Altitude, Frostbite, and 3 generations of mountaineers!

[ReconDoc242]

After months of preparation and hard training it was time to put my money where my mouth was..... (not my picture, from wikipedia) (my picture from base camp at 12,000ft) Meet Cotopaxi, the worlds tallest volcano...19,347ft of pure pain....it is also the coldest place on the planet near the Ecuator. I arrived monday afternoon at base camp, and set up my tent. After getting my gear ready I rested and prepared for my climb to advace base camp(15,000ft) the following morning. The next morning I awoke early for my 3,000ft climb at 50degree angle to Advaced Base Camp(ABC) which has a small refuge the my father helped build when he was my age in the late sixties to 1971. After a long long climb we arrived there. Here I am inside the refuge at ABC The place is littered with plaques to those who have died(and are still) on the mountain At ABC I felt like shit, and could not breathe. It felt like I was trying to breathe 100ft+ underwater. Every breath was forced and it hurt to breathe even when I was sitting there. I then climbed 1000ft up to the 1st glacier(where the snow line begins and the lava rock ends) to practice some climbing techniques. I felt like shit and almost passed out a handful of time. I then retruned to ABC to rest and prep my gear for the tru ascent..... 1100pm my alarm goes off and I get my gear on. Then the guide and myself put on out head lamps and we head out the door a half hour before midnight. We exit the refuge to find 50mph winds and -12degree temps. Strangely I felt strong, yet scared shitless. We began our climb up the glacier and on to the summit. The higher we climbed, the colder it got and the stronger the winds got. We climbed for what seemed like an eternity(really 7hours up). We made the summit at 6:30am. The weather on top was -22degrees farenheit. The winds were also blowing really hard so my time at the top was minimal(less then 2 min to be exact, but with that summit became the 2nd generation of my family to reach it without oxygen ). We began to descend and after we got a few feet bellow the summit, we found some refuge from the winds. I then took the time to snap a pic of the caldera of the volcano(not a smart decision...more details in a bit). And prepared for the most dangerous phase of the climb....the descend! We then kept descending as the day grew warmer(sounds like a good thing huh....not here, the warmed it gets the looser the snow gets, the higher the chances of avalaches). We then reached a glacier that was out of the wind and decided to snap a pic of my guide leading the way thru this alien world. After about 6 hours of descend we arrived at the low glaciers and good weather and had a major surprise waiting.....My dad and daughter had climbed to the glacier to meet me. I was shocked that they had made it up this high. Here is a pic of me that they took as I descended. Here is a pic of the altimeter to where the 3 generations of Rojas Mountaineers meet(to give you guys an idea the highest mountain in the continental USA is Mt. Whitney at 14,498 ft) Here we are on the glacier together We then began the rest of the descend to ABC together. Here is the view of the descend from the glacier. As we descended we found some huge creavases that dropped 60ft down that I had barely missed falling into on the way up at night. Here we are back at ABC. I think this must have been real cool for my dad, the last time he climbed and summited this mountain was 2 weeks before he found out that my mom was pregnant with me. Now he returns 27yrs later with his son who just summited and his granddaughter!!! The three generations of mountaineers!!!! The view of cotopaxi from ABC. The low glacier And finally the view from base camp at the end of the climb. Now I know why th only king of the mountain is the mountain! Oh remember those 2 pics up top, told you I paid for them. Doctor said it is only minor frostbite. I might have some permanent loss of sensation on my finger tip, but I will get to keep it. One last look at cotopaxi: Anyways thanks for your prayers and good wishes, you guys were on my mind on the way up(mainly about how much crap you would have give me if I didn´t summit ) ReconDoc out from the middle of the world.

[Saluki]

Damn!

Awesome pix.

[BigJoe]

Carlos, good pictures must have been pretty hard for someone used to sea level. That will teach you to stick your finger out at -22 degrees

[Mstonefish]

Dammnit Doc you are Nucking Futs!!!


Great pics, I bet your finger hurt when it thawed out

[Mo Betta]

Wow Carlos, thats one hell of a vacation. You go from fishing for Peacocks to popsicle fingers all in the same trip.

[frijolitos]

super cool, thanks for the report! congratulations, I know what the 100ft dives are like, and I can't imagine that kind of punishment for that long of a time as far as the breathing goes.....good job and perseverence

[umoa]

wicked!

congratulations

[Jason]

Cool. You going to do it again or wait until your son or daughter does it before you go back?

Too bad you missed a killer Tshark bite.

[bertram31]

Holy shit dude, what an awesome adventure. be safe on future expeditions.

Jack

[lokegirl48]

Great story, and such fond memories for your family to pass on. Three generations on that mountain. Congrats. The finger was worth it!!

[Jack Hammer]

That's an awesome accomplishment. Congratulations. Must have been cool for your pop too.

Lowell

[ReconDoc242]

Originally Posted by Jason

Cool. You going to do it again or wait until your son or daughter does it before you go back?

Too bad you missed a killer Tshark bite.

I will go back, but not for a while. I have the lofty goal of Everest in 2010-12ish, which I am slowly building up for. So I have to do Denali next year, Chimborazo in late 2008, and Aconcagua in 2009 to prepare.
I personally would love if my kid follows me up some more mountains, but at the same time it scares the hell out of me. Big mountains are dangerous as hell. Due to the altitude, if anything goes wrong on the mountain, there is no rescue possible. Helicopters wont go up there, so everyone that has ever been hurt or killed on Cotopaxi(and most other big mountains over 5000meters) is still up there. On my climb up I saw two dead frozen people near the summit. When they died or who they are, I do not know. But this is part of the game of mountaineering.....thats why I am torn on weather or not I want my kid to follow my foot steps, like I have done with my father.