Entries from Expedition Dispatches

With dust in our eyes (it hasn’t snowed here since early January) and a dream in our hearts (no matter how dirty and tired we are, we all continue wanting it), we awoke at 12:45am this morning to climb Iztaccíhuatl (Ixta). Actually, we were all awake around 10:45pm to overhear the saga of two of our climbers trying to get a mouse out of their tent. Either way, these alpine starts always seem to come a touch too early.

Our day started with a sleepy ascent of “The Knees” section of the route. Once atop “The Knees”, there was a moderate wind that stuck around all day. Most of us wore parkas for nearly the entire climb; it was chilly but beautifully clear. Once the sun came up, we could clearly pick out skyscrapers in downtown Mexico City, which is unassumingly, the fifth largest city in the world.

The group powered through cold, wind and dust and everyone who made the attempt today also reached the summit! Congrats to this bus full of climbers who will enjoy their well-deserved Tacos Arabe in Puebla this evening.

Dustin

We weathered another stormy night in our tents at Paine Grande. Some people in camp, not our group had poles snap, some unfortunately lost their entire tents. Our eight mile hike to Francis Domes included an optional 5k to the British lookout. The clouds, cold temperature & snow obscured the views from below. A few kept going in hopes of a clear-ish view while some opted to head for shelter. 

We continue to enjoy classic Patagonia weather that keeps you guessing on your layer changes. Everyone is doing well and looking forward to a night in beds at the wood stove heated Francis Domes Refugio, a nice break from wind & loud tents. Today's highlight was seeing the Cuernos rock features that make up the middle of the massif.

Thanks for following along,

RMI Guide Mike King

Good morning all,

After enjoying a relaxing day at Casa Ilayaku the team is ready to get back to business and start walking uphill. A two hour drive brought us to the basecamp for Antisana. A quick duffle shuffle and gear sort gets us psyched and ready for our early departure, hopefully to the top this time. It's early to bed to rest the eyes and body. Fingers crossed the weather cooperates this time. 

Happy belated Valentines Day to all our loved ones,

RMI Guides Avery, Hannah, and Team

Feliz Día de San Valentin :)

We are now settled in at high camp on Ixta after a day of good Mexican eating and a four hour hike with heavy packs.

Everyone is in good spirits as we enjoy another nice sunset and prepare for our first big summit attempt of the trip.

Dustin

Today was a double activity day for some.  Three of us started the day with a morning kayak tour in Lago Grey.  Despite the winds up high the conditions on the lake were great.   We were able to kayak up and get a look at the Grey Glacier from the water.   We’ve now seen the glacier from above on the trail, from the surface during yesterday’s glacier walk and from the water!

We all took the walk from Refugio Grey to Refugio Paine Grande.  The rain chased us but didn’t catch us.  It was very windy up high but otherwise a dry and nice walk.  This was one of the shorter days and a good way to get back into the groove after the long day over the pass and the recovery day.   After arriving at Paine Grande a variety of treats were enjoyed at the bar while looking out over the lake. 

RMI Team Member Mark Nelson

We awoke at 11pm at the Cayambe hut to get an alpine start on our climb. Unfortunately, when we took a look outside we encountered sideways rain. We continued to monitor the weather throughout the night with hopes of getting a late start on the climb. Finally, around 5 am the wind and rain subsided enough for us to get out of the hut and do some climbing. By that time our we could not reasonably make it to the summit and back. We climbed up to 17,000 feet and did some training in the morning sun. That was a new high point for most of the team! Resting today in a beautiful hacienda outside Quito. Here we’ll learn crevasse rescue and set out sites on the next volcano, Antisana.

RMI Guide Avery Parrinello

Today we had a welcomed slower day. We took a motorboat out to Grey’s Glacier and put on helmets and crampons for a couple of hours of glacier hiking. The glacier is part of Patagonia’s ice field, the third largest in the world. We saw bright blue ice caves, deep pools, a glacial waterfall, and streams of clear water. 

Midway through our hike the guides served hot tea of ginger, cinnamon, and honey, plus chocolate bars. What a treat-to hold a cup of steaming tea and gaze out at the magnificent view of water, ice, and mountain.

Particularly satisfying was to look up at the John Gardner pass that we traversed yesterday. When we saw one of the three bridges we crossed, one member of our group commented, “Wow, it didn’t seem that high when I was on it.” It’s astounding to see yesterday’s hike from a completely different viewpoint and to stand in the midst of yesterday’s.

RMI Climber Melissa Earley

Today we are headed to Ixtaccihuatl via a several hour bus ride from the La Malintzi resort. It was a restful evening feasting on a parrillada and watching the Superbowl on a Spanish telecast. A well-deserved restful evening after successfully summitting La Malinche, which is hit or miss and dependent on how much argument (in Spanish) you’re willing to engage in with a heavily armed police officer. This time they left us alone, perhaps because it was such a nice day with no threat of lightning or rain.

Now we are in transit to Amecameca for some last-minute supplies. Today is mostly a travel and organization day, not quite a real rest day yet. We will update via InReach from the mountain so you can follow our progress!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

We had an early start after a windy night to begin our 9 hour day over John Gardner pass at 3,900'. The trail winds through a muddy forest for a few hours before getting into the alpine zone. There was fresh snow on the peaks surrounding us and lots of wind to motivate the group to take shorter breaks and keep moving to stay warm. 

We got into the pass with some nice views of the Grey glacier, one of the longer arms of the Southern Patagonian ice field. Once back into the trees to begin our descent the trail gets less than ideal from a knee and feet standpoint. The trail is steep and has large steps that make a measured and rhythmic stride all but impossible. It's just part of the trek, but not the best part of the trek. 

We are all in camp, some have gone for showers and some have gone for drinks. We all are looking forward to a good night and day off tomorrow.

Thanks for following along. 

RMI Guide Mike King

Good evening readers,

What is a great way to wake up you ask? Waking up to fresh mountain air and then you walk down a colorful spiral staircase to hot coffee that you sip on a porch looking out on the lush green hills towering all around you as birds tweet in the trees. They say mountain climbing is type 2 fun (fun once your done) but so far we are experiencing type 1 fun (fun as you do it). After our casual morning we loaded the bus to the Otavalo Market. Here is where you buy all the souvenirs for your loved ones back home, plus some for yourself. The big ticket items are blankets, art work, and chocolate. After all that bartering we had worked up an appetite and made our way to a lovely sandwich shop before ending at our final destination, a beautiful hostel at the base of Cayambe. We spent our afternoon learning knots, hitches, and Earnest anchors. These are our building blocks for further skills/training later. Tomorrow we head up to the Climbers Hut where we will continue our training and prepare for our early start Monday to, fingers crossed, the summit of Cayambe. Monday is not our only early start because the alarm clock goes off at 4am tomorrow. So it's early to bed for us as we rest up for many big days to come. 

Buenos noches,

RMI Guides Avery, Hannah, and Team