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Waking up at 11pm, we say waking up, no one slept. It's still Saturday. We both felt sick with a headache, this was not good as they could be symptoms of acute altitude sickness, but maybe some breakfast would help? We had some granola and yogurt with a herbal tea as the guide said this would help and we weren't to worried as a slight headache and uneasy stomach was ok as long as it didn't get worse! If it was bad now it would be 8 times as bad at the top. Hopefully this wouldn't be the case so we went and layered up and got the equipment ready that we would need for the climb...we still felt sick but so did the rest of the group so at least we weren't alone! One of the Swiss guys was sick so stayed at the lodge. By 12.30ish we were all set to go.......
Stevie's Climb....
OMG.... I can't breath and we are only 10 mins in, the air is so thin I keep hyperventilating although at least I am still walking with the group and not by myself, Mark is behind me and this spurs me on until my head torch falls off and I have to stop, letting the whole group in front of me while the guide Marco readjusts it for me...meanwhile letting a second group ahead of us! So now it is just me and Marco climbing up the ash and it is hard and exhausting with every 3 steps I take I slide one step back....wonderful! This goes on for a few hours and I am back and forth with my confidence one minute I am positive and push myself forward the next I am close to tears thinking I can't go on! We eventually catch up with the rest of the group and we split into smaller groups ready to be roped together for the glacier! I am with Natasha as she isn't feeling to good and I am clearly struggling with this ridiculously steep inclination...but I keep pushing myself forward..I can do this! The wind is howling and after another hour of climbing we reach the glacier at 5000 meters and it's time to put on the crampons and start walking on the snow...yay this is what I have been looking forward to, we all get roped together (Helen is in our group now) We start climbing again.....!! I was wrong to be excited the inclination just got steeper so we are having to side step up the volcano which is the hardest walk and it takes it's toll on my knee...but we all keep going for another hour before the guide stops and tells us that at the pace we are walking it will take another 7 hours to reach the summit and we are likely to get frostbite!!! This is not what we want, however we all would like to keep climbing until sunrise...I take 5 steps and my knee gives up and I announce I can't go on anymore :( oh no we only made it to 5300 meters!
We turn around and begin our decent...I now feel sick and incredibly exhausted, at the bottom of the glacier we remove our crampons and detach from the rope...I then precede to fall down the mountain, it's so rocky and uneven every time I stand I fall back down and eventually give up and slide down on my backside...self arresting about 20 times!!!! When the terrain finally improves I manage to stand up after every time I slip and continue down....the weather is getting worse the wind has really picked up and I am constantly whipped in the face with dirt and ice and it's slowly getting colder...maybe we turned back at the right time! It took 2 hours but we finally made it back to the lodge, I don't know what way we came back as it defiantly wasn't on the trail that we took up! And it's just started to snow and rain, I strip off my waterproofs, snuggle in my sleeping bag and eat a snickers! A little disappointed in myself for not making it to the summit but happy that I made it to 5300m (there are alot of people back at the lodge...at least I wasn't the only one...as the weather is just to bad). I drift off to sleep thinking of Mark and where on the volcano he is?.....
Mark's Climb
Several layers of clothing didn't stop the cold wind going right through me as I started the climb, it was cold and dark only the head torch guided me up the ash covered volcano. It was so difficult and slippery as the rocks and dust would just move away from your feet with every step. After about two hours I reached the Glacier. We strapped on our crampons and were split into groups. Our guide put Nate and I together. We were roped together by our harnesses. We began our climb over crevasses and up steep inclines. About an hour in we saw loads of people coming down. Apparently the weather was turning and a natural bridge over one of the crevasses had collapsed. Our guide lead us to another part of the mountain the was more exposed and more difficult. We had to do 90° climbs and walk across ridges that were belted with snow and Gail-force winds that literally blow you over. It was freezing, our guide said it was around -10 to -15°C, it felt like we had been walking for hours when I asked the guide how long was left. I shouldn't have asked...... 3.5hrs!!!!
That was a blow, my head ache was returning, I felt sick and could vomit any second and had enough gas to power a small village. We stop for a break and I shared a snickers with Nate. We carried on walking the snow was settling in, my legs were aching, I was exhausted, struggling to breath. Nate helped me carry on. We stopped again where I am sure I fell asleep a couple of times, waking up each time Nate asked me a question. All my clothes and equipment was covered in a 5mm layer of ice. At one point I thought a white-out was happening and ended up walking like a blind person. I wasn't until Nate asked me what I was doing. When I said its a white-out, I can't see. He replied 'take off your goggles' what an idiot!!! When I took them off it was clear, well clearish. The white out was the goggles freezing over!!!. We carried on walking. With no goggles my eyes were battered with snow whipping past. The last 200m was split into 3 inclines of 60°. It was tough. I was knackered, tired and the weather was closing in. I was so close I had to push on!! Finally the summit. It was so cloudy we couldn't see a thing. I collapsed and tried to get some energy back. Pretty sure I had a sleep there too. I took my phone out to take a picture of myself on the summit. I manage to get one photo before my IPhone literally freezes over and turns off.
After about 10-15 minutes we head down. I can barely feel my legs, the wind is pushing me most of the way. We cross more crevasses and climb down walls of ice. We stopped for a drink, I take the water out my bag, it's frozen!!! We carry on, finally making it below the clouds and out of the snow on to the ash. I fall over about 10 times on the ash before eventually making it back to camp where I am greeted with a hot chocolate.
Me, Stevie, Nat and Brit are left. We discover that only 3 people from our group summited me, Nat and the Swiss guy. I think only 15% of the overall climbers made it to the top.
It's a mission getting back to the van. Finally in the van back to Quito we bond more with Nate and Brit. We swop details and arrange to have lunch when we get back. Most of the journey we are asleep.
Finally arriving back we head to a small resturant that Brittany recommended. We all order $2 schwarma Which is like a mini kebab. It is so nice!!! We finally say our farewells to Nate and Brittany. They were really nice people. Getting back to our hostel, we have a much needed shower before heading to bed!!..
- comments
Jamie Well done both of you, powerful stuff x
tilburysparkes Thanks Jay. Good to see we still have an audience.