Together with Nicolas and Kevin, l set out on an adventurous journey to climb the third and fourth highest mountain in Bolivia, namely Ancohuma (6427m) and Illampu (6368m). Everything didn't go as planned though.

Our first attempt to climb Illimani (6438m) a couple of weeks ago, came to a sudden halt when two of our ice axes disappeared in High Camp. But with two brand new ice axes bought in La Paz, Nicolas and I were now back to get our revenge!

Nevado Sajama (6542m) is an extinct stratovolcano and the highest peak in Bolivia. Nicolas and myself climbed it by fair means (entirely selfsupported) on a 4 days adventure towards the border of Chile.

We are ready to climb Illimani (6438m) in the middle of the night but something important is missing, which puts the entire climb at stake. The worst anti-climax imaginable. What really happened that night?

Huayna Potosi (6088m) is the closest high mountain to La Paz in Bolivia, so me and Nicolas decided to do this as a one day climb from the city. But that actually turned out to be a fairly long night and day with 1500 meters gain of elevation in thin air.

On my second attempt on Huascaran Sur (6768m) I finally reached the summit of this giant, the highest mountain in the Cordillera Blanca and the entire Peru.

Huascaran Sur (6768m) is the highest mountain in the Cordillera Blanca and the entire Peru. Because of this it can have its own evil weather, something we were about to experience.

Chimborazo (6268m) is an inactive stratovolcano, and the highest summit in Ecuador. Its summit is generally regarded as the spot on the surface farthest away from the center of the Earth.

Cotopaxi (5896m) is a perfect shaped volcano, extremely active and the most famous in Ecuador. My attempt to do it solo, unsupported and very cheaply from the bottom of the mountain, unfortunately ended in a stormy weather at the refuge.

I've heard that Cotopaxi is a very busy mountain, both seasoned mountaineers and a lot of tourists who have never seen crampons or ice axe in their life, aim for this popular volcano. I've also read that reservation is recommended in the high season when available accommodation in the park is limited. Thus I just decided to bring my own tent, to avoid all the hassles. I also planned to do Cotopaxi solo and unsupported from a lower point at the foot of the mountain, unlike the majority who just arrive by vehicle at the end of the road very high on the mountain.

The good thing about a crowded mountain and a glacier route like Cotopaxi, is that it's fairly safe to travel solo and unroped on the glacier. The snow trail will be solid as ice and the risk of falling into a crevasse or getting lost in a whiteout is substantially reduced, assuming there is no snowstorm approaching which will bury the track after short time.

I decided that Tambopaxi (3750m) at the foot of the mountain would be a good place to start. So I got Antonio to drive me from Quito to Tambopaxi for 70 USD. He also brought his brother, who's normally living in New York but now was on holiday in Ecuador to visit his old and dying mother. There was one issue however, Antonio is not a licensed tour operator, he's just an independent guy who has been driving around on mountaineers for the last 20 years in Ecuador. Because he's not part of Ecuador's "tourism mafia", he is not allowed to drive foreigners into Cotopaxi National Park. This was not a big deal though, because Tambopaxi is just a couple of kilometers inside the national park, so if the rangers didn't admit Antonio and his vehicle into the park, I could easily walk from the checkpoint to Tambopaxi in less than half an hour.

As we were getting closer to the checkpoint, Antonio suggested that I could drive his Toyota pickup while he would hide under a blanket in the back of the pickup. There would be no problem for a foreign guy like me to drive into the park with a rented vehicle. His brother Alex speaks perfect American, so he would act as a tourist as well. This way the rangers would not assume that Alex is another local Ecuadorian guy who drives me.

We arrived at the checkpoint and I was behind the wheel. Alex went out of the car and started to take photos of the surroundings (e.g. acting like a tourist). One of the rangers started to talk with Alex in Spanish, but Alex acted like he didn't understand and continued to take photos. The rangers asked me for the registration card of the vehicle and I handed it over to them in addition to the entrance fee for two people (4 USD). The rangers then walked inside their office (to check it!) and after a few minutes they returned with the two entrance tickets and the registration card of the vehicle. Everything seemed perfectly right, and Alex jumped into the car again and we were finally off to Tambopaxi. As soon as we were out of view, we stopped the car to let Antonio out of the "cage". We were happy to be inside the park, and especially Alex was smiling because this was his first time in the park. He left Ecuador when he was 21 years old, and has been staying in America ever since then.

We arrived Tambopaxi just a few minutes later. Antonio and Alex helped me checking in at Hosteria Tambopaxi, before they left on their own journey inside the park. I was really surprised to be the only customer at Tambopaxi. Because of this I decided to stay in the dormitory (20 USD). No need to pitch a tent, when I can have the entire dormitory for myself for a few bucks extra. Tambopaxi is a really nice place with a great view of Cotopaxi. The buildings are quite new and you get a feeling of being in a much more exclusive place than the fairly cheap charge would indicate. The dining hall looks like a luxury resort in the mountains. I was even offered to use their modern kitchen free of charge, if I needed to make any food for myself. Thus I decided to make my own lunch there in order to save some money. But in the evening I ordered the excellent dinner set for 15 USD. This was a delicious meal starting with a soup, then a main dish (chicken) and finally a dessert.

I spent some time walking around at Tambopaxi, then I spent rest of the day inside the dining hall to watch the ever changing lights of Cotopaxi from the window. They even had free Wifi in this remote place, so I could catch up on my e-mail, facebook and news on my iPhone.

I woke up early next morning and ate some bread I brought with me from Quito. I started to walk from Tambopaxi 7:40am. It was mostly flat and easy walking on the road, but higher up I started to feel the lack of oxygen as the uphills got steeper. That I carried more than 20 kg on my back didn't ease the breathing. I was tempted to hitch hike with some of the cars that passed me, but I decided to stick with the schedule and my plan to do Cotopaxi by fair means.

It took me 3:45 hours to reach the parking and then another 45 minutes in a very slow pace to reach Refugio José Ribas at 4800m. Except from some day trippers, I was the only one at the refuge. It was very surprising to find out that there were no other mountaineers hanging around. So again I started to wonder why I should sleep in the tent when I can have the refuge for myself. Besides it was starting to rain outside, so I decided to pay the 20 USD and got a first selection of bed. I even got a locker in the dormitory.

I used the common kitchen (which has gas stoves free of charge) to cook myself a lunch. After a while some small groups with local guides started to arrive the refuge. Most of them had no experience at all with a few exceptions. One of the groups even walked up to the glacier in the afternoon to get some lessons on ice. I however got myself a short rest on the bed before dinner time. As I were standing in the kitchen starting to prepare my dinner, one of the local guides offered me their surplus of pasta (their clients didn't eat very much). I accepted their kind offer which saved me the hassle of making dinner. Instead I started to boil plenty of water for the upcoming climb. I was in bed around 7pm, so were most of the other guys (10-15).

Around midnight most of the guys were up for breakfast. I went out to pee and soon figured out that the weather was awful. It was a snowstorm outside and not wearing my goretex, my thermal underwear were covered in wet snow after a few steps over to the toilet. This was not the ideal conditions to solo Cotopaxi. I could of course sneak behind one of the guided parties in order to keep to the route, but that was not at all my wish. I wanted to do it solo, not be a freebie behind a guided group. I reckoned it would not be safe to go alone on the heavily crevassed glacier in whiteout conditions like this, so I went back to bed and hoped it would clear up after a couple of hours. But it didn't. A few guys started to return to the refuge in the middle of the night, heavily iced up and wet to the bones. I just continued my sleep which was not a good one. I kept on waking up every 20 minutes or so and had a minor headache as well. I bet that increasing the sleeping elevation from 2800m to 4800m in just a couple of days was probably the reason.

I was up at daylight shortly after 6am, and the conditions were still the same. I didn't want to hang out at this refuge for another night just to find out that the weather still was bad. So instead of wasting more time here I decided to pack up my stuff and descend to Tambopaxi.

Walking down was a bit depressing, but I were quite confident it was the right decision to do. Back at Tambopaxi I got them to order a car back to Quito. I was surprised he only wanted 40 USD for this long ride. Back in Quito the weather did not improve the couple of next days (good I did not stay in the refuge). Now I only had one goal on my mind, Chimborazo, that one I was not going to fail.

Cotopaxi at EveryTrail

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Tverrådalskyrkja (2088m) is the highest "church mountain" in Norway. The long approach from Sota Sæter makes it a fairly long day-hike, especially if one include all three 2000m peaks along the ridge.

I decided for a side trip from Thailand to Japan in order to bag a couple of new country high points (Japan and South-Korea) at the end of the year. The winter snow had already covered the slopes of Fuji, and the mountain was officially closed. Perfect timing for being entirely alone on Mount Fuji, and a quite more adventurous climb than competing with the huge crowds of Japanese hikers during summer time.

I flew with Nippon Airlines for a relatively cheap price. At Narita Int Airport I jumped on the airport bus to Shinjuku Station in the heart of Tokyo. This station has plenty of connections to other places in Japan, like Kawaguchiko at the foot of Mount Fuji. It took no more than 3-4 hours after I landed at Narita until I found myself in the nice little village of Kawaguchiko.

When arriving in Kawaguchiko I found a nice hostel (K's House) where I checked in. Then I went to a couple of visitor centers, but both advised strongly against a climb of Mount Fuji at this time of year. The first office even told it was illegal without a special police permit. They also told me that all mountain huts were closed for time being, giving me no other option than to do Fuji as a day trip, since I didn't bring any tent to Japan. But how about an early start then? No, that seemed rather hopeless because the bus from Kawaguchiko to the 5th Station does not arrive there before 10:40 am, fairly late to start such a big climb when the days also are short.

Another option would be to hire a taxi, but 10.000 yen is way too expensive, especially since I did not have anyone to share the costs with. More importantly, one will not arrive the trailhead very much earlier with taxi than with the bus, due to the fact that the toll road from Kawaguchiko don't open before 9:00am anyway at this time of the year.

Next morning I jumped on the bus (600 yen if I remember correctly), actually the first departure in several days after a heavy snowfall some few days ago, which caused the road to close.

The bus arrived 5th station at 10:35am, and shortly after I started to walk at an elevation of 2300m. It was snowy conditions even at the start of the hike. It took me 3.5 hours from 5th Station to the crater rim, at times in knee deep snow and higher up on steep icy slopes which made me put on my crampons. I was not entirely alone. An american guy who started ahead of me, had to turn around at the crater rim after I had helped him up the last hump of blue ice. He had no crampons or ice axes, and even more worrying, he had no warm clothing, thus it would be hazardous for him to continue the walk on the icy and snowy crater rim. His hands were already frostbitten and he would soon go into a state of hypothermia if he continued to expose himself to the icy cold wind on the rim. I was really glad that he turned around at the rim, so he would not cause any further delays for me, or more importantly, cause any emergency situation up here. Ice gear and warm winter clothing is a real must at this time of the year.

After advising the american guy to turn around and also giving him my ice-axe, I continued for another 30 minutes to the highest point, Kengamine Peak (3776m), on the other side of the crater. I was the only guy reaching the top that day. I did not spend any long time up there, because I knew that in less than two hours it would be pitch dark.

The snow conditions made the descent fairly time consuming too. At the end of the steep slopes, I found my ice-axe, and the kind message attached to it from the american guy made me smile. On the final leg to the 5th station I walked in complete darkness. But I had already calculated to be late, so I had brought a headlamp. When arriving 5th station the last bus had departed long time ago. Great luck struck when I got a ride with the very last car standing in the parking lot (an owner of a souvenir shop at 5th Station). So fortunately I did not have to walk the 32 km from 5th station back to Kawaguchiko. If this strike of luck had not happened, I either would have to roll out the sleeping bag and spent a cold night under the open sky at the 5th station, or simply started to walk down again, but this would probably have taken 5 hours or more. Calling for a taxi was as I mentioned earlier, completely out of question because of the high prices in Japan.

He dropped me off K's House and happy to be back I gave him a couple of thousand Yen.
Now as Fuji was done, I could start on my travel in Japan, at the height of the autumn foliage season, with leaves in beautiful colors. The next few days (especially in Kyoto) was a beauty nature of colors that I've never seen before......

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Baruntse (7220m) is a mountain in eastern Nepal, in the very remote Hunku Valley. A nice adventure away from the crowds. The corniced ridged proved to be a challenge, but we summited October 30.

Mera Peak (6476m) is one of the most crowded peaks in Nepal. We did this as an acclimatization climb before Baruntse (7220m), but I'm quite surprised and disappointed that we only aimed for the central summit (6461m), which in fact is the false summit. But so do everybody else, being fooled by Sherpas and other locals to believe that this is the highest point of Mera.

Mount Ararat (5137m), locally known as Agri Dagi, is a snow-capped, dormant volcanic cone in Turkey. Ararat is said to be the final resting place of Noah's Ark, but truth to be said, I did not expect to see any boats on the summit.

Mount Erciyes (3916m) is a volcano in Turkey, revealing itself as a gigantic snowclad pyramid from most places in Cappadocia, and creating a nice backdrop to the city of Kayseri. It looks easy from below, but to get to its highest point requires climbing (III/IV) in dangerously loose rocks.

In all my stupidity I thought I could just fly into Kota Kinabalu and climb the mountain without bookings of any kind. But the limitation of accommodation on the mountain (mainly at Laban Rata), makes it necessary to book well in advance. And the park rules is pretty simple; no bed, no climbing permit will be issued.

I was not very keen on returning to Cho Oyu this autumn, but Erik finally convinced me to give it one more try. While the weather kept me from summiting last year, a bad troath and chest-infection stopped me effectively at 7500 metres this year. But failing to summit is nothing compared to the fate of Guy. He never got down again.

A lot of unexpected things have happened during this Pamir expedition. First the Tajik police claimed that we had no permit to travel into the northside of Pik Karl Marx. So we had to travel all the way south into the Wakhan corridor on the border to Afganistan and Hindu Kush, to reach Pik Karl Marx from the southside.

Pamir and Central Asia has been on my wish-list for a long time, and June 29 I'm going to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan together with two other people to climb two big peaks.

Morocco is a wonderful destination, and I combined it with a hike in the Atlas Mountains and the highest summit Jebel Toubkal (4167m). This trip report is in Norwegian language only.