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Stories: Cotopaxi Rapid Ascent

Mountain adventures create the best stories, and we want to share some of ours with you. Dive into Alpenglow Stories to stay up to date on expeditions in the field, read blogs, and get tips and tricks from guides.

Climbers stand on the summit crater after climbing Cotopaxi.

Cotopaxi is OPEN!

Cotopaxi, the legendary stratovolcano in Ecuador, is now open for climbing once again, and Alpenglow Expeditions is ready to lead the way!
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Climb Cotopaxi in just 5 days with Alpenglow Expeditions' Rapid Ascent program.

Five Essential Questions for Climbing Cotopaxi

If you’re considering tackling Cotopaxi, you likely have some burning questions. Fear not! We’ve compiled the top five questions about climbing Cotopaxi from Google and provided comprehensive answers to ensure you’re well-prepared for your expedition.
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One of three peaks climbed during Alpenglow Expeditions' Ecuador Climbing School intro to high-altitude mountaineering course.

Ecuador Climbing School Season Is Here

Join Alpenglow to climb South America’s most formidable peaks!
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COVID-19 Protocols for Expeditions in Ecuador

Following the shut down of our entire international program in March of 2020, Ecuador will be the first country outside of the U.S. that Alpenglow Expeditions will venture back to….
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Sam Kieckhefer’s First Cotopaxi Rapid Ascent™

On November 26 Alpenglow Operations Manager Sam Kieckhefer departed for Quito, Ecuador to join his first Cotopaxi Rapid Ascent™ Expedition. After becoming a member of the Alpenglow staff last spring,…
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The highest active volcano in the world

Lead guide Jaime Avila and Scott Ullem standing on the summit of Cotopaxi (19,347′ / 5897m) shortly after the team topped out. All the hard work of training and pre-acclimatizing paid…
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Sunrise Summit on Cotopaxi

Text & photos: Sean Kristl “Cumbre for all! What an incredible climb, 7 hours up, we were motoring! The whole team crushed it (Jaime, Peter, Scott, Sean, Topo), more stories…
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Cotopaxi Rapid Ascent Expedition

Text & Photos: Sean Kristl Day 1: The team arrived safely in Quito (9,350′ /2850m), already pre-acclimatized for the Cotopaxi Rapid Ascent expedition. Day 2: “Awesome training today on the…
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South America Climbing Season Coming into Focus

The cold temperatures of fall here in the northern hemisphere reminds us that the Aconcagua climbing season is coming into view. This season Alpenglow Expeditions has eight different expeditions to South America –…
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A snapshot of Ecuador, Part 2

    Dawn found us high on the mountain. The last several hours had been filled with the rhythmic crunching of crampons, interspersed with stories of past adventures and thoughts…
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