17 / Volcán Cotopaxi (19,347’)

6/10/25: Spent the week training on the glacier of Volcán Antisana before heading over to my first big objective of the challenge. I had spent a lot of time in Parque Nacional Cotopaxi dreaming of this summit. We started the attempt around 1AM under a nearly full moon. The weather quickly turned - high winds, a big temp drop & increasing snowfall.

We picked up our pace, as we felt like our window to summit that night might close if the weather kept deteriorating. We made it to the Rampa Yanasacha and took a bit of refuge in a snow cave to wait out the storm for 30 minutes. We made the final (somewhat miserable) push to the summit in a whiteout. Snapped a few shots on top with my daughter’s drawing, rehydrated and headed back down within a few minutes.

After staring up at Cotopaxi for nearly a year and training intentionally the past few months, it was really an honor to finally undertake the journey with Rey. Immensely grateful for all the companions, twists and turns in life that gave me this opportunity.