THE ROAD TO CHIMBORAZO – LAST STOP

We started hiking and due to the inflexibility of the shoes we had to walk sideways up the mountain since the slopes were too steep to walk up “normally”. The average rise was at 45 per cent with parts being as steep as 65 per cent.

After around 1.5 hours ascending the steep slopes of the mountain I felt the altitude combined with the exhaustion. Every step was painful. We made the first stop behind a huge rock at around 12.30 a.m. and I already felt that this is going to be incredibly hard.

We continues for another hour or so until I felt a slight pain on the site of my head. Obviously breathing got way harder by then since we reached an altitude of around 5.500 meters by then. I decided to continue and see how things will feel higher up. Unfortunately though, every step I felt the pain getting more and more and around 5800 meters me and my buddy became increasingly dizzy and noxious. It was clear that those problems occurred due to the altitude which we were at. We took a little break and talked to our guide who continuously told us how dangerous altitude sickness can get and that the most important thing is to save energy for the descend afterwards. At that point it was 3 o’clock in the morning and to be honest I felt horrible. Breathing became a real trouble, combined with the effects of the altitude sickness and simply the level of exhaustion we took the decision to ascend up to the altitude of Cotopaxi (5890m) and then return to the refuge since we both felt that otherwise we would not make it back.

I have to say that I was really disappointed. However, in those kind of extreme situations it is most important to know you limits and evaluate the risk you are willing to take. Therefore, disappointed as I was we made our way down the slopes of Ecuador’s highest mountain. However, the further we descended the more I felt that the decision we took was the right one. My legs started shaking after halfway and I felt how I fell into that kind of trance mode were I was just walking without thinking or feeling anything.

The descend was way harder than I thought to be honest due to the incredible steep parts which required us to climb down backwards with our ice axes deeply buried into the ice. I remember thinking to myself, that the way we walked up was really far because the way down to the refuge did not seem to end. After another three hours of walking through pitch black with only little visibility due to our head torches we reached the refuge again at 5 in the morning. At that point I was done, mentally and most certainly physically.

So I took if my gear, fell into my back and passed out.

So what can I say in conclusion of this adventure? I think that we definitely underestimated the challenge that we were facing. Even though we did quite a lot for preparation we did one mistake which was not to sleep and spend much time at higher altitude. However, this was one of the most challenging things I have ever done physically and even though we did not make it to the top, we tried and gave everything we had. Nevertheless, I am a little frustrated but that only means, that I have to try harder once I return to Ecuador. All in all the last weekends were amazing, I saw climbed beautiful mountains, hiked through incredible scenery and noticed the vast difference of all the mountains and national parks we have been to.

With that, I am saying goodbye to Ecuador, you have been amazing. The landscape, the people and the plenty of new experiences I made, made the last 5 months an unforgettable journey and I am sure that I will return at some point in my life. Thank you for reading and goodbye.