Thank you for expressing interest in CLIMB ECUADOR. CLIMB ECUADOR organizes safe, well-run and enjoyable climbing and sightseeing trips to South America. We charge less than bigger, well-known climbing and travel agencies, but provide similar, and usually better, services. How can we do this? By eliminating many of the business expenses that bigger companies incur and pass on to you, the client. Many companies advertise heavily, have offices, a staff of employees, expensive brochures and mailings, etc. The client ends up paying for all this through the high trip prices these companies charge. CLIMB ECUADOR is more of a small, family-operated business and we try to limit these business expenses so more of your trip money is used for services that you actually receive. You won't get lost in a crowd on a CLIMB ECUADOR trip, and you won't return home feeling that you paid too much and got too little. We work hard to give you the best trip possible so you can truly enjoy your experience in some of South America's exotic climbing and travel destinations. Take a moment now to read some of the reference letters written by former CLIMB ECUADOR clients. (Click here)

CLIMB ECUADOR gives you a complete itinerary, a guaranteed 2:1 client-to guide ratio, private vans and 4x4s for all transportation needs, a private hotel room for each client when in town, fully-catered meals when in the mountains, and guided side-trips between climbs. A bilingual American tour leader will accompany all trips and participate in all climbs. When group members are not in the mountains or on organized side trips, they will be able to sightsee and travel freely. When in the mountains, experienced, licensed mountain guides and the American tour leader will lead the climbs. At no time will a group member be left alone in the mountains. Anyone who suffers from altitude sickness, or is physically unable to continue ascending, will be escorted by one of the guides down to a safe place to wait for the return of the other group members. Medical emergencies, if any arise, will be handled quickly, seriously and professionally. Safety first, summit second -- a familiar mountaineering mantra -- will always govern our climbs.

If you are in good physical shape and have experience hiking, camping, backpacking or climbing mountains, you should be able to summit most, if not all, of the mountains our trips go to. Rock climbing or glacier travel experience is not required but would, of course, be a valuable asset. "Nonclimbing" group members (i.e. spouses, children, friends, etc.) will be offered exciting side-trips that coincide with group climbs. CLIMB ECUADOR runs a very flexible operation and we will gladly attend to the specific needs of each and every client.

ABOUT THE TRIP LEADER:

ROGER KOVARY: Roger is the founder, tour organizer and mountain guide for CLIMB ECUADOR. He is 50 years of age and a native New Yorker. He is a 1979 graduate of Colgate University in Hamilton, NY, where he majored in Spanish literature, and a 1996 graduate of Rutgers Law School in Newark, NJ. In 1978, he lived in Granada, Spain and studied at the University of Granada. As a result of his travels and studies, Roger is fluent in Spanish. He has been an avid backpacker, hiker and mountain climber for the past 25 years. He has climbed Mt. McKinley in Alaska, Mt. Rainier in Washington, Mt. Whitney in California, a number of 14,000 foot peaks in Colorado, and many mountains in the northeastern United States. For the past 10 years, Roger has traveled and climbed in South America. He summitted Aconcagua (22,841 feet) in Argentina in January 2005. In Ecuador, he has climbed Chimborazo (20,703 ft.), Cotopaxi (19,348 ft.), Iliniza Norte, Carihairazo, Tungurahua, Sincholagua, Rumiñahui, Corazon, Cotacachi, Imbabura, Rucu Pichincha, Guagua Pichincha and Pasachoa. In Bolivia, he has climbed Illimani (21,125 feet), Huayna Potosi (19,974 ft.), Pequeño Alpamayo (17,618 ft.) and Tarija. In Peru, he has climbed Huascarán (22,205 ft.), Chopicalqui (20,841 ft.), Pisco (18,867 ft.), Ishinca (18,138 ft.) and Urus (18,023 ft.). In Mexico  he has climbed La Malinche (14,640 feet), Izta (17,126 feet) and Pico de Orizaba (18,405 feet).  Roger dedicates himself to improving upon all CLIMB ECUADOR trips with each passing season.

ABOUT OUR MOUNTAIN GUIDES

All guides hired by CLIMB ECUADOR:

1) are native to the host country.
2) are between the ages of 25 and 45.
3) have a minimum of 5 years of guiding experience.
4) have guided the mountains on our itineraries many times, sometimes literally hundreds of times, depending on the age of the guide.
5) are fully licensed and certified to work as a mountain guide by the host country's governing national agency.
6) have completed extensive training courses in mountain rescue, crevasse rescue, and dealing with high altitude medical emergencies.
7) are equipped with a cellular phone, a first-aid kit and all necessary climbing hardware and group equipment on all climbs.

RECOMMENDED READING:

CLIMBING AND HIKING IN ECUADOR, 3rd Edition. By Rob Rachowiecki and Betsy Wagenhauser. Published by Bradt Publications, 1994.

ECUADOR: A CLIMBING GUIDE, 1st Edition. By Yossi Brain. Published by the Mountaineers, Seattle, Washington, 2000.

 “LET'S GO” Travel Guides. Popular travel guides written by Harvard University students on Ecuador, Peru and Mexico. St. Martin’s Press, New York. Latest edition. www.letsgo.com

 “LONELY PLANET” Travel Guides. Lonely Planet Publications publishes travel guides on Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and Mexico. Latest edition. http://www.lonelyplanet.com

BOLIVIA: A CLIMBING GUIDE, 1st Edition. By Yossi Brain. Published by The Mountaineers, Seattle, Washington, 1999.

MEXICO’S VOLCANOES: A CLIMBING GUIDE, 3rd Edition. By R.J. Secor. Published by The Mountaineers, Seattle, Washington, 2001.

ACONCAGUA: A CLIMBING GUIDE. By R.J. Secor. Published by The Mountaineers, Seattle, Washington, 1994.