FKT: Erin Ton - Chimborazo Normal Route (El Castillo Ridge Route) - 2026-02-27

Main goal was to join Chris this day for his Ecuador 5000m bike project. We had been waiting a couple weeks for good conditions, but weather seemed promising. We had to hike a couple miles cross-country up to the refugio so that his effort would be human-powered. Once we started from the refugio, we saw a group of headlamps coming down and were fearful conditions were not good. Fortunately (or unfortunately) they were just experiencing altitude sickness and told us that conditions were perfect, so we continued hiking up. I led most of the way, since Chris was feeling not well. I pulled away on the steep pitch after an incredible sunrise and went to the summit myself. There were a few patches of snow where I had to kick steps, but nothing too significant. The summit was still rather cold and breezy so I didn't stay up there for long. I crossed Chris on the descent and went down by myself. I was wearing mountaineering boots with crampons this day so I felt like I couldn't run that fast and was twisting my ankles every step. The goal for the day wasn't initially speed, but I saw that I could beat the preexisting time of 5:55 pretty easily. Next time, I would like to be intentional about speed and think I could do it closer to 4 hours. Beautiful mountain, beautiful climb!