Summit! Nastya Kuznetsova has climbed to summit of Chimborazo! Congratulations!

Anastasia Kuznetsova, guide and manager of the 7 Summits Club reports from Ecuador:

I remind you that there are 10 volcanoes in Ecuador above 5000 m and only one of them above 6000 m, it is also the highest peak of Ecuador and the furthest point from the center of the Earth - Chimborazo volcano (6310 m). Chimborazo is a project mountain and the dream of many climbers. I must admit that recently, for one reason or another, the groups on Chimborazo remained without the summit, to our great regret. One of my tasks was to figure out what is wrong and why the participants fail to reach the top.

   I received a certain acclimatization, although the group and I did not climb 2 of the 3 peaks, but high-altitude overnight stays were made and acclimatization rotations were made. The logistics at Chimborazo is built in this way. First you come to the administration of the National park. You show your permit and the residence permit of the guide (you can climb according to the rules only with licensed guides), you draw up the necessary documents. Then you go to the parking lot at 4800 m, where there is a shelter, but few people use it, because now local residents are responsible for it and it is sparsely populated and uncomfortable.

   Basically, all climbers make the march from a parking lot at 4800 to a high-altitude camp at 5,300 m. Moreover, as a rule, everyone goes at once in assault boots and carries all their belongings on themselves. And although the move to a high-altitude camp is considered easy (like 2-3 hours on a gentle path), but the drop of 500 m and the height itself above 5000 m has not been canceled. Most climbers come to the camp already tired, and after a few hours they go to the assault, so it is a great recommendation to negotiate in advance about the services of high-altitude porters. We immediately include this in all our national team programs, and I used this service myself, which allowed me to come to the camp light and not get tired on the way.

The start was scheduled for 23.00, so that there was a reserve of time, and so that there was an opportunity to go at your own pace. The sunset was excellent, but at the exit the weather was so-so (strong wind, intermittent precipitation and lack of visibility, but in Ecuador the weather changes every 15 minutes, you can't guess in advance and it's almost useless to look at forecasts). The guide called the weather a bad word, but decided to go anyway.

 We dressed warmly and went. On Chimborazo, first there are approaches to the slopes of the volcano along rocky ridges with elements of climbing, then several long snow-covered steep slopes with cracks (it seems that this will never end). Then the last steep part ends and it seems that here it is the top (marked with an inconspicuous rod), but this is only the second peak (6200 meters with something), and there is still an hour's journey to that cherished one along the next hard part, and there is no sign at the very top, nothing. Only snow on the rounded top!

To say that I would not have ascended without a guide is to say nothing! Edgar Parra understood everything and did everything to get me up. He carried all my heavy things, dressed and took off my mittens when I was no longer able to do it myself, said that I was walking very well when I was almost unable to move, smeared cream and gave tea, dragged me on a rope when I periodically fell into a semi-comatose state after 6000 M. On the other hand, if I didn't have such a goal and motivation to go to the top, then he alone would hardly have brought me there. That is, it was still a team effort - my desire and his experience.

When we were descending and I was impatient to get to the camp as soon as possible with shaking legs and hands, Edgar decided to show me another cool thing – via ferrata, which he and the guides from the local mountaineering federation punched. "Just show" did not work! He strapped me to it with a rigid safety harness and told me to get down. I realized that until I descend from this cliff in boots with cats on my arms and legs shaking after the mountain on iron brackets and a stream flowing down from above, there is no chance to reach home. What can you not do to just let them let you go!