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An update from Evaneos
Chimborazo

Chimborazo (Ecuador)

Practical information about Chimborazo

  • Hiking / Trekking
  • Extreme Sports
  • Mountain
  • Volcano
4 / 5 - One review
How to get there
About 170km from Quito by car
When to go
All year round
Minimum stay
One day

Reviews of Chimborazo

Julie Olagnol Travel writer
91 travel articles

At 6,130 metres above sea level, Chimborazo is the highest volcano in Ecuador.

My suggestion:
You need to be an experienced mountaineer if you want to climb it. If that's not you, then you should aim to get as far as the Whymper refuge, at an altitude of 5,000 metres. That's really not bad!
Summary:

Not being a super fit type I didn't try climbing Chimborazo. However, it attracts lots of tourists who come to Ecuador. Instead, I had a really good view of Chimborazo from Riobamba (the ice house in Quechua).

I didn't try to get any closer to this volcano because I had just trudged up Cotopaxi. It's the same principle for the two volcanoes. Taxis bring tourists to the car park at 4,800 metres above sea level and then they climb the few hundred metres that separate them from the second refuge (here, it's the 5,000 metre high Whymper). Easy peasy you might say, except that the cold, the altitude and the steep path make it a lot more tiring than it looks.

If you are fi,t then I recommend you try it on at least one volcano during your trip to Ecuador. It's not like there aren't many!

 

A view of the volcano from Riobamba