Volcano Summit Striker: 3 Summits to Cotopaxi

Itinerary

Day 1: Arriving in Quito

Stop At: Aeropuerto Internacional Mariscal Sucre, Nuevo Aeropuerto Internacional de Quito Tababela S/N - Via Yaruqui, Quito 170907, Ecuador
Road Transfer: Quito Airport - Quito Hotel

Travel time depends on traffic and time of the day, the transfer takes about 1 hour 30 minutes and its start time will be adjusted to fit your itinerary.

Service category: English-speaking Guide
Duration: 2 hours

Stop At: Quito Old Town, Quito Ecuador
Quito City Tour: Original 1914 Trolleybus

Beginning in the city's north, an English speaking tour guide will accompany you on a tour around Quito's most important commercial areas. First, head to the historic center to visit the breathtaking Basilica del Voto Nacional, making a brief stop here to explain this Roman Catholic Church housed in the largest neo-Gothic Basilica in the Americas.

The next destination is the Plaza de la Independencia, where you will be guided along a walking route taking you by the Cathedral, the Government Palace, the Archbishop's Palace and the La Compañia Church, known for its pompous adornments and gold altars. The tour will continue towards the Church of San Francisco, built in the seventeenth century.
The tour concludes at the Mirador del Panecillo, a place of outstanding beauty, where you can admire the beautiful landscape of colonial and modern Quito.

Note: Church entrance fees are not included.

Services Included:

- Group Tour - English speaking guide (Transfer from selected hotels. Monday-Saturday departure between 07:45-08:30, Sundays between 14:00-14:30)

Services excluded:

- Entrance fees and tips
Duration: 4 hours

No meals included on this day.
Accommodation included: Accommodation in a 3-star hotel

Day 2: Extinct Volcano Pasochoa

Pass By: Quito Old Town, Quito Ecuador
Leave Quito in the morning and drive south along the Avenue of the Volcanoes. During the two-hour drive, you will enjoy the beautiful view of the typical landscapes and villages of the highlands.

Stop At: Pasochoa 4200, Ecuador
Pasochoa (4,200 m)

The ascent of the extinct volcano will take about 4 hours. At the summit you will have a snack and above all a great view of the Cotopaxi and the other nearby volcanoes. After the descent we return to Quito.
Duration: 4 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Accommodation in a 3-star hotel

Day 3: Volcano Guagua Pichincha

Stop At: Guagua Pichincha, Quito, Ecuador
Guagua Pichincha (4,794 m)

We leave Quito in the morning after breakfast and drive with our car to Lloa, which is about 10 km west of the capital. From there it is still another 3 hours to the summit, with a stop for lunch on the way. In the late afternoon we are back in Quito.
Duration: 4 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
Accommodation included: Accommodation in a 3-star hotel

Day 4: Nuevos horizontes

Stop At: Lavanderia Los Ilinizas, Machachi, Ecuador
Nuevos Horizontes hut (4,650 m)

After breakfast, leave Quito in the morning and drive about 2 hours to the foot of the Illinizas (La Virgen). There you start a three-hour hike to the Nuevos Horizontes mountain hut (4,650 m), where you will have dinner and spend the night.
Duration: 6 hours

No meals included on this day.
Accommodation included: Nuevos horizontes hut

Day 5: Illiniza North Peak

Stop At: Illiniza Norte, Provincia de, Ecuador
Illiniza North Peak (5,116 m)

Leave at dawn and reach the summit after about 4 hours of ascent. Rest in the mountain hut on the return, before heading to the Cuello de Luna acclimatisation center where you will spend the night.
Duration: 4 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Cuello de Luna acclimatisation center

Day 6: Cotopaxi National Park - Jose Ribas Hut

Stop At: Cotopaxi National Park, Ecuador
Cotopaxi National Park - Jose Ribas Hut (4,800 m)

After breakfast, you will be driven to the National Park Cotopaxi. In a good hour, you reach the parking lot at 4,600 m, which is below the Cotopaxi hut. Shoulder your backpack and hike for an hour along the sandy ground up to Jose Rivas mountain hut (4,800 m). After you have settled in and had some food, you will climb up to the entrance to the glacier.

If necessary, we practice the handling of rope and pickaxe and walking with crampons on the glacier. We descend to the refuge to enjoy an early dinner and go to bed.
Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Accommodation in Jose Ribas Hut

Day 7: Cotopaxi Summit

Stop At: Cotopaxi National Park, Ecuador
Cotopaxi summit (5,897 m)

After midnight, you will leave for a light breakfast and begin the ascent with all of the necessary safety equipment such as ropes and crampons.

Before dawn we reach the height of Yanasacha, the vertical cliff that offers the famous sight of the Cotopaxi from Quito. One last effort and after a total of 6-7 hours you will stand on the top and enjoy the magnificent view of the surrounding mountains Iliniza, Antisana, Cayambe, Altar, Tungurahua, Carihuayrazo and Chimborazo and in front of us the huge and imposing 300m deep Cotopaxi crater.

The descent to the hut takes about 3 hours, at noon we are back in the Cotopaxi mountain hut, after a short rest and a snack you will return to the parking lot.

Services included:
- Standard price
- Private transport to and from Quito
- Hotel accommodation in double rooms
- 1 patented mountain guide (Spanish / English speaking)
- 1 mountain guide per 2 climbers at the Cotopaxi
- Meals according to itinerary
- Rental equipment (shoes, crampons, pickaxe, harness, helmet)
- National Park - Agency authorization

Services excluded:
- Extra drinks at the mountain huts, tips

Duration: 9 hours

Stop At: Quito Old Town, Quito Ecuador
Return to Quito.

Drive back to the capital Quito. Your mountain climbing tour ends here!
Duration: 9 hours

No meals included on this day.
Accommodation included: Accommodation in a 3-star hotel