Trip Reports

Antisana - 25 Oct to 8 Nov '09

Written by Leader Gaspar Navarrete, November 2009

This year the October/November Jagged Globe Antisana Expedition comprised six climbers; Geoffrey and Paul from the US, Thistan, Kevin and Stephen from the UK and Syam from India, two local guides; Jaime Avila and Henry Moya and myself as a lead guide.

There were a lot of expectations for this expedition, due to bad snow conditions on the past two seasons where we couldn't reach the summit. Two Jagged Globe expeditions to Antisana had to turn back without reaching the summit, due to the poor snow conditions. The dry season this year has been longer than normal and snow conditions were excellent for climbing this mountain. This time we didn't have to worry about snow plates nor avalanches and we knew from Jaime Avila (who had climbed the mountain a month before) that the route was in good shape and crevasses had good snow bridges.

After great acclimatisation, where we climbed two minor volcanoes and the five thousand metre peak (Iliniza Norte 5,126m), the climbers were ready for their main objective, but not before going to a local celebration that happened to be in the small town of El Chaupi. Dancing and watching some popular bull fighting (where locals just play with the bull without hurting or killing it) were the main attractions of this festival. It was an outstanding and unexpected bonus for our expedition, where we all had lots of fun and could experience some of the local culture.

We started to climb Antisana at midnight and by 5am we were stopped by a big crevasse, where a snow bridge had collapsed a week or a week and a half ago. We were very disappointed that we had to go down with mixed feelings and thinking that this was going to be another year with no summit.

Antisana is a very remote peak, located far away in the highlands of Ecuador, where few people visit and route finding through the glacier is a significant issue. This has been one of the reasons why climbers have not reached the summit of this beautiful peak over the past 2 years. After 8 successful expeditions out of 11 under my belt and knowing that 2 of the none successful ones happened in the last 2 years, I was really committed to try to get the team to the summit, with help from additional guides. So with assistant guide David Silva, I went back the same morning to try to find a better route following the classic line that was climbed by Edward Whymper and the Carrel cousins in the 19th century and had become since then the normal route.

This route has not been climbed for six years due to a big crevasse located right below the summit. Luckily for us, we managed to find a way across it, but the next morning only Kevin with local guide Henry Moya and assistant guide David Silva reached the summit. They took the team's flag to the top of Antisana in the name of all team members, making our expedition a successful one. Thanks to you all and all the best for the December 2009 Jagged Globe Expedition to Antisana.

From the suggested reading:

The volcanoes of Ecuador have given the country universal fame among the geologists of the world. They are the terror of the Indians, the admiration of the conquistadors, the study of the naturalist and the plague of the people who live near them

Edward Wymper 1890 Travel Among the Andes of Ecuador

Gaspar Navarrete, Expedition Leader « Previous report | Next report »

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