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Ecuador 2021, Escaping the Pandemic

on February 7, 2021October 24, 2022 By Chris Comair

Just like most people in the world, the Pandemic had been weighing on us. We had gotten a lot of climbing in this past year, but our international plans had all been canceled. And with Jessica's green card application in the USA moving forward, we knew there would be a long period ahead where travel on her end would be 100% restricted. The weather in the PNW had been particularly bad this winter, and it only looked like it was getting worse. After a number of failed climbing attempts due to conditions, we made the call to go south for a bit. [...]

First Ascent: Epicing on Urus Este’s West Face

on July 23, 2018August 23, 2018 By Chris Comair

First Ascent: Epicing on Urus Este’s West Face is part of Death & Failure, Cordillera Blanca 2018. The Plan The only one of who had really ever thought of this route was Nacho. He brought his students from the IFMGA Alpine School to a different route up the West Face just a few weeks prior. They [...]

Cordillera Blanca 2018, Death & Failure

on July 13, 2018October 24, 2022 By Chris Comair

Planning my return to the Cordillera Blanca, something in my gut felt off a few weeks before heading out. So much so that a month before flying out I dramatically reduced the length of my trip without really any good reason. Maybe I felt that my success rate of 100% in South America the previous [...]

Cayambe, Arista Santa Barbara (Ecuador’s best TD!)

on December 21, 2017September 27, 2019 By Chris Comair 1 Comment

To be honest, coming off of Cayambe’s Santa Barbara Ridge, the last thing I felt like doing was writing about it. I was exhausted. After 15.5 hours of hard climbing (plus the previous 10 days), just sitting at our table in the hut’s dining room was difficult. Aside from a few notes, I opted to forego writing anything about this climb for another month.[...]

El Altar, The Italian Route

on December 17, 2017September 27, 2019 By Chris Comair 8 Comments

I knew that the trek in would be interesting when we stopped by a hardware store in Quito to buy rubber boots. We also made a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up 30 liters of water as the Campo Italiano has only a trickle of running water. It seems hard to believe at face value, but because the camp sits on a ridge, very little of the glacier melt is directed its way. Yet another reason wonder why this climb is unpopular, I guess.[...]

Ecuador the Hard Way

on December 8, 2017October 24, 2022 By Chris Comair

Upon arriving back to Ecuador for the second time, now few years later, I had all the same levels of excitement as the first, but with something very different in mind. Technical climbs. However, because of how poorly the technical climbs of Ecuador are documented, I had really very little idea of what I had ahead of me.[...]