Volcán Cayambe

January 27, 2025

Refugio San Gabriel

We arrived at Refugio San Gabriel in the late afternoon. This was the lower of two huts we’d stay at en route to summit Cayambe, Ecuador’s third-tallest peak. Summit day would involve high winds, crevasse-riddled glaciers, and volcanic rock, high above tree-line. But here just below 12,000′ elevation, the scene involved grazing cows and shrubby trees swaying in the breeze.

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Chamonix’s Vallée Blanche ski descent

February 2, 2023

Chamonix and the French Alps

We arrived by train in Chamonix, via a narrow mountain pass from neighboring Switzerland. Chamonix was destination #2 for my brother and I—two Americans skiing in Europe for the very first time. The Ikon pass (one of North America’s two skiing “mega-passes”) planted the idea in our minds. Alterra added Chamonix and Zermatt a few years ago, effectively reducing the cost of a European ski trip by … not much at all. But never mind the math. Every avid skier needs to visit the Alps at some point in their life. And here we were.

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