Entries from Expedition Dispatches

The team had an early start to the day, leaving Mexico City and driving to our acclimatization hike. 

We began our ascent at 10,000 feet, weaving our way through the forest until we were greeted with a view of the snowy North face of La Malinche. Despite the snow up high, it was a beautiful and warm day to stretch our legs. 

Our team had a successful summit of La Malinche (14,640 feet) that was made perfect by views of Ixta, Orizaba and even an erupting Popo. 

Spirits are high as we prepare for Ixta in the coming days!

-RMI Guide Abby Westling and Team

Good evening readers,

After a high effort day of carrying to Camp One, the team enjoyed our last rest day at Basecamp. cups of coffee were enjoyed as the sun warmed up camp. Today was a leisure day. Time was spent watching TV shows, reading books, chatting with teammates, and showers. We also sorted gear for the move to Camp One. We don't want to be too heavy when we head back downhill, so luxury items like sweatpants, jeans, sweatshirts, need to stay behind.

A highlight of the day was welcoming the other RMI team back to Basecamp. We got useful information about the route and conditions and now feel ready to have our go at the upper mountain. Tomorrow, we say bye to the wonderful basecamp staff that have been taking good care of us and move to Camp One.

We are ready and excited to progress up this mountain.

Adios,
RMI Guides Hannah, Ben, Dan, and Team

We had a windy and cold morning to break camp down and descend to Basecamp. The team rallied and now we are enjoying some snacks, drinks and packing for mules. Tomorrow we’ll walk to Pampa las Lenas for an asado and night under the stars if the weather cooperates. The end of a great expedition to Aconcagua.

This is our last dispatch, thanks for following along.

RMI Guides Mike King, Dominic Cifelli, Jack Delaney & Team

Welcome to our Mexico's Volcanoes blog, where we will keep our friends, family and pets up to date on our travels and climbs. 

The team arrived in Mexico City today! 

It was a sunny and warm day to explore the city and all it offers. Friendly locals, good food and lots of history. The team stretched their legs after traveling with walks around the city and Chapultepec Park, which provided shade and quiet. 

Tonight we prepare and rest for our acclimitization hike tomorrow where our adventure really begins!

RMI Guide Abby Westling and Team

We woke to another brisk morning. The sun slowly creeps down the mountain. Once it hits the dome tent, everything/everyone warms up.

Today we made progress up the mountain. We sorted our gear to carry all the group food, fuel, kitchen items, our mountain snacks, and upper mountain equipment. Without doing carries, our packs would be far too heavy. Carries also help with acclimatization. With our heavy packs ready and the sun shining, we made our way to 16,400'. The team did great maneuvering through the moon scape like terrain. A final steep hill brought us into Camp One. We unloaded our packs and pile everything against a rock. We will be reunited with this gear on Monday when we leave the comforts of basecamp. After hanging at Camp One for 30 minutes letting our bodies exist at this altitude, we made quick work getting back to Basecamp where we were greeted with pizza and treats.

One final day resting at basecamp tomorrow and getting ready for our move up to Camp One tomorrow. RMI's First Aconcagua team comes down from 19k camp after a successful summit yesterday. It will be nice to see familiar faces and hear about their trip. The sun has disappeared so it’s time for the sleeping bag and tent.

Goodnight all,

RMI Guides Hannah, Ben, Dan, and team

Saturday, January 14, 2023 1:07 PM PT

We awoke early in the morning to chilly temps and moderate winds. Our summit bid had begun! It took several hours of slogging uphill before the sun finally blessed us with its presence. The rest of the climb was warm and the summit itself was windless!

The descent was smooth and exhausting. Everyone is back in camp safe and sound. Tomorrow we begin to descend into thicker air.

RMI Guides Mike King, Dominic Cifelli, Jack Delaney and Team

Saturday, January 14, 2023 9:30 AM PT

The Team stood on the summit of Aconcagua at 22,841' today!  All is well, and we will share more details of our climb when we get back to camp!

RMI Guide Mike King

Our warmup stretch is coming to an end as we head to the Cayambe today. It takes a handful of days acclimatizing in cities and shorter day hikes before it makes sense to be sleeping above 15,000' at the Cayambe hut. All members of the team completed both acclimatization hiked, Rucu Pichincha (15,354') and Cerro Fuya Fuya (14,039'), in good style.

After a quiet night at the quaint La Casa Sol we are now at the Otavalo Market. People choose from a variety of activities here: souvenir shopping, a visit to the pharmacy or for myself enjoying an affogato in my favorite coffee shop.

Thank you for following along and look for updates from us in the coming days. Tomorrow is skills training on the glacier and the following night we will make our summit attempt on Cayambe!

RMI Guides Dustin, Henry & Team

Our Aconcagua team moved to High Camp. The winds stopped as if a switch had been flipped around 9:30 last night. The eerily calm night led to another calm and hot day. The summit winds were still high with snow blowing 1,000 feet into the sky but have begun to calm down, or all the snow has vacated the summit. We will get some rest, eat and hydrate before turning in for the evening. Sleep is hard to come by at 19,600'. Hoping for a successful summit day tomorrow. We'll keep you posted!

--RMI Guide Mike King and team

Hello friends, families, Farmer Dave and anyone else out there who might be following our blog. We have just kicked off the first Ecuador Expedition of 2023. It started with a rainy travel day and a rainy day for our Quito city tour (although a few of us still managed minor sunburns). Today, we took our first acclimatization hike and were surprised/delighted to wake up to partially sunny skies! 

The hike up Rucu Pichincha is really quite scenic. I think it’s my favorite day hike in the world that is more or less in a major metropolitan area. A gondola takes us to 13,000’ where we begin our ascent to the summit of Rucu Pichincha (13,354’). Along the way there are a variety of wildflowers and the final push to the summit is engaging, involving a short section of class 3 scrambling. 

I should also mention that the team is in good health, especially thanks to the newly renovated penthouse spa here at the Hotel Mercure. Many of us have used this opportunity to cycle cold plunges and wet sauna or cold plunges and hot tubbing. Henry, the ultimate masochist, prefers cold plunge only, first thing in the morning. 

Tomorrow we will depart Quito early to head north. The itinerary of this trip has us working our way from north to south, making attempts on Cayambe, Antisana and Chimborazo. These are the 3rd, 4th and 1st highest mountains in Ecuador, respectively. We also hope to capture a glimpse of Cotopaxi, which is normally on the itinerary but was scratched this time due to recent eruptions and a moratorium on summit bids. Better to witness that from a safe distance. 

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Howdy all,

After a somewhat fitful nights sleep accompanied by the barking of our new dog friend and the whineying of mules, the team awoke to some slightly threatening skies. Luckily we had the reprieve of our dome tent to allow for an easy morning breakfast and coffee. As if the coffee wasn't enough to wake us up we began the morning crossing the Vacas River to enter into the Relinchos Valley. The mules were hot on our tail as we began our gradual ascent to Plaza de Argentina Basecamp. Once gaining a high platuea we received our second view of Ameghino and Aconcagua. The stoke rose with the elevation. We were greeted warmly to Plaza de Argentina with some tasty and warm lentil soup, juice, dulce de leche and fresh fruit. The afternoon was spent taking in the panoramic views and lots of relaxing. After another delicious meal and some fine Mendoza malbec, the team, full, happy and tired, retreated to their tents. That's it for now, tune in next time!

RMI Guides Hannah, Ben, Dan and the team