Entries from Locations

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

Friday, February 10, 2023 - 3:10 pm PT

Woke up today, packed up and headed out of Quito to start our travels throughout Ecuador's highlands. Our first stop is the town of Otavalo. To continue acclimatizing we drove up steep cobblestone roads to a peak Fuya fuya. We parked at a beautiful crater lake with the peak in the clouds above. Rain threatened throughout the day,  but after reaching the summit we returned to the bus without a drop. Looking forward to heading towards Cayambe tomorrow! 

RMI Guide Avery Parrinello

After a cloudy & rainy evening at Lago Dickson we began our hike to Perros with some blue sky and nice views of the glaciers that fill the valleys. Our hike took us deeper into the forest that fills the valley due to more rainfall coming over the pass we will ascend tomorrow morning. The team enjoyed views of the Perros glacier and lake before getting to camp. We'll have an early start tomorrow for our longest day over John Gardner Pass.

RMI Guide Mike King

Today we hiked 11 miles through rolling forest and grasslands. The views of the Paine River and Lake were enjoyable. The team enjoyed sun, wind & rain. Often these happened all at once.

We are relaxing at Lago Dickson, a beautiful camp along a glacial lake that often has ice floating in it. All is well in Southern Patagonia.

RMI Guide Mike King and Team

Hola readers,

Today the team got to stretch their legs and expand their lungs hiking on El Rucu Pichincha. This peak stands at roughly 15k at the foothills of Quito. The nice thing about this hike is we get to take a gondola to 13k before we start walking. The team performed well and looked strong and ready for the volcanos to come.

The clouds rolled in and out through the day, creating some mystery on where we actually were. Were we in Lord of the Rings? Would a dinosaur appear? Who knows! You truly can't beat the beauty out here.

Next, we go to Fuya Fuya to continue to allow our bodies adjust and compensate for the decrease in pressure and less oxygen molecules to suck in. We say goodbye to Quito and hello to the rest of the journey!

Avery, Hannah, and Team

We got picked up in Puerto Natales and enjoyed seeing rehas, guanacos & a fox during our scenic drive to the park. Our hike to Seron was 8.5 miles. The trail winds through beech trees with dry rolling grasslands along the Paine River. We had nice weather, wind to keep us cool & cloud cover for the UV. At camp, the team is enjoying some down time, charcuterie & dinner to conclude the day. All is good down in Patagonia. Camp Lago Dickson tomorrow.

Thanks,

RMI Guide Mike King

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Hello readers,

Today officially kicked off our Ecuador Seminar! The team gathered in the hotel lobby to introduce their selves, say why they chose the Seminar, and where they are coming from. From first glance it appears we have a fine looking team, who is going to be a hoot to climb five peaks with. After running through the itinerary for the next twi weeks, we grabbed a quick day pack and loaded the vans to go on our city tour. First stop was the equator where we learned many fun facts about the region, the culture, and how to make delicious chocolate. We also learned who has steady hands and the patience to balance an egg on the head of a nail. After the Equator we drove to a magnificent view of the city and walked the streets of old Town. It felt good to stretch the legs and see Quito. A casual night out for dinner wrapped up our day. Today we hit our first acclimatizing hike where we get to hopefully hit 15k feet and get our bodies adjusting to the high altitudes. The team is psyched and ready to go high.

Adios,

RMI Guides Avery Parrinello, Hannah Smith, and Team

The Torres del Paine trek team arrived over the last two days in Punta Arenas. Flying this far south requires a lot of plane, airport & layover time. We got an early start for our boat trip to Magdalena Island where a colony of magallenic penguins live.One and a half hours out the Straights of Magellan (if you haven't figured out that he's kind of a big deal down here) where the currents of the Atlantic & Pacific oceans collide resides a lot of penquinos. An hour loop got everyone a full dose of penguins, gulls & skuas. The baby penguins that hatched in November are big and still have trace amounts of their fuzzy down. 

We'll transfer to Puerto Natales this afternoon and get our gear check done. A quick meeting with our Chilean partners will get everyone ready to begin our trek of the "O" & "W" circuit of Torres del Paine National Park.

So far the weather has been nice, seas calm and winds low. We are eager to start walking towards Seron camp in the morning. 

RMI Guide Mike King

Last night we celebrated our return to Basecamp with an incredible meal of salad, eggplant, meat with chimichurri sauce and of course, wine. Most of us connected to Wifi and let family and friends know we were well and they were missed. The mood was celebratory and the conversations light and airy. We chatted, laughed and played Farckle late into the night knowing our task was not complete. We woke early and hiked for a total of 17.5 miles, spending the day processing the experience we are completing and what lessons it has taught us. But, how do you incorporate the lessons of the mountains to make yourself a better person? A better partner? A better parent? A better friend? Can you remember to enjoy the simple and minute moments in your day? Can you filter out the sounds of the wind, the background noise, and focus on what matters? Can you remember to take a break, take care of yourself and take care of your “team”? By the time we rolled into Leñas we were reminded that we have only a short walk out to civilization and all the pressures of the real world will be back but tonight we feasted again and laughed again and enjoyed the moment.  Whether that was petting a mule, watching the light fade on the mountain tops, feeling the cool breeze sweep through the valley or catch the stars brighten in the sky. Maybe that is the lesson of the mountain, being present and immersed in the moment, maybe that’s what keeps bringing us back to the mountains. 

PS: I love you Mama, Teddy and Everett. Can’t wait to give you big hugs and kisses soon.

Climber David Scordino

As the clouds dissipated and the grapple settled,  we awoke in our tents and decided to hit snooze. We waited for the warm kiss of the sun to dry our tents and only then, did we creak our sore muscles and joints into working.  Our walk down was a welcome change from the cold, damp weather of our night spent at Camp 3. The cool breeze, sunny skies, and grand vistas made our travel easy as we descended to Basecamp into open arms and champagne showers. 

We’re settled into Basecamp after a delicious asado and will sleep soundly tonight. Tomorrow, we start the walk out of the Vacas valley. It will be our final full day on the mountain. As pretty and rewarding as it’s been out here, we’re excited for the creature comforts that Mendoza has to offer.  

Tomorrow is a long day, but we’re excited to see the views and experience the valley without the nerves and trepidation that the beginning offers. 

Thanks for following along! 

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli