Jaime

IFMGA Mountain Guide

Baños de Agua Santa, Ecuador

Certified IFMGA - ASEGUIM Mountain Guide, National guide, Rescue Team Member GRA & Lawyer.

As passionate mountaineer and with almost 20 years of guiding experience, I worked with clients from all over the world. Each tour is a unique experience and I will pleased to guide you to the marvellous summits of Ecuador and South America. My journeys have allowed me to guide and summit several mountains in Peru, like Alpamayo, Chopicalqui & Tocllaraju amongst others and to experience some mountain climbing in the Alps of Austria and Italy.

I’m based in Baños de Agua Santa, Ecuador’s famous piece of heaven, where we run together with my Austrian girlfriend a small tour operator and a consulting office.

Continuous improvement and keeping up with the State of the Art is our mission:in 2017, I completed the IFMGA certification and, recently, in 2018, I received the National guide certification from the ministry of Tourism.

President of Baños Trail Running Club, I run every week with my team. My achievement of 2018 : Finishing 1st of my category for the 100km Ruco Ultra Trail.

I’m looking forward to exploring our beautiful mountains together with you.

Programs

Ecuador - 2 days - Intermediate - Private

2-day guided climb to Cotopaxi summit

8 reviews

Ecuador - 2 days - Intermediate

Ascent to Chimborazo in Ecuador

Ecuador - 5 days - Intermediate - Private & Group

Cotopaxi (5,897m), 5-day ascent with acclimatization on Rucu Pichincha & Iliniza Norte, from Quito

1 review

Ecuador - 2 days - Easy - Private

Summit Mama TUNGURAHUA (5.023 m)

1 review

What People are Saying about Jaime

11 reviews

The reviewer did not leave a comment

Nora Hertig

Amazing experience. Wonderful guide Diego. Can’t wait to get back and summit another volcano.

Devin

we had a great time with the guide, knows his buissnis , he took wonderfull shots from us at tungurahua during the climb. im sure he would have made great pics aswell during the cotopaxi climb, very experienced guide indeed, and a friendly man with nice girlfriend elisabeth who went with us to tungurahua refugio, and he can cook

jw and sharlene

Jaime was absolutely amazing. He always made sure that safety is the priority, even when I was tired and had problems with altitude. I\'d climb any mountain with him!

Piotr

The reviewer did not leave a comment

Tyler Long

I climbed Tungurahua together with Jaime in November as a preparation for successful attempts to climb both Cotopaxi and Chimborazo. The trip was perfectly organized by Elisabeth and Jaime did a great job as a guide. I would absolutely recommend Andean Summit Adventure and I hope that I can do some further tours in Ecuador in the future with them!

Marcel Welte

I had an excellent experience with Andean Summit Adventure during my recent climb of Volcano Cotopaxi. Elisabeth did a tremendous job coordinating all of the logistics details for my trip while I was still in the United States. Jaime Vargas, my guide, provided a first-rate, safe, and excellent experience during the climb itself. I was completely happy with the support that Andean Summit Adventure provided me and I highly recommend them as a tour/guide service for outings in South America.

Tim Edinger

Fantastic people ! They were all friendly, accommodating and knowledgeable . I recommend them without reservation

Paul Ludgate

Jaime was an awesome guide! Everything was taken care of, he was very aware about going at the best pace for me, and did everything possible to ensure a successful and safe summit.

Maxwell Gregory

We summited Cotopaxi with Jamie Vargas as our guide. It was an unbelievable and perfect experience. Jamie was very knowledgeable, skilled, and personable. He shared just enough information with us for each part of the trip for us to be prepared but not too overwhelmed. It was very easy to communicate with our guide and the company before the trip. The food was really nice and the whole experience staying at the refuge and meeting other climbers and guides. We were very confident in Jamie’s skills and ability to keep us safe. His saying “never give up!” was very motivating for our successful summit. The gear was all very nice and up to date, we were given every tool we needed. I felt every emotion during this day from excitement, to fear, to fatigue, to gratitude, I cried very much at the summit because it was so beautiful and it was such a big accomplishment for myself and my husband. Overall this experience was our favorite for our time in Ecuador and even one of my favorites of my whole life! Highly recommend Jamie with Andean summit adventure. Worth every dollar as an investment for an experience of a lifetime!

Sarah Hill

I found it pretty expensive to have a private guide. The climb was only 8 hours in total and costs me €570,-. Well, that’s the only complain i have. The service all over was great. Jaime was not my guide so i can rate him, it was Juan of course. He was an ok guide, sometimes a bit hurry up. And next time it would be good to get some more explanations about the dangers of the glacier. I’ve spoken to some real mountaineers and found out there were far more dangers then i realized when climbing the cotopaxi. Maybe something for you guys to consider next time. Best regards, philippe coopmans

Philippe Coopmans

The reviewer did not leave a comment

Nora Hertig

Amazing experience. Wonderful guide Diego. Can’t wait to get back and summit another volcano.

Devin

we had a great time with the guide, knows his buissnis , he took wonderfull shots from us at tungurahua during the climb. im sure he would have made great pics aswell during the cotopaxi climb, very experienced guide indeed, and a friendly man with nice girlfriend elisabeth who went with us to tungurahua refugio, and he can cook

jw and sharlene

Jaime was absolutely amazing. He always made sure that safety is the priority, even when I was tired and had problems with altitude. I\'d climb any mountain with him!

Piotr

The reviewer did not leave a comment

Tyler Long

I climbed Tungurahua together with Jaime in November as a preparation for successful attempts to climb both Cotopaxi and Chimborazo. The trip was perfectly organized by Elisabeth and Jaime did a great job as a guide. I would absolutely recommend Andean Summit Adventure and I hope that I can do some further tours in Ecuador in the future with them!

Marcel Welte

I had an excellent experience with Andean Summit Adventure during my recent climb of Volcano Cotopaxi. Elisabeth did a tremendous job coordinating all of the logistics details for my trip while I was still in the United States. Jaime Vargas, my guide, provided a first-rate, safe, and excellent experience during the climb itself. I was completely happy with the support that Andean Summit Adventure provided me and I highly recommend them as a tour/guide service for outings in South America.

Tim Edinger

Fantastic people ! They were all friendly, accommodating and knowledgeable . I recommend them without reservation

Paul Ludgate

Jaime was an awesome guide! Everything was taken care of, he was very aware about going at the best pace for me, and did everything possible to ensure a successful and safe summit.

Maxwell Gregory

We summited Cotopaxi with Jamie Vargas as our guide. It was an unbelievable and perfect experience. Jamie was very knowledgeable, skilled, and personable. He shared just enough information with us for each part of the trip for us to be prepared but not too overwhelmed. It was very easy to communicate with our guide and the company before the trip. The food was really nice and the whole experience staying at the refuge and meeting other climbers and guides. We were very confident in Jamie’s skills and ability to keep us safe. His saying “never give up!” was very motivating for our successful summit. The gear was all very nice and up to date, we were given every tool we needed. I felt every emotion during this day from excitement, to fear, to fatigue, to gratitude, I cried very much at the summit because it was so beautiful and it was such a big accomplishment for myself and my husband. Overall this experience was our favorite for our time in Ecuador and even one of my favorites of my whole life! Highly recommend Jamie with Andean summit adventure. Worth every dollar as an investment for an experience of a lifetime!

Sarah Hill

I found it pretty expensive to have a private guide. The climb was only 8 hours in total and costs me €570,-. Well, that’s the only complain i have. The service all over was great. Jaime was not my guide so i can rate him, it was Juan of course. He was an ok guide, sometimes a bit hurry up. And next time it would be good to get some more explanations about the dangers of the glacier. I’ve spoken to some real mountaineers and found out there were far more dangers then i realized when climbing the cotopaxi. Maybe something for you guys to consider next time. Best regards, philippe coopmans

Philippe Coopmans

The reviewer did not leave a comment

Nora Hertig

Amazing experience. Wonderful guide Diego. Can’t wait to get back and summit another volcano.

Devin

we had a great time with the guide, knows his buissnis , he took wonderfull shots from us at tungurahua during the climb. im sure he would have made great pics aswell during the cotopaxi climb, very experienced guide indeed, and a friendly man with nice girlfriend elisabeth who went with us to tungurahua refugio, and he can cook

jw and sharlene

Jaime was absolutely amazing. He always made sure that safety is the priority, even when I was tired and had problems with altitude. I\'d climb any mountain with him!

Piotr

The reviewer did not leave a comment

Tyler Long

I climbed Tungurahua together with Jaime in November as a preparation for successful attempts to climb both Cotopaxi and Chimborazo. The trip was perfectly organized by Elisabeth and Jaime did a great job as a guide. I would absolutely recommend Andean Summit Adventure and I hope that I can do some further tours in Ecuador in the future with them!

Marcel Welte

I had an excellent experience with Andean Summit Adventure during my recent climb of Volcano Cotopaxi. Elisabeth did a tremendous job coordinating all of the logistics details for my trip while I was still in the United States. Jaime Vargas, my guide, provided a first-rate, safe, and excellent experience during the climb itself. I was completely happy with the support that Andean Summit Adventure provided me and I highly recommend them as a tour/guide service for outings in South America.

Tim Edinger

Join our Newsletter

Stay up-to-date on the best adventures!