Well, it's decided. I'm going to climb Chimborazo, the highest mountain in Ecuador at 6,300 metres, and the point on earth which is closest to the sun. Isn't Everest higher? Yes it is, but due to the earth's equatorial bulge the summit of Chimborazo is actually further from the centre of the earth and closer to the sun.  The average equator radius is 6,378,388 meters, the average polar radius 6,356,912 meters (according to dtv-Lexikon). This is a difference of nearly 43 kilometers, in relation to the diameter. If an imaginary circle is drawn around the center of the Earth that just touches the peak of Mount Chimborazo, the difference to Mount Everest is 2,143 meters.  Huge!!

Some years ago I sponsored the Free Tibet organisation in their Chimborazo climb. And it's kind of stuck in my mind. So a few weeks ago when I was given the opportunity of taking 10 days off from my yoga teaching duties (another teacher will be here) I started wondering what I might do with the time. I could visit Lake Titicaca and its floating islands, but it would be 3 or 4 days travelling there and back. Cusco and Macha Picchu? I was there in 2002. And then I discovered the Ecuadorean volcanos Cotopaxi and Chimborazo are only a 15 hour bus ride away. And since I will be in Peru for more than 90 days I have to leave and reenter Peru at some point to get my passport restamped, so that will be achieved also. It just makes sense. But more importantly I try to tune in to the Masters – and it feels right. And suddenly doing 27 cycles of Sun Salutations has become easier.

And although I love the sea and beach here I am really one for the mountains. And I can perhaps raise some money for the Ananda Rainbow charity (www.anandarainbow.org) by getting sponsors. So it all makes sense. Except that it's been nearly 20 years since I was at 6,000 metres in Nepal (climbing Island Peak just south of Everest) and that was physically the hardest thing I've ever done. All right I was having a bad altitude day and the snow conditions weren't good (too soft). Chimborazo is a different affair. I'll have to rent some climbing gear and find a good mountain guide and acclimatise quickly. I can only do that once I get to Quito, Ecuador's capital city at 2850 metres. above sea level. And I'll have to train for the next 4 weeks even though there are no mountains to climb around here. So lots of Ananda Energisation Exercises, yoga, and innumerable Sun Salutations. (Sun salutations seem so appropriate when I'm aiming to get to the closest point on earth to the sun, don't you think?). And visualisation. Every time I do a Sun Salutation I visualise myself getting closer to the summit of Chimborazo.

If I remember correctly Yogananda said “Bite off more than you can chew and then chew it.” This project certainly seems that way -both exciting and a bit scary. If you would like to sponsor me on this climb or make a donation to Ananda Rainbow (building schools in Himalayan villages) simply click on the "donate" button on this page and follow the PayPal link.  You can also request a prayer to be taken to the summit.

Many blessings

Stan