Page 35 - 1995 Mountaineering Club Bulletin
P. 35
ANNUAL BULLETIN
Expedition to Ecuador "Andean Condor" 9 -28 June 1995
INTRODUCTION
Ecuador has some of the World’s highest mountains and vol canos, with a variety of walks covering basic introduction to high altitute trekking through to extreme ice-climbs. So following in the footsteps of the renowned explorer and climber Edward WHYMPER, who in the 1880s made the mountains of ECUADOR his own, we dusted off our ice-axes and crampons and prepared ourselves for South America.
The aim of the Expedition was to provide an opportunity for per sonnel from all three Services to take part in Adventurous Training, high level trekking and mountaineering including tak ing in the summits of Cotopaxi, the highest active volcano in the world (19,348 ft) and Chimborazo, Ecuador’s highest peak at 20,703 ft.
The team comprised of 6 Air Force personnel from RAF Lyneham, 2 Army lads from the Military Port at Marchwood and finally myself and an Air Force Officer from Portsdown.
QUITO
The expedition departed from RAF Lyneham on Friday 9 June and headed to Quito, the capital of Ecuador, via Heathrow, Amsterdam, Curacao (Dutch West Indies) and Guayaquil (Southern Ecuador). Clearing Customs was surprisingly quick and straight-forward, although possibly aided by our display of passing skills with the expedition rugby ball, which entertained the local officials to the extent where they joined in with us! Collected the two pre-booked 4-wheel drive hire cars from Avis and tried to navigate through the streets of Quito by using the out-of-date map which Avis had provided.
After quickly unpacking, we decided to shop for essential sup plies then gently acclimatise by making our way up to Santa Anna (10,800 ft), a monument overlooking the City. This light ‘stroll’brought home to all ofus just how difficult exercise at alti tude was going to be.
Continuing our attempts at acclimatising quickly, we woke early
and had breakfast at the hotel before heading off to tackle Rucu (Old) Pichinchas (approx 15, 680 ft). Again, finding a route out of Quito was a nightmare! Although we could see where we wanted to go, all the roads seemed to lead to dead-ends. Eventually, after a 2-hour sight-seeing excursion of Quito then an hour-long drive up a dirt track, we arrived at the antennae farm at the start of the walk.
The route to the top could have been any path on a number of Scottish hills, with green rolling fields leading to a steep 200 ft sandy/scree slope before a final scramble to the top. However, there is no altitude problem in Scotland, and what for most of us would normally have been an easy day out, proved to be a sharp reminder not to under-estimate these hills. No-one suffered too badly but we were all short of breath and the descent was a little too quick, resulting in headaches for most of us. However, the drive back made the day, as it provided some excellent photo shots of the sun-set over Cayambe and Cotopaxi.
CAYAMBE
Again an early start, with breakfast at the hotel. We packed sufficient kit and supplies to last us for 4 days at the Cayambe Refuge, and stored the remainder at the hotel. Two members of the Team paid a visit to the British Embassy whilst the remain der shopped for food and supplies. The simple task of buying maps from the Institute Graphic Militor (IGM) took consider ably longer than anticipated (3 hours), which delayed our good intentions of leaving early for the journey to the Cayambe Glacier.
From the map, we thought we would have an easy drive along the Panamerican Highway. The “Highway” did not live up to expec tations, resembling more like a British A-road but with some huge, unmarked pot-holes. However it did provide amazing views of the Ecuadorian countryside.
THE ROYAL NAVY & ROYAL MARINES MOUNTAINEERING CLUB
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Friday dawned dry and warm so we set off for Sella again. Chris and I did a couple of long Grade 4 routes which Louise, Gill and Chris Bairstow, all climbing novices, did very well indeed to climb. As we left we watched the staff from JSMTC Ballachulish swarming up a desperate route in the middle of the crag. It was an excellent day all round.
The following day we were due to return to UK but before we did Chris Bate and I went down to the old bridge at Calpe to the spot where Lieutenant Christian Crowther, a Club member, was killed on 16 August 1989 whilst bridge jumping. There is a plaque in his memory on the base of the bridge. We placed new flowers in the small vase and tidied it up a little before saying a muted farewell to the area. If you go out to Calpe please do the same.
Steve Jackson
