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Ritacuba Blanco ascent in Colombia

Ritacuba Blanco ascent in Colombia | undefined

Go on this Colombian Andes traverse to the Ritacuba Blanco summit. Join Edy, IFMGA certified mountain guide, on an amazing intense and complete program.

Andes

15 Days

Jan

High

Intermediate


Description

Join me on this intense and amazing expedition towards the Ritacuba Blanco summit (5,411 m), in the Colombian Andes. I invite you to share with me this 15-day traverse to remember.

First, I will meet you at the El Dorado Airport, Bogota. Next day will be acclimatization day around the city of Bogota. On Day 3, we will transfer to El Cocuy (2,850 m), for our first acclimatization walk. I will guide you up the hills outside El Cocuy.

Next, we will transfer to Güican, to start our trek to Hacienda La Esperanza (3,593 m) for the night. On Day 6 I will lead you on a new acclimatization walk. This time we will walk through rocky ridges to Pico del Aguila (4,020 m). Later, we will descend back to the Hacienda for the night.

As from Day 7, we will spend several nights camping. I will lead you to Laguna Grande de la Sierra (4,514 m), a high mountain valley. Over the next two days we will climb new peaks in the areas. Two possible options are: Pico Concavo (5170 m) and Pico Toti (5,017 m).

On Day 10, I will show the way back to the Hacienda. Then, we will transfer to the Kanwara Huts (3,976 m). And on Day 11, we will finally get closer to our main goal. That day we will trek towards the Ritacuba Blanco High camp (4,500 m).

Finally, Day 12 will be summit day. I will guide you on the ascent to the Ritacuba Blanco summit (5,400 m). While this mountain is considered a "trekking peak", take into account that its ascent includes some moderate and steep slopes, as well as rough, rocky morain.

(Day 13 is reserved as spare summit day, to account for possible bad weather for summit day).

Also, note that the group will include from 4 to 8 mountaineers.

On the final days of the program, we will transfer to Villa de Leyva and Zipaquirá, before the final transfer to El Dorado Airport.

Interested in joining me on the Ritacuba Blanco ascent in Colombia? Contact me for questions and more details. Also, check out other mountaineering options, like Mountaineering in classic routes.

Price includes

  • Accommodation included
  • Guiding fee
  • Breakfast
  • Dinner
  • Transport during the trip
  • Porters

Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival: Bogota Airport

  • Meeting at the Bogota International Airport, El Dorado

  • Transfer to local hotel

Day 2: Acclimatization day: Bogota

  • Acclimatization day: free day to explore the city

Day 3: Transfer to El Cocuy

  • Drive to El Cocuy (2,850 m) in private bus

  • Overnight at hostel

Day 4: Acclimatization walk

  • Acclimatization walk up to 3,850 m

  • Trek up one of the hills outside El Cocuy

  • Overnight at hostel

Day 5: Trasfer to Güican - Hacienda La Esperanza

  • Transfer to Güican (1 hour)

  • Trek to Hacienda La Esperanza

  • Overnight at the Hacienda

Day 6: Acclimatization walk - Pico del Aguila

  • Trek up to Pico del Aguila (4,020 m), across rocky ridges

  • Overnight at the Hacienda

Day 7: Trek - Laguna Grande de la Sierra

  • Trek to Laguna Grande de la Sierra (4,514 m), high mountain valley

  • Overnight at camp

Day 8: Climb to nearby peak

  • Climb to one of the peaks of the area. Options:

    • Pico Concavo (5,170 m)

    • Pico Toti (5,071 m)

  • Overnight at camp

Day 9: Climb to nearby peak

  • Climb to one of the peaks of the area. Options:

    • Pico Concavo (5,170 m)

    • Pico Toti (5,071 m)

  • Overnight at camp

Day 10: Trek - Hacienda La Esperanza

  • Descent from camp base

  • Trek back to Hacienda La Esperanza – Lunch

  • Transfer to Kanwara Huts (3,976 m)

  • Overnight at the Huts

Day 11: Trek - Ritacuba Blanco High Camp

  • Walk to Las Lajas (3 to 4 hours)

  • Walk to Ritacuba Blanco High Camp (4,500 m) on glaciated slabs

  • Overnight at camp

Day 12: Ascent to the Ritacuba Blanco

  • Ascent to the Ritacuba Blanco (5,400 m)

  • Return to Cocuy

  • Overnight at hotel

Day 13: Spare summit day / Or Transfer to Villa de Leyva

  • Spare summit in case weather conditions are not good to ascent to the summit

  • Or Transfer to Villa de Leyva

  • Overnight at hotel

Day 14: Villa de Leyva - Zipaquirá

  • Explore Villa de Leyva

  • Transfer to Zipaquirá (just outside Bogota)

  • Overnight at hotel

Day 15: Departure

  • Transfer to Bogota International Airport, El Dorado
 

About the guide

Guide profile image

Edy

Mountain Guide

I was born in 1966. I was an aspirant Mountain Guide from 1986 and a Mountain Guide (IFMGA) as from 1989. In 1988, I joined the Mountain Guides company of Courmayeur, which was the 1st Italian guiding company and the 2nd in the world in 1850. From 1995 to 2001, I had the role of leading guide with as main function the coordination of the work and the promotion of the guiding programs we were organising.
From 1986, I worked in the Mountain Rescue Team of the Aosta Valley. I became a Mountain Rescue Instructor in 2000. As a mountain guide, I practice a lot mountaineering, rock climbing, off-piste skiing, ski touring, snowshoeing, etc.
The past 22 years, I have climbed with my clients many classic routes in the Alps, of mixed, ice and rock; I have climbed the mountains of South America (Aconcagua in Argentina, Cordillera Blanca in Peru, trekking in Torres del Paine in Chile and Fitz Roy in Argentina, the slopes of Alpamayo Pequeno, Sajama, Huayna Potosi, in Illimani Bolivia, Cayambe, Cotopaxi, Chimborazo in Ecuador). Each year, I keep on travelling the Andes with clients and friends to discover new mountains to satisfy the desire of mountaineering.

Languages

Italian | French | English

Certificates

IFMGA


What people are saying about Explore-Share

Man

Climbing with guide Guillaume was absolutely a highlight of my 2-week Europe vacation. Originally, we were planning on climbing in the Calanques, but the park was closed due to wind and fire danger. Guillaume chose another amazing location (Pic de Bretagne) based on my climbing abilities and preferences and kindly offered train station pick-up and hotel drop off, which I appreciated very much. The multi-pitch route we did was not only fun but also the right amount of challenge, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The communication from the team (Gauthier) was prompt and clear—highly recommend!

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Luis Silva was a great climbing guide and belayer! He taught me how to do moves that were difficult and encouraged me to try routes that were challenging for me! Because of his encouragement, I managed to complete these routes! I really enjoyed the climbs and completed 8 routes in the Sesimbra/Azoia area. The weather was perfect, no direct sun and cool enough to enjoy the climbs. Explore-Share made booking an outdoor climbing experience in Lisbon extremely easy. Luis, our guide, was fantastic, and the platform’s organization was flawless.

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We had Léo as a guide for our day climb in Fonty. We were blessed with a knowledgeable, warm, and instructive guide. Communication with Léo and Ivan was smooth and swift. Explore-Share was excellent in arranging everything for our day climb. The communication was quick, and the platform was easy to use, making our adventure stress-free.

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