Did you know June 3 was Mount Chimborazo day? No one knows that, right?…As I had never even heard of Chimborazo, I was interested in knowing a little more about this mountain, actually an Andean non active volcano and Ecuador’s highest peak. I discovered an amazing fact: Mt. Everest Is Not the Highest Point on Earth!! Let’s have a look on this extreme earth travel destination.

About Mount Chimborazo

Chimborazo is in Ecuador, near the Equator (100 miles south). The elevation in the center of the country, and the moderating effect of the Humboldt Current along the coast, gives the country near perfect weather. A bit hot in the lowlands, but spring-like in Quito (the capital) , with highs in the sixties to low seventies every day of the year. Great weather almost everywhere–until you get high enough.

The summit of Chimborazo is the furthest point from the center of the Earth. Our planet bulges at the equator, making Mount Chimborazo even futher out there than Everest. It has the distinction of being the closest point to the sun on the planet. Nice…Unfortunately, it’s also the coldest place in Ecuador.

This bulge isn’t huge—a deviation of about one part in 300 from a perfect sphere—but it’s enough to mess with cartography. Chimborazo tops out at 20,702 feet, almost two miles lower than Everest. But that’s only compared to sea level. If we take the equatorial bulge into account—in other words, if we measure what peak is farthest from the center of the Earth—Chimborazo sticks more than 7,000 feet farther into space than any of the Himalayas do, since they’re located thousands of miles north of the Equator. So, to quote Obi-Wan Kenobi, “what I told you was true—from a certain point of view.”

Read full article here (source www.cntraveler.com)

Climbing Chimborazo is an extreme earth travel, but first, it’s a personnal challenge

Apparently, climbing the glaciers to the summit of Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador isn’t highly technical. You climb with guides only. And better be fit and exercized to go up there! It is mountaineering. And it is really difficult to move up there. You have to go to 20,600 feet and use crampons and an ice axe, with air missing half of its oxygen. On top of it, the Chimborazo is unpredictable as all high places. It randomly shruggs off large rocks, and has weather that changes by the minute. But the challenge of climbing this high summit makes an epic journey.

Beth Meyer, a young US woman went through it, and share a great story:

On Chimborazo – Photo Courtesy Beth Meyer

The night was completely clear and Chimborazo stood in front of me looking magical, surrounded in all her glory by a clear sky filled with hundreds of stars.

It was a breathtakingly beautiful sight. The first words out of my mouth were, oh my gosh, crap (thinking…THAT’S what I have to climb?!). The picture I tried to take doesn’t do it justice, as it was a wondrous sight to view.

[...]With zero experience and zero training, I’m pretty freaking proud that I made it to 5,800m, despite not reaching the summit. It was the most physically and mentally challenging thing I’ve ever done. Proud of myself and my one shot at climbing a mountain!

Read the full climbing here – fun and adventure guarantee!! (Source www.recipeforadventures.com)

But like every summit expedition, not all of those who try, reach the top of Mount Chimborazo. Louis-Philippe Loncke is a Belgian explorer, adventurer, used to extreme solo expeditions. He was climbing mt Chimborazo a few days earlier, on June 10th 2013. He couldn’t make it, and safely took the decision to quit for this time.

 I’m happy of the experience, the decision and to beat my record altitude. Also I heard the success rate of Chimborazo is below 20%. On Everest we are above 30% and perhaps around 50% in the past 10 years.

Discover Louis-Philippe Lonck and read full article here (source www.louphi.blogspot.fr)

I like to conclude with this quote from Beth, when she explains why she went up Chimborazo as a 1st mountain experience – a crazy challenge:

“because everyone climbs Cotopaxi and I wanted to be the highest terrestrial human from the center of the Earth.” Go big, or go home, right?!

Did you know about Mount Chimborazo? How much would you like to make this extreme earth travel? Have you ever done a big challenge, but crazy, as did Beth?

Please, leave your comments bellow and as usual, don’t forget to vote on top of this post ! Take care!