Cotopaxi Climbing

Cotopaxi National Park is the first area of tourist visit in continental Ecuador, is located south of Quito 50 km (31 miles), thousands of tourists seek to reach the top of this volcano a year, because it has several facilities in connectivity, climate, route. In this volcano we do not have walls to climb, we only walk to the top, we start from 4.800m (15.748.03 ft) here we have the José Rivas refuge, with the 4×4 transport we will arrive to the parking lot at 4.600m (15.091.86 ft).

If you are a beginner and really want to push your limits, why not climb the "neck of the moon"? Climb one of the highest active volcanoes in the world at 5897 m! Due to its perfectly symmetrical cone, covered in a thick blanket of snow and ice, the Cotopaxi is one of the tourist highlights in Ecuador and it’s most visited and climbed volcano.   The climb to the summit occurs during the night; this allows watching the sunrise from the summit and displays unsurpassed views of Quito to the North and Chimboroazo and Tungurahua to the south. At the top you have a magnificent view into the snow capped crater where it is possible to see steam emissions. The ascent departs from the refuge at 4800m normally and climbs through a mixture of volcanic sand, snow, and glacier to the summit. Although the climb is not classified as technically difficult, it is absolutely necessary to go with professional guides and specialized glacier hiking equipment like ropes, ice-axes and crampons.The climber must be in good physical condition and must already have had a good acclimatization. The ascent takes between 6-8 hours while the descent takes 3-4 hours.

Inexperienced hikers begin their activity in Ecuador, their first high mountain attempts are in the Cotopaxi Volcano, we can observe a perfect conical shape covered with glacier that attracts the attention of millions of people who want to have a photo and much more in its crater, in our 2-day tour we go to the summit, the summit attack excursion is done from midnight to see the sunrise at the summit, the approximate time is between 7 to 8 hours.