Entries from Expedition Dispatches
The Mexican Volcanoes team got an early start this morning, and by 10am we were above the Mexico City fog and enjoying the mountains around us. A two-hour drive brought us to the high altitude resort of Malintzi, a collection of rustic cabins with million dollar views of the valley below.
Towering above Malintzi is the peak, La Malinche at 14,640ft. Recent storms have covered the upper flanks of the mountain with snow and as we hiked uphill this afternoon we noticed more and more snow. Eventually, around 13,300 ft, we felt that we had gone far enough and decided to head downhill.
Back in Malintzi we enjoyed an incredible dinner of carne asada.
Thanks for following along on our adventure.
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens
After long journeys from all over the US we finally gathered at our hotel in Mexico City. Excitement and anticipation were high throughout the group as we discussed the upcoming trip. We then made our way through the noise Saturday night streets of Zona Rosa, Mexico City, to an authentic Mexican restaurant called, El Refugio Fonda. After a decadent meal, we picked our way back to the hotel to pack and get some rest before we set off on the first leg of our trip tomorrow. Thanks for following along with us here in Mexico.
RMI Guides Geoff Schellens & Eric Frank
Posted by: Billy Nugent, Chase Nelson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Yesterday was a big day for all of us up on Chimborazo and thankfully the near perfect weather allowed us to stand on top! All in all our summit day took 13 some hours round trip including a deceptively difficult two-hour walk across the summit plateau from the Veintimilla summit to the barely higher Whymper summit. Riddled with deep trenches and fantastic snow mushrooms, what should have taken no more than an hour was a brutal two hour jaunt back and forth. We were fortunate enough to enjoy perfectly calm winds and clear skies on top, which made it not so bad. We even got to peep some views of Cotopaxi smoking in the distance before gearing up for our descent. We were greeted warmly back at the Estrella de Chimborazo where we ate a celebratory dinner and promptly crashed in their cozy beds. Right now we are on the bus headed back for Quito where we hope to have one last celebratory dinner as a team before at least half of us head for the airport to catch a red-eye flight home. All in all it was a quite an adventure and I'd like to thank the team for rolling with the punches the whole trip and hanging in there til the end. And I'd also like to thank the other guides, Chase, David, and Diego along with Victor, our driver, for all the help along the way.
Until next time...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Hey it's Billy checking in. We are all back safe and sound at our camp on Chimborazo. We're about to actually hike on down to the bus. We had a safe and successful climb to the summit today. Just about perfect weather most of the day. That's all I have to report. Long, long day- everyone is super tired but definitely big smiles on our faces. As we were just talking about this, it totally rethinks our whole trip down here. That's all I have for now. Signing off and we'll check in again tomorrow evening at the end of the trip.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
RMI Guide Billy Nugent checks in post Chimborazo summit.
Hey There,
It's Billy calling from high Camp on Chimborazo at around 17,500 feet. I'm up here with all the team everyone is doing extremely well, and we're even enjoying the semi-decent weather. We are in the clouds but the wind is calm and it's not raining, so compared to what we've been dealing with so far this trip we will take it! The team is just resting after our hike up here and pretty soon we'll be eating some tasty Mountain House freeze dried dinners and getting to bed early so we are in a good position to get up in the middle of the night tonight and take a crack at the summit. Hopefully I'll be giving you a call next from the top of the mountain, but if not we'll check in or if you know how it went.
That's all for now, bye!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent calling in from High Camp on Chimborazo
Go SPS!!! Go Daddy!!! We love you!! Have fun!! Roh?, lalalalalal
Posted by: Team Chapman on 2/13/2016 at 5:56 am
Have a great summit day, guys!
Posted by: Craig Falkenhagen on 2/12/2016 at 6:17 pm
Hi everyone! The RMI Aconcagua team is safely back at Base Camp. We are enjoying cokes and beers and just relaxing. I will be honest, most of us are exhausted, me included. It was a perfect summit day and it has taken its toll. We all deserve to relax and unwind. This is officially the last blog post for our team. We will walk out tomorrow and arrive in Mendoza on the 13th. Thanks for all of your support along the way. Ciao from Aconcagua.
RMI Guide JJ Justman and JM Gorum
On The Map
Congratulations on your summit mike. That was huge…. Eric
Posted by: Eric on 2/12/2016 at 2:45 am
The team enjoyed a nice night at the Chuquiragua Lodge where we were able to dry out, get a good night's sleep, and even practice some anchor equalization and crevasse rescue in the courtyard. Victor, our driver, showed up around noon to join us for lunch and we'll be heading out soon for a night at Estrella de Chimborazo before starting up on the mountain in earnest tomorrow...
All for now,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Billy and Company - Enjoy every minute of your experience down in Ecuador, ran or shine - it’s the journey as much as the destination. Would LOVE to be with you right now! Thanks again for an amazing two weeks up on Aconcagua. I had a fantastic time.
Special greetings to my good friend, Rob Yonaitis.
Best regards, Craig
Posted by: Craig Falkenhagen on 2/11/2016 at 11:09 am
Posted by: Billy Nugent, Chase Nelson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
The "improving trend" turned out to be a bunch of baloney and shortly after finishing my dispatch last night the starry sky clouded over and began to steadily pour almost without relent. We woke in the morning and the steady downpour had not begun to show signs of letting up. The team decided over breakfast that with the zero probability of climbing Antisana, that our best move was to pack up and hike out and hopefully dry out at a hacienda. So here we are, some time on the road later hanging up all of our gear to dry yet again at another hacienda this time at a scenic spot at the base of the Illinizas. Despite the tough weather the gang is doing our best to have fun and enjoy the Ecuadorian countryside. All this traveling has been fun but we're hoping to get in a little more legit climbing before our trip winds down.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Original Post 6:34 a.m. PST
Hey everyone. This is JJ Justman and JM and Team Aconcagua. The team is on the summit of Aconcagua! Just below 23,000 feet! My voice is a little hoarse but I am going to hold the phone out and we're going to give the team a chance to give a big hooray. [Team in the background.] It was a beautiful day climbing. We are the only ones up here on the summit right now. It's a very quiet day. The weather is crystal clear, not a cloud in the sky, a light breeze. It's supposed to be blowing a little bit more later today. We got an early start and it was a great effort by the team. We still have to get down, but it's a safe route. We'll get back to camp in several hours. You guys, it's been a great adventure. Thanks for following along. We'll touch base again here soon. From the summit of Aconcagua, this is the RMI team saying, "Arrivederci!"
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Update 9:54 a.m PST
RMI Guide JJ Justman checked in with the RMI Office. The team is back and high camp safe and sound. Everyone is focusing on staying hydrated and resting. The team will spend the night at high camp and descend to base camp tomorrow morning.
RMI Guide JJ Justman calls from the Aconcagua summit!
On The Map
Congratulations JJ and team! Can’t believe the weather improved so much since our attempt just a few weeks ago. Enjoy your descent and asado at Pampa de las Lenas. Craig
Posted by: Craig Falkenhagen on 2/11/2016 at 10:23 am
congratulations to team lawler- ken and brad. what an effort! can’t wait to have you back at home.
Posted by: anne lawler on 2/10/2016 at 6:43 pm
Hi all!
Your intrepid team woke this morning after a solid night's sleep to mostly dry gear (although there were some attempts to dry gloves out the window of the bus) and enjoyed a nice breakfast at our hacienda before heading south towards our next objective. Many hours of transit later we've made camp in a beautiful alpine meadow on the side of Antisana and are about to enjoy our first night in tents. The weather currently has cleared significantly and the wind has calmed to nearly a standstill but things weren't looking so good for most of the day today. Rain plagued our spirits for most of the drive from Guachalá to Antisana and while setting up tents in a bit of drizzle we weren't so sure that we were going to be so lucky. Knock on wood. Hopefully this improving trend will continue and we will get to take an honest shot at the summit. But first tomorrow calls for a day trip up above our camp to the glacier where we hope to practice our crevasse rescue among other technical skills before returning to camp on the eve of our climb. We enjoyed a tasty spaghetti dinner and are now all tucked in in anticipation of tomorrow's early rise.
All for now!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
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Congratulations to the team on successfully summiting!!! Go…..Jason!!! How exciting!!!
Posted by: Esther & Dean Chapman on 2/13/2016 at 4:57 pm
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