Los Alamos Mountaineers to hear Ecuador volcano climbs May 26

The Los Alamos Mountaineers met Tuesday evening at the Los Alamos Nature Center for a look at four of Ecuador’s best-known volcanoes, a program that tied international mountaineering back to the county’s own climbing culture. Sarah Wright and Eric described two 2025 trips that reached Cayambe, Cotopaxi, Antisana and Chimborazo, giving local hikers and climbers a practical look at what it takes to travel and climb above 20,000 feet.

The presentation centered on more than scenery. One expedition was a structured climb with a large U.S.-based guide service, while the other used a custom itinerary built with a local Ecuadorian guide. That side-by-side comparison made the evening useful for anyone planning serious alpine travel, since it touched on logistics, gear, altitude preparation, refugios and even historic haciendas in the Ecuadorian Andes.

The scale of the mountains helped explain why the subject drew interest in Los Alamos. Chimborazo, which the Mountaineers list at 20,560 feet, is Ecuador’s highest peak and, as Britannica notes, the farthest point on Earth’s surface from the planet’s center. Cayambe rises to about 5,790 meters, or 18,996 feet, and its southern flank sits on the equator. Antisana reaches 5,758 meters, about 18,898 feet, and sits roughly 50 kilometers southeast of Quito. Cotopaxi, Ecuador’s second-highest peak, is also one of the country’s most active volcanoes and lies within Cotopaxi National Park.

For Los Alamos County, the meeting fit a familiar pattern: a small community club event with a real public draw. Los Alamos County Visit listed the program as a talks-and-workshops community event at the Los Alamos Nature Center, 2600 Canyon Rd., underscoring that the county’s outdoor life extends well beyond local trails and mesas. It also showed why mountain talks resonate here. They offer concrete lessons on preparation, route planning and risk management, not just a travelogue.

The Mountaineers have also shown before that there is steady local appetite for high-altitude stories. In April 2024, the club hosted Rick Rubio for a talk about climbing five Ecuador volcanoes, including a 2023 ascent of Chimborazo. Tuesday’s program continued that thread, keeping international alpine travel squarely in the county’s outdoor conversation.