Tungurahua Map
(Click on the GPS points to see the photos; use two fingers to move the map)
Routes
routes
| Route | Difficulty | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Sangay N.P. Guard – Refuge | Easy | 2h30 to 3h30 |
| Normal Route (from the refuge) | Easy | 8 to 10h |
- Recommendations
Recommendations
- Admission to the park is free but you will have to fill out a responsability release form if you plan to go to the summit.
- The ascent to the refuge has a difference of more than one thousand meters, in the middle of a warm climate and a semitropical vegetation. If you load your big backpack get ready for a hard walking and generous sweat.
- In the rainy seasons, it is very advisable to climb this trail using rubber boots.
- You will follow a long tunnel of branches and “bamboo” practically until you reach the refuge.
- The refuge is small and at certain times you will have to sleep even under the tables.
- Dogs are not welcome inside the refuge.
- The refuge price is US. 10.00 per person with the right to use the kitchen (which may be excessively occupied).
- Always use the latrine and not the cozy branches around the shelter.
- You usually leave to the summit between 2 and 4 am.
- The climb to this mountain is long, basically a slope between 30 and 45 degrees until the edge of the crater, mostly hard sand with some rock.
- It is recommended a previous acclimatization because the elevation changes are very hasty from the subtropical Baños to the more than 5000 meters summit.
- There are some sectors where it can be easy to deviate (up the refuge). It is very advisable to hire a good guide.
- The Tungurahua receives moisture from the Amazon rainforest, which is why it remains cloudy for a long time or clouds very quickly.
- Watch out for those rocks… then you will not be complaining when you have another good stretch of torture up, or a de-escalation of torture. Wear a miraculous medal so you have someone to complain with.
- When you get to the crater edge, you can take directly to the left following the edge to the highest summit. This section may have ice and snow in large quantities.
- Sometimes the use of ice ax and crampons will be very important, when the upper cone is snowed it can become very difficult and dangerous to go up or down this section.
- You can take a stroll and enjoy the beauty of the crater, even with those sulphurous cracks that throw steam. But be careful if you go up Tungurahua without really knowing which is the current level of volcanic activity.
- The Tungurahua is a beautiful mountain, enjoy the climbing from beginning to end. If you achieve this summit, you are now ready to target a Cotopaxi.
