Entries from Expedition Dispatches

Hola amigos, 

All is well here in Patagonia. 

We had a very special visitor last night and this morning before hitting the trail. 

A adolescent Puma decided to show up and walked right through camp and then again this morning we saw her again hunting in the adjacent field next to camp. Nothing to worry about though, as these cats are NOT interested in humans. They primarily hunt rabbits (which she was chasing this morning) and they hunt guanacos, a close, but smaller relative of the llama found here in Patagonia. Regardless, it was spectacular to see one in the wild. 

Today the team hiked about 7 hours with breaks through small forests, some wetlands, and open country to reach camp. The weather was very pleasant all day, allowing beautiful views very with little rain and a nice breeze to keep the temperature perfect for hiking. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the crew

Hello again Everyone. 

The team is doing great here in Patagonia. 

Today we thankfully had a relaxed start with breakfast just after 8 and then packed up our things, met our porters and hit the trail shortly after 10am. 

It was hot starting out in the sunshine, but luckily the Patagonian weather and wind arrived to help keep us cool for nearly the entire day. 

We had a few passing light showers that kept us guessing if we should be wearing our Gore-Tex or not, but that’s pretty standard here. It only took about 5 hours hiking with breaks to reach our next home for the night, called Seron.  We quickly settled into camp, took showers and before we knew it, our two amazing Chilean guides (Mauricio and Hector) had a huge charcuterie board laid out for us. Clearly we are being well taken care of and the team is doing great great! 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and team

We did everything we could to get to the summit of Chimborazo yesterday, but the mountain had other plans. We delayed our start until 1 am to allow some lightning to pass by and made the long traverse around the Castillo rock formation above camp towards the toe of the glacier. As we rounded the corner the fresh snow that had been aiding our progress with smoother walking conditions over the rock turned into much deeper and more concerning slabs. Knowing that the hazard would only worsen as elevation and slope angle increased, we turned tail and headed back to high camp. 

While it always stings to get shut down, especially on the last and hardest objective of the trip, spirits were still high for our snowy walk down to meet the bus yesterday morning. A lazy afternoon of drying out gear, naps and packing was followed by an excellent final dinner at Hacienda Abraspungo. 

This trip was a success before we even stepped foot on any of the mountains. Each member of the team prepared diligently and showed up in Ecuador ready to climb, if the mountains would allow safe passage. In the end, we had the privilege of visiting two beautiful summits. Had we reached none of these summits, Dustin and I would be equally proud of this team for all the mental and physical training they accomplished before arriving here. A job well done team! 

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo

I’m typing this from the back of the sprinter van that’s hauling us and all our dusty duffels from Penitentes, the tiny old ski town just outside Aconcagua National Park. I’m watching the southern stars one last time out the window as Carlos (you may remember him from the beginning of the trip for sending us off with AC/DC) sails down the highway back to Mendoza.

We woke up this morning after a lovely night at Plaza de Mulas base camp - warm showers, wifi, a hot meal, and a gorgeous sunset. It gave us all the energy we needed for the ~16 mile walk out. We round it up to 20 miles so feel free to do the same when you ask us how it was.

We walked and walked down from over 14,300ft to the entrance at 9,500ft. You won’t be surprised to hear that the wind carried us out. Just as it carried us in and up and back down. Our faithful friend. Or something.

We mostly walked in silence, some with music, some with only the windsong but all of us reflecting on the adventure.

Most teams spread out throughout the day on the hike but we stayed together in our faithful formation, one in front of the other, moving as a team one last time.

We stopped to stare up at the south face of Aconcagua. We hadn’t seen it yet — fierce and gorgeous with its hanging seracs and vertical rock and ice.

You may wonder, why are you just now driving back to Mendoza in the dark? Well, sometimes things don’t go according to plan and today the mulas carrying all our gear were a little behind. So we waited for a few years, err hours, at the Grajales warehouse with all the other teams that hiked out today.

We stayed positive, mostly, and passed the time by learning the intricacies of Mate (the local beverage of choice) (pronounced Maaaa-Te) from Leandro. What to do — look your friend in the eye when you pass the cup. What not to do — never, ever ever touch the straw.

And finally just as we were finishing our last bag of Honey Nut Cheerios that went up and over the whole mountain with us — the duffels arrived.

Or most of them. But don’t worry, the rest will come tomorrow.

Soon we’ll be in Mendoza and back to a soft bed and hot water on demand and all the comforts we now appreciate a lot more than 2 weeks ago when we left.

RMI Guide Jess Wedel and the A-team

 Wow. What a day we had! 

Today the team started early with breakfast at 5:30am and hit the road shortly after 6 for our 2 hour drive to the park entrance. 

Once at the park we checked in and dropped off our gear not needed for the hike and quickly transitioned into hiking mode, and what a doozy it was! We hiked up into a beautiful valley along a river, through the forest, and eventually up onto the moraine to fantastic views of the Torres del Paine massif, which the park takes its name. 

It was a bit of a haul to be honest, especially after days of sitting on planes, boats and eating endless amazing food. It was a little bit of a shock to our systems, but the team did great making good time despite there being quite a few other people hiking alongside us. 

The weather remained mostly pleasant the entire hike to the view point, before the famous Patagonian weather arrived and welcomed us with relatively gusty winds and a few light showers. 

It was a big day for us, and the team has happily returned to camp and I’m certain will sleep deeply after a the 10hr round trip adventure. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the team!

Hola from Puerto Natales!

Beautiful day here in southern Chile for us. The team met shortly after a hearty breakfast and plenty of coffee to walk through the schedule and review all the necessary gear to keep the famed Patagonian weather at bay.

We then took most of the afternoon to explore, shop, read, nap, adventure around town by ourselves. Everyone seemed to have had a great day and we wrapped up the evening with meeting our 2 local guides, Mauricio, and Hector that will accompany us and share their insights on this trek.

We finished the evening with another wonderful meal and great conversations and a short but beautiful walk back to the hotel.

We head into the mountains tomorrow!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and friends!

Hola friends,

As we watched the winds continue to move across the upper mountain, we kept doing what we’ve done this entire expedition — gathering information, having honest conversations, and making thoughtful decisions with the reality in front of us.

The truth is this: we can prepare perfectly and still not be promised the summit.

Over the past weeks, this team has done everything within their control. We carried heavy loads when it would have been easier not to. We rested when rest felt unnatural. We ate when we weren’t hungry. We drank water when it was freezing. We managed headaches, wind, and the slow grind of altitude. We adapted when the forecast changed. We showed up for each other.

We put ourselves in position.

And that’s not a small thing.

Many other teams descended but we kept hope and we kept trying.

But Aconcagua does not negotiate. She doesn’t bend to training plans, travel schedules, or how badly we want it. The winds remained strong enough that continuing higher would have crossed the line from determined into unsafe.

So at 21,400 feet on the Grand Traverse, we made the call.

Turning around is never dramatic in the moment. It’s measured. It’s a look at each other and a nod of the head.  It’s built on experience and trust. And on big mountains, it’s often the decision that defines a team more than a summit photo ever could.

No one here failed. No one fell short. This team did the work. They earned the chance. And sometimes earning the chance — and having the wisdom to step back when the mountain says no — is the deeper success.

We walk down proud.

And grateful.

And ready for a shower and warmth.

RMI Guide Jess Wedel and the A-team

We had a nice rest day yesterday as we made our way from La Cienega to the famous Chimborazo Lodge. Tucked in one of the valleys under the south face of Chimborazo, it’s essentially a climbing museum that happens to offer rooms for climbers- every conceivable inch of wall space is covered in photographs or memorabilia spanning the entire history of alpinism both in Ecuador and abroad. Surrounded by dozens of llamas grazing in the surrounding fields, the ambiance was perfect the last night before our final summit attempt of the trip. 

This morning we awoke to dense fog and made our way up the road into Chimborazo National Park with never more than a few feet of visibility in front of bus. The hike up to high camp was longer, snowier and steeper than the approach the Cotopaxi hut, but at least we all have a few more red blood cells at this point in the trip! The Chimborazo high camp is much more primitive than the Refugios at Cayambe or Cotopaxi, but the big white domes up here are still a big upgrade over tents, especially in a raging thunderstorm like the one that rolled through a few hours after we got up here this afternoon.

There is a lot of snow on the ground up here and more falling as I write this, so we are unsure what the upper mountain will look like tonight and tomorrow. With a high degree of uncertainty around the state of snowpack and much more consequential terrain than our previous two mountains we are going to take a cautious approach into our climb tonight and climb as high as the mountain allows us to with a reasonable margin. We’ve controlled every variable we can at this point, so it’s just a matter of seeing what the mountain allows us to do. As of right now the plan is for a midnight departure, check back tomorrow to see how we fared! 

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo

Hello again.

What an amazing day we had here in Chile today!

Today we started early, leaving the hotel and headed to the local marina to catch a boat ride to Magdalena Island to do a little penguin viewing. It was a beautiful and calm day which made the 1.5 hr boat ride relatively smooth and allowed us to glimpse a few whales breaching and dolphins too.

Once on the Island, we were all in awe of the cute penguins that were far less curious about us as we were about them. They just waddled in every direction while we took photos and just enjoyed being in such a peaceful place. We only spent an hour with them before heading back to the boat to minimize our impact.

Once back in Punta Arenas we rushed off to a quick lunch at one of the incredible restaurants in town, then hopped aboard our shuttle to Puerto Natales.

It was a smooth, albeit windy ride across the Patagonian landscape, as we  passed many Guanacos and Nandus along the way.

The team has just returned from another fantastic meal and are headed to bed.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and team

Hello again from Colera,

Surprise! We’re still here. The cold and the winds kept us from attempting a summit run early this morning. Instead we slept in and had breakfast “in bed” but it was actually just our sleeping bags because that was the only place warm enough. We decided as a team to stick around one more night — the forecast doesn’t look great but there’s always a chance. It could surprise to the upside. We press on here at nearly 20,000 feet — we’ve come this far, what’s one more night of frozen boots and wind lullabies?

Come on atmosphere simmer down now,

--RMI GuideJess Wedel and the A-team