One of our goals for this trip was to climb the 2nd highest volcano in Ecuador. We read an account in the AT Magazine last year of a couple who attempted Cotopaxi and then Chimboraza, and we were inspired!

We climbed 4 volcanos in total in order to get the necessary acclimatisation for our bid on this peak of 5897m. All the smaller peaks were still worth doing in their own right, with rocky jagged tops and often sharp edges leading to other summits. Before our world adventure we´d been to 4062m in Italy, so this was a big ambitious jump up. The refuge, where you are supposed to ´sleep´, for Cotopaxi is at the same height as the summit of Mont Blanc. It was certainly going to be a tall order!

We were very aware of treading in the footsteps of Maca and his sister, but were very thankful of the guide that we had. Pato made sure we were up at midnight, that were forced some bread into our stomachs and that we had boiling water in our platypuses (so that it didn´t freeze too quickly), to keep us going all night. To be honest, we´d slept little, with the pounding hearts and thick heads associated with mild altitude sickness. The pressure also upsets digestive functions, but we were told any of these were only mild sympotms...

Despite occasional sickness, Pato kept us moving up the mountain. It was essentially a snow plod, but steep in places, with an incredible wind sweeping across the ridges at the top. At one point Pato (who is about 8 stone and less than 5ft 4) was visibly moved across the ridge by the wind. I was OK because at that point I was crawling on my hands and knees, using my ice axe in a very un orthodox fashion to keep propelling myself forwards. At the back, Jim was striding calmly along, cold because we were moving so slowly.

Just as the sun was rising we finally made the summit, and I looked up from the 1 metre stretch in front of me for the first time in hours.

The view... the colours...you could see all the tall mountains in the Sierra...the cloud formations.... wow.  You could see the still active crator, and the strong smell of sulphur had kept us moving upwards for the final 15 minutes. It was really too cold to take many photos or to hang around, and we were again wearing all our out door gear. We were the 3rd group to reach the summit that day, and the guides say that on a busy morning there will be 50 clients attempting the summit. We were back at the refuge by around 8.30am, just as the ´tourists´ started arriving at car park for their walk up to the refuge. We´d already had our day.

Was it worth it?

Yes of course. A mountain is usually worth it for me, and I knew better what to expect from the climbing in Italy, and how our bodies would react. It was one of the best views - I know that from the few photos, as I couldn´t appreciate it at the time.

Would I do it again? What about Chimboraza?

Um?