Ecuador Volcanoes Expedition Dispatch

November 21, 2015 – The Team Arrives in Quito and Our First Expedition Briefing

Almost everyone is here with the exception of two climbers: Martial and Marie-Jo, who are arriving from Switzerland on Monday.

So far so good; no flights or connections were missed, no luggage was lost, and we are all settled in comfortably at the Marriott, in Quito.

Team briefing

The journey to Quito is the start of the adventure. Terri and Tim Truman from Calgary arrived on the same flight as Howard Stockburger and Paul Quantz, from Edmonton. Terri, Tim and Howard are veteran Berg Adventures climbers who have joined several of our trips. Paul, a friend of Howard’s, is on his first Berg trip, and he is really happy and excited about joining this expedition.

Doreen, who arrived from Florida, had the shortest flight out of all of us. She is fully prepared for this expedition, having dedicated the past two months purchasing the best gear possible for the trip. We welcome her to our team!

Samantha, from Thunder Bay, Canada, was the last one to arrive and she almost missed her flight! When on her way to the Toronto airport; they realized that her dog had run away. Luckily he didn’t go very far and when found, the family jumped into the car to rush Sam to the airport for her send off. She made the flight, barely! The excitement of rejoining some old friends from past Berg Adventures expeditions overrode her hectic past 24 hours.

Margaret from Australia arrived four days ahead of schedule, giving herself plenty of time to deal with jet lag and acclimatization. This morning, Terri, who is famous for her amazing energy when shopping, hit the streets with Margaret and Paul! Paul bought a beautiful hat and Terri bought some bracelets with colors of the Ecuadorian flag.

Paul and Howard went to a local shop and rented their much needed boots and crampons for the climb.

It’s almost 8:00pm and we are having our first briefing; introductions made, questions answered. We are all planning to go to bed early to rest up for our first acclimatization hike tomorrow! Stay tuned!