Ruco Pichincha

From Ruco Pichincha

Yesterday, Eve, Mary and I set out to climb Pichincha, the volcano that walls in Quito to the west. We intended on climbing Guagua ("wawa") Pichincha, which is the highest summit on the massif.

We left for the taxi stand at around 7:00 and rode to the "Teleférico" that would take us up to an altitude of 4,000m. Initally, we were a little alarmed when the taxi driver told us that the Teleférico was closed on Sundays until 10:00 am. This was in contradiction with our guide book, which gave the opening time as 8:00. We arrived at the base of the Teleférico and the taxi drove away. We were the only people around, except for a guard. After perhaps fifteen minutes a family from Quito arrived. This calmed our fears considerably. One by one, the employees began to arrive and, when asked, informed us that the Teleférico did indeed open at 8:00.

Cultural lesson 1: The phrase "abierto a las ocho" means that the employees show up and start opening things up at eight, not that they will be ready for business then. As such we did not get on the Teleférico until about 8:45.

We arrived at the top of the Teleférico at about 8:50 and set off on our chosen route to Guagua. After climbing for about an hour, and feeling the effects of the altitude, it was time to leave the trail and head for the first pass. The going was tough and we were moving quite slowly. Eventually, we met a group of Ecuadoreans and when we asked if there was an easier way to the pass, they informed us that there was not, that the route we intended to follow would take us at least two days, and that we would need a guide. (This I still find hard to believe as the route is only 11km and gains only about 700m.)

Cultural lesson 2: Ecuadoreans seem extremely prudent. They are constantly warning us of danger lurking everywhere.

Not wanting to tempt fate, we decided to heed their warning nonetheless and instead climb Ruco Pichincha, another summit on the same massif with a clearly defined trail and lots of traffic.

We bushwacked back up onto the trail and took a break. Mary decided that she was feeling ill from the exertion at more than 4200m (14,000ft) and so decided to sit out the rest of the climb.

Eve and I continued up the trail and along the way, we fell in with a Swede named Simon, who had likewise left the remainder of his party behind. At around 2:00, following many rest stops, we made it to the summit, which my GPS showed to be at an altitude of 4707m (15,443ft). After a brief lunch and some pointers from two Canadians, with whom we shared the view, we started back down the mountain. The going was quick and things began to fog up as we approached the terminus of the Teleférico. There was met Mary and said good-bye to Simon, before taking the tram back to Quito.

All-in-all a good day out and a personal altitude record for the three of us.

To see a slide show of photos of our climb, check out my Picasa Web Album.

Update (4/4/2009): Despite what the IGM maps say, everyone here says "Ruco" and not "Rucu." So in deference to the local population, I have changed the spelling throughout the blog.