Volcán Cayambe - Summit/Ski - December 20/21, 2014

Tuckerman Ravine      Mount Everest       Ecuador

Zero Latitude Home   Discussion Forum     My Gear     Itinerary   Weather Link

12.15.14 Departure

12.16.14 Quito

12.17.14 Rucu Pichincha Summit

12.18.14 Cotopaxi

12.19.14 Spiritual Healing

12.21.14 Cayambe

12.22.14 Back in Quito/Flying Home

<<PREV        About Zero Latitude        NEXT>>

    Once again I find myself driven to climb and ski a volcano. Ski mountaineering is a relatively new sport in the States, but growing in popularity from the Cascade Volcanoes of Oregon to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  Like many adventure sports, backcountry skiing blends athleticism with exotic locations and extreme environments. I wanted to share my experiences with the sport and decided to put together a website to document my expeditions.  I chose to name the site Zero Latitude, in honor of the great circle that crosses over Cayambe, which with any luck, I will be standing atop at sunrise on December 21 - the northern hemisphere's winter solstice.

    For those of you who aren't familiar with the sport of backcountry skiing, click here for a detailed primer.  In short, you climb remote, skiable terrain with a combination of skinning (walking up the mountain on your skis using modified bindings and mohair skins), and, once the gradient gets too steep, climbing with your skis attached to your backpack. After you reach your desired elevation, you reconfigure your gear for downhill mode and descend on skis.  A lack of ski patrols and avalanche control means you must be trained to understand, avoid and mitigate risks constantly. Avalanches, rock fall and crevasses are just a few of the threats faced by participants of the sport, and exposure to the elements at high altitude only amplifies the danger. I've previously summited and skied both the west and east faces of Mount Shasta (14,179 feet) in California, and worked extensively with Shasta Mountain Guides learning proper technique, search & rescue, and avalanche assessment. My training has taught me that safety is paramount, and there is absolutely zero latitude for error in the backcountry.

The Volcano

   Cayambe (or Volcán Cayambe) is a massive 19,000 foot volcano rising prominently within the Cordillera Central of Ecuador, part of the Andes mountain range. It is located in Pichincha province about 43 miles northeast of the capital city Quito. Cayambe belongs to "La Sierra" region of Ecuador and is surrounded by flower fields and cloud forests. To the west and east of La Sierra sit La Costa (the costal plain) and the Amazon basin, respectively.

Cayambe, which has a permanent snow cap, is a Holocene compound volcano which last erupted in 1786.  At 15,387 feet on its south slope is the highest point in the world crossed by the Equator and the only point on the Equator with snow cover. There are at least three other skiable volcanoes in Ecuador: Cotopaxi, Chimborazo and Antisana. Cotopaxi and Cayambe are probably the best in terms of ski terrain and about the same height.  Antisana is a beautiful, highly glaciated volcano, and presents a fairly technical climb. Chimborazo is nearly 2,000 feet taller than Cayambe and has the unique distinction of being the farthest point from the center of the Earth.  Even though it is 8,000 feet "shorter" than Mount Everest, the equatorial bulge adds a few miles between its peak and the center of the planet.  I spent a lot of time debating which one to climb, and finally decided that skiing on the Equator during the celestial winter solstice was more intriguing than merely being farther from the center of the Earth. I first learned of Cayambe from Andreas Fransson (1983 - 2014), who climbed and skied the Ecuadorian Andes in 2011. I had it on my bucket list, but didn't think I'd have the chance to attempt it before the glaciers became dangerously un-skiable due to recession and increased crevassing.  I realized a few weeks ago that I had a window of opportunity over the winter break and contacted Ramiro Donozo who runs the Ecuadorian Alpine Institute.  He has arranged a two day summit/ski attempt for me on December 20-21.

    Climbing to 19,000 feet is categorized as "extreme" in the parlance of mountaineering and requires proper high altitude acclimation. At that elevation, there is less than 50% the available oxygen that exists at sea level. The city of Quito sits at about 10,000 feet above sea level and will be the first step in my acclimation.

 Due to the axial tilt of the planet and the conservation of angular momentum, the noontime sun is only directly overhead at the Equator twice a year. These two days are called the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes (March 21 and September 22, respectively). On both of these days, the duration of night and day are equal across the entire world, thus the term "Equinox." In the northern hemisphere, the daily arc of the sun travels higher every day after the Vernal Equinox until days reach their maximum length on the Summer Solstice.  At that point, the sun "stands still" and reverses this movement. The days begin to shorten until once again equaling the length of the night at the Autumnal Equinox.  From there, the days continue to shorten until the sun's arc falls to its lowest point at any given northern latitude. This is the northern hemisphere's winter solstice (pictured above). The shortest day of the year and the point in time when the sun stands still for a second time. 

    -Another quick note.  You may have guessed that the Latin roots for equinox were the words for equal (aequus) and night (nox). Thus, the days and nights are of equal duration on these celestial significant days. The Latin sol means "sun" and sistere means "still." So a solstice is when the sun stands still and reverses the declinational movement of its angular arc across the sky.  It would have been nice if we hadn't shortened the Latin roots. Then we could have called them the Solsisteres.

    -Yet another note.  I thought a lot about which Ecuadorian volcano I wanted to climb.  The cool thing about climbing Chimborazo is that its peak is the farthest point from the center of the Earth due to the shape of our planet (an oblate spheroid).  Mount Everest is the highest point above mean sea level, but it sits above 20 degrees north latitude, putting it about 15,000 feet closer to the center of the Earth.  If you think about it, this means that at the summit of Chimborazo, you are as close to the sun as any place on Earth at noon, during the equinoxes.  I've seen this stated on various websites and figured that since Cayambe is only slightly shorter than Chimborazo and on the Equator, its summit must put you pretty close to the sun also, relatively speaking. So maybe I'll have a chance to be as close to the sun as I've ever been! Might this happen?  Let's see:  

My name is Greg George and I'm a professor, consultant, and the Director of the Center for Economic Analysis.  I have a Ph.D. in Economics and a MS in Environmental Resource Management.  I enjoy skiing, surfing, astronomy and traveling. I have a great son and try to drag him away from his computer as much as his online schedule will allow. I was born in Charleston SC, grew up in Vacaville CA, and currently reside in Macon GA, although I spend a lot of time in Myrtle Beach SC and various places in CA.  You can email me at econgreg@gmail.com and friend me on Facebook (I'm also on Linkedin, but don't use it much). The links at the top of the page direct you to the websites of selected gear that I use in the backcountry.