Who is Summit Stoke? We are the people who get excited about newly fallen snow, being above the clouds, the sound of glaciers moving, watching a sunrise, the smell of rain, starry nights and climbing beneath the moon. We are here to share with you our greatest passion of all:

Mountaineering

And not just in a traditional sense. For us, mountaineering is not just about reaching different summits again and again. It’s not even about reaching the summit at all despite of our (awesome) agency name. Although the summit stoke is truly epic, climbing mountains with us is all about the journey as a whole – from basecamp to summit – as much as the inevitable self-development journey inside of ourselves it will take us through. Mountaineering is such a humbling experience. The mountains always have the last word. But when they talk, do you listen?

For us it’s all about learning to do just that. Because first of all, it’s the mountain who decides whether we get to climb or not. Coming from a background of competitive elite sport, mountaineering truly put me in my place and made me realize just how small I as you am/are in this grand universe. Climbing for many hours in high altitude is no joke and not something you can just push through if you’re not feeling well or the weather gets bad. In other words; it is not to be treated like any other sport, where you would always just push through.

Listening is key.

And not only to the mountain, but to ourselves. We are out in the elements dealing with forces far greater than we can even imagine and that is not to be taken lightly. Failing to listen could possibly present itself as a fatal situation. Which is something I had to learn the hard way when climbing my very first mountain back in 2017; Huayna Potosí in Bolivia. Even as we started the ascend from basecamp, I had a stabbing pain in my heart (due to altitude), which I didn’t tell my partner because I knew he wouldn’t let me climb, if I told him – and I had already gotten so far you know? Well, this is exactly the kind of thinking that is extremely dangerous, selfish and ignorant.

A bit more than halfway up the mountain I collapsed and passed out on the glacier. Resulting in my partner naturally telling me that we needed to go back down when I woke up again. However, being the competitive and clueless amateur I was back then I simply told him that he could go down if he wanted to, but I was staying where I was and going for the summit. Putting myself, my partner and everyone around us at risk I continued to push through the stabbing pain in my heart, extreme dizziness, inability to walk straight and heavy nausea further up the mountain.

A false taste of summit stoke

Less than 50 meters from the summit we had to walk a very narrow and exposed ridge where it wasn’t possible to put two feet next to each other and with glaciated walls straight down on each side of the mountain; meaning an absolutely no fall zone. Being as dizzy as I was I finally and luckily listened to my partner when he said that this would be our summit, because there was no way that we were climbing that ridge line in my condition. Around 19,800 feet (6.038 meters) up in the air I had my first taste of ‘summit’ stoke. But based on a rather bad mountaineering experience due to my own selfishness, which resulted in me swearing that I would never set my foot on another mountain peak ever again. Fast forward one year and I couldn’t help myself and simply had to set out for summits again, but with an entirely new approach and respect for the mountains, fellow climbers and myself.

Proper beginnings and ethical climbing at all levels

With our beginner trips, we are here to make sure that none of our climbers get that kind of introduction to mountaineering. Because if you ask us, mountaineering despite of its inevitable dangers, when done right, is the most healthy and beautiful practice there is. We love and respect these snow-capped giants so much that we can’t help but share this passion and do our best to guide our climbers in the most ethical, harmonious and sustainable way towards their stunning summits. Our experiences are all very focused on teaching our climbers as much valuable and practical knowledge about mountaineering as possible combined with ancestral knowledge of the Incas and the Andean Cosmo Vision.

For us, there is no accommodation more 5-star (or actually infinite number of stars) than sleeping underneath the milky way with towering peaks right in front of us. And so, we make use of tent-based basecamps to reach otherwise inaccessible and remote peaks in the Ecuadorian Andes on our advanced trips. (The remote mountains are rather difficult) It is important for us to take our climbers as much off the beaten track as possible, as mountaineering is and should not about queuing up in a big line on hazardous terrain. Not that this happens very often at all in Ecuador (luckily), but you get the point. It’s all about quality over quantity for us and taking the time to really feel at one with our surroundings.

Our experiences are divided in levels between beginners, intermediate and advanced climbers, in order to offer as much learning as possible as well as gathering awesome, like-minded climbers and create friendships for life. All the experiences are focused on levelling up mentally, emotionally, spiritually, energetically and physically as a climber.

Just as much an inside job

During our experiences we will not only become better climbers technically, but also go deep within ourselves through professionally guided yoga, breathwork or/and meditation classes for increased performance in the mountains. Yoga poses focused on restitution after climbing and breath mastery (Pranayama) for increased performance in high altitude. Our many years of experience in the Andes have taught us that these practices along with physical and technical training truly improve your all-round skills as a mountaineer and positively affect the chances of summiting.

The classes are carefully planned out in order for all levels to participate. Yoga as well as mountaineering is not a competition, but a free space for you to just be, feel and listen to your body and nature. The biggest lesson of all is to succumb completely to Pachamama (Mother Earth), whether we get to summit or not is first and foremost completely up to the mountain.

We are the people who get excited about newly fallen snow, being above the clouds, the sound of glaciers moving, watching a sunrise, the smell of rain, starry nights and climbing beneath the moon. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing and we are here to improve all aspects of ourselves as climbers and human beings every single day.

Check out all of our upcoming departures HERE!

So, when are you joining in?

/ Summit Stoke Co-Founder, Amalie Kragmann