Ecuador: Climbing in the Avenue of Volcanoes is a challenge and rewarding

Climbing In Ecuador’s ‘Avenue Of Volcanoes’ Is Challenging, Rewarding

Jim Clash ,

Contributor to Forbes.com

Near the equator in Ecuador lies a group of mountains known as Avenue of Volcanoes. From the air, the peaks look beautiful, like vanilla-topped ice cream cones. Down lower, they are massive and gritty. The biggest is Chimborazo, at 20,564 feet Ecuador’s highest. The prettiest is probably Cotopaxi, at 19,347 feet the country’s second highest. And the one smack dab on the equator is 18,996-foot Cayambe.

All three are good intermediate climbs for amateur mountaineers who, at some point, want to graduate to the 8,000-meter Himalaya behemoths. Each gives good exposure to the rigors of altitude and requires the use of ropes, ice axes and crampons. The summits are also day climbs from high refugio huts, so if someone gets into trouble help is not far away. Read Article

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