Below is an excerpt from another post, about mountain biking on Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador. Before the ride, we got to play in the snow. Ecuador may not come to mind when thinking about snow, but those mountains are very tall. 16000 feet is the highest elevation ever for me.
Chimborazo Mountain Biking
Now on to the biking story. It begins in the city of Riobamba. Besides having a rhythmic sounding name, Riobamba is a beautiful city that sits in the shadow of one of the most powerful mountains in the world, Chimborazo.
The afternoon of arrival we stopped by a bike tour company to book a trip. A narrow flight of stairs led us to the office on the second floor. Beneath us the wood floors creaked beneath as we looked around at the bikes and pictures of Mt. Chimborazo hanging on the wall. The man behind the desk welcomed us and immediately dove deep into the story of Chimborazo and the country we would ride through. He was animated. Although only understanding half of his Spanish, I was sold. Just looking at the pictures of the snowcapped Chimborazo swept me away.
Mt. Chimborazo is the farthest point of land from the center of the Earth. It is not higher than Mt. Everest from sea level, but due to the equatorial planet bulge, it is indeed the highest point on Earth. It is 20,548 ft. (6,263 m.) and on a clear day it is an absolute monstrosity, towering above the surrounding landscape.
16,000 feet
The next morning, we rode in our guide Carlos’ Toyota Landcruiser from our apartment to the mountain. As we came closer, we were able to catch glimpses of its size through the partially clouded sky. Carlos gave us more history of Riobamba and Chimborazo.
We drove to the base of the mountain and began the steady climb up. Higher and higher we went, our ears popping as we took in the views. There was fresh snow on the ground when we stopped at 15,000 ft. elevation. Luckily we had already spent time in Quito, so we were somewhat acclimated.
From here we were given time to hike before our Chimborazo mountain biking trip. There was a climber’s hut up a trail, at 16,000 ft. We hiked slowly, taking frequent pauses and gulps of water to combat the lightheadedness. It was a rocky and snowy landscape. Light flakes of snow fell down from the sky as we made our way up.
We made it to the climber’s shack, a base camp for people trying to summit Chimborazo. There were three groups of climbers inside, resting. A group of Swiss had just come down from the summit. We ordered some cocoa, which was bitter but helped combat the altitude. We watched the snow fall on the mountain slopes before walking back down to the Landcruiser.
