….back to the pub in Hayfield to rehydrate in a completely different way! Nice one Al.

A crisis was narrowly averted on Wednesday when we had to make special arrangements to view the England game. Luckily it’s the sort of rural community where anything is possible if you talk to the right people. A few conversations in the pub and villager David kindly offered us the use of his lounge for the match. It was the best atmosphere in the world with adults and kids enjoying the victory…..who needs outdoor activities!?

A very sunny weekend, a brilliant group and fantastic hospitality meant the course was bound to go well. Nescliffe now has a new group of instructors that can use the climbing tower and mobile wall and I have an even greater respect for the time and effort they put in to their work. Many thanks to you all.

While I was enjoying the hospitality down south Craig was running an introductory climbing session in the Peak District. He met up with 8 adults and children from London who were keen to try gritstone climbing for the first time. By all accounts they had a great time and I hope they may go on to do more in the future.

Finally, while all that was going on we had a number of orienteering sessions running for a local school. The children had a great time weaving their way around a challenging course……shame the adults couldn’t keep up! Thanks to the staff, children and parents for a fun day. See you all again in September.

I don’t often spend 4 days in a row stuck in conference rooms but the stimulating discussion and chance to meet such inspiring young people more than makes up for it. I even got the chance to stay in a rather nice hotel, which makes a very pleasant change from festering climbing huts and tents!