I am now safely back in the capital of Ecuador, Quito. I have finished all of the high altitude climbing I had planned. Unfortunately, I did not reach the summit of Volcano Chimborazo, due to the extremely dangerous winds yesterday morning, which started out steady at about 25 kilometers per hour, with gusts up to 40 or 50kph. A few hours later, they were steady at about 40 or 50kph, with gusts up to 100kph. When we started out from the refugio, or hut, at about 11:45PM everything was perfect. It was only after we passed the second refugio that things started to get a bit dicey. When we reached 5,400 meters we made the decision to turn back. Two people who I met at Mount Aconcagua three months ago died because they decided to continue upward in such winds. I had no intention of raising the quota. And even if we had reached the summit, the descent would have been precarious as the winds would have been to our backs, so braking would have been extremely difficult. If I was a human hang glider maybe this would be ok, but I prefer to keep my feet on the ground. As for climbing into such a headwind, the energy spent is easily two to three times higher than the energy spent overcoming gravity. By the time we would have reached the summit, I would have been quite spent. This would have made the descent even more dangerous. It is a little known statistic that 80% of all climbing accidents occur on the descent. Far too many people consider the climb over when the summit is reached. Because of this, they do not save the energy needed for a safe descent, and/or they get sloppy in their technic. I never forget the importance of saving energy for a safe descent. Although turning around at 5,400 was absolutely the correct decision, it is still quite disappointing, for were it not for the winds, I could easily have summited this volcano, and in the process would have broken through both the 6,000 meter and 20,000 foot marks. And, everything was otherwise as perfect as it could be. When we left the refugio to begin, I was shocked to see so many stars in the sky, the most of any night during the three weeks I have been in Ecuador. The snow and ice conditions, in contrast to Cotopaxi where they were as bad as they could be, were as perfect for safe climbing as could be possible. Technically, I am definitely experienced enough to climb at this level. Physically and mentally I had this mountain in the bag, or at least I thought so. Mother Nature decided otherwise and it would have been quite foolish either to argue with or disregard her. For a long time now, I have considered myself to be a principiante, or beginner. Now, I have entered a new phase in my progression as a climber. While I certainly have much to learn and much improvement in my technics to make, I believe that I can now fairly call myself an Andinista, or true mountaineer, though of course at the lowest rung on the ladder of experience. At the age of fifty, I have finally achieved my childhood dream. The only problem I have just now, is deciding what is next.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:59:28 +0000
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