The problem with climbing Chirripo in a day has nothing to do with the complexity of the trail. When we decided to hike from San Gerardo to the top of the tallest point in Central America, there was nothing that could prepare us for the challenges that lay ahead. Here’s the story.
Chirripo in a Day
Written documentation of the day trip will go here.
Elevation Gain Comparisons for Understanding
The elevation gain of this hike is about 2,470 meters.
Hiking from San Gerardo de Rivas (1350 meters), Costa Rica to the summit of Cerro Chirripo (3,820 meters), is the elevation gain equivalent of:
- Climbing the Eiffel Tower (300 meters) 8.2 times
- Climbing the Freedom Towers (541 meters) in New York 4.5 times
- Climbing from the town of Mammoth California to the top of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area then climbing down 1/3 of the mountain and back to the top.
- Hiking from Reno, NV (1,374 meters) to the top of Mount Rose (2,716 meters), then doing it again.
Planning the Chirripo Hike
- Hotel Casa Mariposa – I’d like to stay here as it appears to be a place that is right next to the trailhead.
- Register to Climb Chirripo – The Costa Rican Government Website
- Carrera Chirripo – A February event in which Ticos race to Chirripo basecamp and back
Chirripo Hiking Stories
- Costa Rican Couple – They did it in a few days. Good tips on enjoying the time while staying at basecamp
- James Kaiser on Hiking Chirripo – One of the first articles I read about Chirripo
- Ascent of Cerro Chirripo – One hiker who wished he had done it in a single day. Includes an excellent map of the hike.
Stories of Chirripo in a Day
- They Said it Couldn’t be Done – A quality tale of someone doing it in a day.
- Our Epic Fail – A very funny article about a 3 person group who failed the one day hike.
- Done in One Day – Trip Advisor reviews about doing it in a day
- Contributing to the Problem – A detailed, analytic account. This blog post is one of the more useful blogs when I was in my planning stage.
- Highpointers at MIT – A blog more focused on logistics, but these guys did it in about 7 hours from 5 pm to just after midnight.
Chirripo Maps
Just watched your video. Very well done! I will be doing a two day but your video was extraordinarily helpful in getting a feel for the trail. You two really did an amazing job! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Glenn. Have a good hike. I’m sure you will.
Awesome guys, that is for sharing!
I’m glad you liked it.
Crazy question for you. My wife and I are pretty adventurous and we have a 2 year old son. Do you think you could have done this hike with a chubby 35 year old kid on your back in the one day pace? We hike with him a lot but nothing this long. We are wanting to rest up prior, start hiking at 9pm, hike through the night to be at the summit by sunrise and make our way down after that. Main concerns are physical limitations with pack weight, is there anything unsafe for a child such as sketchy passes or EXTREMELY low temps? We can bundle him up well. Thoughts?
I think it would be tough. To be honest, I have no idea how to give parents advice. I don’t know how hard it is. That hike was really tough for me. We hiked hard and fast.
That said, you can always turn around if you start getting tired. 🙂