cotopaxi volcano

Dont mis this, take a hike op to the vulcano, but wear warm clothes, good shoes, sunglasses, gloves and cover your had, as it can be very cold and windy with a lot of rain and hail. Organise your tour from Latacunga, for $ 40 for a daytrip.

Cotopaxi is the second highest peak in Ecuador rising to 19,347 ft. From a distance, it is a beautiful, snow and ice covered cone reaching into the sky. Closer up it can be a bit intimidating. In fact, the route to the summit is nicknamed “Rompe Corazones”, the heart breaker. Gazing up at Cotopaxi, the question I asked myself was, “Could I summit?” I was in good shape but I had limited experience hiking with crampons and no experience with an ice ax, self arrest, roped climbing or hiking on a glacier. If you are asking yourself the same question the simple answer is yes. You do have a good chance of success – if you prepare.1. Get yourself in good climbing shape – You do not need to be a mountain stud but you do have to be in pretty good shape. Get used to carrying a 20-25lb pack and more importantly get used to carrying 4-5lbs on each foot because that’s what your boots and crampons will weigh. It typically takes 7-8 hours to summit from the parking lot and an additional 2-3 hours to descend. 2. You need to be acclimated – If you do not live and/or climb at altitude on a regular basis then I would recommend you spend at least one week at altitude before attempting Cotopaxi. You can start acclimating in Quito (altitude 9,000 ft.). There is also a great hike that you can do while you are there. The peak of Rucu Pichincha is in Quito. To get to the trailhead you can take the telefercico up to 13,000 ft. and from there the summit is only a 2,400 ft. vertical ascent. Up and down only takes about 5 hours and you do not need a guide. It is an easy trail to follow. I have written a review about climbing this peak (See Pichincha on Trip Advisor). This is a great acclimation climb for Cotopaxi. My other suggestion would be to spend the last few nights before your climb at the Tambopaxi Lodge in Cotopaxi National Park. The elevation is 12,500 ft. and there are gorgeous views of the mountain from the lodge. They offer both dorm style bunks and also private rooms with wood burning stoves. The food is very good and many of the people staying there are about to climb, or have just climbed Cotopaxi so it is a great place to get some first hand knowledge about conditions on the mountain and suggestions from people who have just been on it. The lodge is located a short 20-25 minute drive from the trailhead. One last thing about altitude. Many climbers, including myself, use Diamox to help prevent altitude sickness. It works well for many but not everyone. If you have never used it before and are considering using it on the climb I recommend that you test it at home for a few days first to familiarize yourself with the side effects you may have. On the full dose I felt lightheaded but had no symptoms taking a half dose and on the mountain I had no problems with the medication nor the altitude.3. Choose the guiding service/guide that’s right for you – A guide is mandatory for climbing Cotopaxi. There are really two ways to go here. Many of the foreign, and larger Ecuadorean, guiding companies want you to sign up for their 7-14 day packages. The advantages here are that you will do some acclimatization hikes with them, they will review/teach climbing skills, and you can be pretty sure the quality of the guides will be good. The negatives are the much higher cost and lack of flexibility (you are on their schedule). Local guides are relatively inexpensive and more flexible but unless one is recommended to you from someone you trust you run the risk of getting one who doesn’t meet your expectations. I used Gulliver Expeditions, headquartered in Quito, to arrange a local guide and I was very pleased with Gulliver’s services and the guide himself. The cost was $350. One last caveat, many of the local guides speak little or no English. 4. If you lack mountaineering skills or experience compensate for this. There are a few things that helped me. The first was to hire a private guide who could be giving me his full attention and instructing/correcting me on certain things I was doing. This was very beneficial. The second thing was to meet with the guide early that day to review some basic techniques. We did all of this at the lodge in less than 2 hours. No you will not be an expert afterwards but with the right instructor you can learn a lot in a short period of time. Some guides recommend hiking up to the glacier on that day to review these techniques on ice but it is a 2 hour (1 way) hike climbing 1,500+ vt ft to reach the glacier. I thought this was too much physical effort for me 8 hours before the summit hike. 5. Plan on hydrating and fueling properly – It is extremely important that you do this. You must eat and drink small quantities on a regular basis to maintain the energy you will need to summit. Pack high energy food that you can eat while you are walking or during a short break every hour or so like energy bars. And keep a water bottle within easy reach so you can sip from it every 15 minutes or so. I carried 2 1/2 liters of water and it was sufficient. 6. Bring the proper gear – Cotopaxi has mountain weather. Snow, high winds, rain, etc. are all a good possibility and the weather can change rapidly. Make sure that you are carrying what you need to handle different conditions. A warm jacket, gloves and hat, a windproof/water proof jacket, pants, and good boots are a must. Talk with your guide for further recommendations.7. Pace yourself – It is important that you walk slow, especially in the beginning. Don’t worry about the pace of other climbers. Climb your own climb and if there is any question in your mind that the pace may be too fast slow down. We started slow and yet we were the second of the eight groups that started that day to summit. Four of the eight groups never reached the top. I hope this helps and I hope that it encourages you to prepare and give it a try. Climbing on Cotopaxi at 3am with a sky full of stars and the lights of Quito glittering below is something special. Enjoy!

once on top of the middle way the view is amazing. Going there isn't that much. On that hight it's freezing cold and raining from time to time... it is hard to get up also if you're sportive. Must love hicking the it must be awesome

This was a fantastic day! We drove up and did the 1hr hike to the refuge. I highly recommend taking a few days and climbing to the top! I wish i could have made it to the peak of this big guy, it would have been amazing.Try to look at the weather forecast, many days this volcano is not visible. We were lucky and the skies opened up for us!

Excellent high altitude hiking. Didn't attempt to summit, but enjoyed the hike to the glacier. Refugio under renovation and closed when we were there so no hot coffee to reward the tough hike up to 16000 feet. Beautiful and dramatic views. be careful on the glacier without crampons/ice axe.

During our 3.5 week stay in Ecuador we hired a guide/driver for two days to take us to Laguna Quilotoa, Saquisili and Cotopaxi. Let me know if you want his details. When we entered the park, we had to pick up a local guide. We first went to Lago LimpioPungo and walked around the lake. Here you get the first signs how high you really are ... you get breathless easily. After this we drove up to the parkinglot on the Cotopaxi, from where you can walk to the refuge. It was raining/snowing, so we walked up just a little, but it is amazing.

Climbing Cotopaxi is an amazing experience and not difficult. There are four main reasons why you may fail to reach the summit -Dehydration - Drink lots of water the day before, during and after the climb. Many people claim they have altitude sickness because they have a headache but this could also be due to dehydration. Take a bottle you can put inside your jacket so the water doesn't freeze.Lack of fitness - You'll need to walk roughly 7 hours to reach the summit and another 3 get to get back down. You need to be in reasonably good shape.Altitude sickness - This is the main reason why people don't manage to reach the summit. A lot of the tour agencies that run trips to Cotopaxi advise climbing Pichincha Volcano (4,784m) to see if you are sufficiently acclimatised. It is located just outside Quito and can be accessed from the top of the teleferico.Weather - Cotopaxi has it's own micro climate and it is impossible to predict the weather. www.mountainforecast.com will give an idea but you just have to be lucky with the weather and snow conditions.A couple of other tips -Rest - Do as little as possible the day before you climb. Some tour agencies include ice climbing practice to familiarise yourself with the kit. This can be done on the climb itself without wasting energy beforehand.Eat - Eat high carbohydrate meals beforehand and take snacks, such as cereal bars, for the climb.Kit - Crampons, ice axe and harness are required but only to enable you to walk across the snow and ice. The skills you need to use this equipment can be learnt on the climb which is essentially a long walk, with no sections of technical climbing required.Group - There has to be a minimum of 1 guide for every 2 people. If you are with only one other person who cannot reach the summit you will also have to go back. I recommend joining a larger group which will have more guides because that way if people do feel unwell you can continue with those people that are ok while a guide can take those that are not back down. The ideal is to have 5 people because you will have 3 guides and have maximum flexibility.I climb with this company and they ticked all of the boxes noted above, provided all of the kit you need, from boots to head torches and had great guides - www.cotopaxiclimbing.com/

You enter the National park (fee), then drive to the high parking lot. If you are motivated to hike up to the refuge it may take you 30 minutes at this altitude. After that you can hike up to the glacier. Only one of our party was so motivated, but it was worthwhile for him.

The excursion to the bottom of the snow cap, even without reching the top, is still an experience and offers, if the weather allows, shows terrific views of the volcanoe itself and the surrounding ones. The day trip from Latacunga with Greivag travel Adventure was perfect. Winter gear is highly recommended.

Very interesting terrain. When approaching the volcano you drive through a variation of creek beds, vegetation and sulphur rock. When you reach the point to begin the hike, you can feel the temperature change. When we were hiking up the volcano it started snowing. Very beautiful! Wear comfortable shoes and bring a walking stick for balance. I did not have one but wish I would have.