Entries from Locations

We met yet another stray dog friend today- oh wait, that’s not what this blog about! We are incredibly happy and proud to say that every single team member stood on top of North America’s 3rd highest peak, Pico de Orizaba, today! What a day it was too! We awoke for our alpine start to find that the sky was clear, the wind light, and the temperatures still warm from the previous day. The route takes us up an old aqueduct, then up a rocky slope for a couple of hours until you reach a feature called the labyrinth, aptly named. That is when the weather started to turn from warm and windless to bitter and howling. Up we went, navigating the labyrinth with all its ice, mud, and rock and to the base of the of the Jamapa Glacier. A team member described the glacier as “walking up a descending escalator”, never ending and relentless. On we pushed, with perseverance stretched to its limit we crested the caldera ridge and on to the true summit where we met back up with our 2 other rope teams and embraced.

We are back down now, safe and sound, about to jump in our showers and wash up before dinner, our last one as a team. Seems surreal for it to be over so soon, but we look forward to seeing everyone in the mountains again. This is the Mexico climbing team signing off.

Except there is the picture of our dog friend walking us down to Base.

RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli, Abby Westling and Team

After another long deep sleep, its coffee that gets most of the team out of bed. One by one, we all wandered to the breakfast table. We are greeted with espresso, fruit, and toast. There is a mystery fruit on the table. Inside is a snot like texture with a sweet taste. The morning entertainment is watching everyone figure out how to eat it. Consesus is the texture might be a bit much. After breakfast its another round of duffle shuffle into the van. The driver has a real skill for stacking our jenga tower of bags.  After a quick lesson on pickets and anchors, we load the van to head to the base of Chimborazo. Chimborazo is our final mountain. Fingers crossed we bat 3 for 3.  A half way stop for burgers and fries fills our stomachs for the rest of the drive. As we get closer and closer to our destination we are graced with a tiny view of the bottom of Chimborazo and many vicunas. We are again in an adorable place for the night. We all rest up for the final climb. Tomorrow will bring us to High Camp and then hopfully the summit. For now we enjoy dinner and bid you goodnight.

RMI Guide Hannah Smith

Oh, what a difference 24 hours makes!

Last night the team was at dinner enjoying mole, drinking beer, and recalling our climb on Ixta.

Tonight, we find ourselves at the Refugio below Orizaba repacking our bags and preparing for an alpine start. Tomorrow looks promising for us. The weather is good, the team is strong and reports say that the route is in good condition.

With any luck we look forward to reporting in tomorrow morning from the summit!

RMI Guides Dominic, Abby, and Team

Today the team enjoyed a well deserved rest day in the beautiful city of Puebla. After enjoying breakfast together at the hotel, we all went our separate ways and wandered the city streets, taking in the views and enjoying everything from fresh squeezed juices to fried grasshoppers. At 7pm, we met up at one of our favorite restaurants for a team dinner, where we tasted some of Mexico's finest moles, a sauce unique to this area. We followed this up with a quick trip to the ice cream stand, just down the street, then headed to our hotel's rooftop patio to take in the evening views. We're headed off bright and early tomorrow morning to start our move to basecamp for our Orizaba climb. Everyone is excited and ready for the next leg of the trip. 

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

Hannah and I are thrilled to announce to bloglandia that every RMI team member, all 13 of us, summited Cotopaxi this morning around 6:15 am.   I gotta say, this team is batting the perfect game.   Every climber has successfully reached the top of all four mountains without as much as a few blisters.   Granted I taped those blisters up this morning at 12:03 am and I was happy they weren’t mine, but it goes to show that stamina and toughness go a long way up here.   

Potentially assisting in the team’s great success is the unbelievable weather.   I was awe struck at how beautiful Cayambe was but surprised even more at the perfection of today’s weather and route conditions.   Whoever cashed in their karma chips certainly deserves a Pilsner Grande for their investment.   We simply could not be blessed with better luck.  Adding to the beauty this evening was a near full moon which lit up the glacier so brightly we were able to climb without headlamps.    Usually one element, wind, rain, snow, fog or cold is waiting for you at the top.  Today all we had was an intense rotten egg smell from the still active lava tube belching sulfurous gas but other than that nada mucho.   

After a spectacular climb and full blown photo shoot extravaganza, we descended quickly to the hut for homemade pancakes.  Again, this is how mountain climbing should be?   (When do we get cooks again at camp Muir?)

A brief packing session and 600 vertical foot hike down to the bus landed our exhausted carcasses into our assigned seats and off to the Hacienda for a needed shower and big dinner.   I think the average calorie burn on peoples watches indicated between 7 and 9 thousand calories for the day so some papas fritas and lots of meat shouldn’t tighten the belt too much.  

We hope this trend continues tomorrow as we head further south to attempt the grand finale of Chimborazo.   This mountain is notorious for its difficulty so stay tuned.

RMI Guide Adam Knoff

Today was a day we have all been hoping for.  No alarm clocks, no rush to load the small mountain of duffles in the bus and internet all morning.  

By the whipping crack of 1pm we had pacticed cravasse rescue, drank a gallon of coffee and packed our mountain bags.

A short bus ride up a road bumpy enough to make our seats feel like vibrating massage chairs, landed us at 15,200 feet.  A 40 minute cruise took us to the Jose Ribas refugio on the flanks of Cotopaxi.  We can definitely feel the 16,000 foot altitude. But after Cayambe we are all well prepared.   We even have the privilege of waking up "tomorrow" because our alarm clocks won't ring until one minute past midnight.   Wish us well as we are once again a full team with Maria's knee feeling much better. 

Climb on!!

RMI Guide Hannah Smith

Patience was the name of the game for Ixta. The team awoke multiple times during the night to find various conditions. First snow, then total whiteout, then a menacing cloud cap over the upper mountain. Knowing the patterns of the local mountains we decided to take the cloud cap as our opportunity to climb and we’re rewarded. As we climbed, the cloud dissipated, and team was able to keep ascending under the full moon and cool temps. We reached the summit at 7:50 AM with views of the surrounding peaks and the route we had just ascended. No time to waste though, it was time to descend. We knew of the incoming weather and descended without incident to the parking lot.

Off to Puebla we went to enjoy our much-deserved showers, tacos, and real beds. Great effort by all the team members and we look forward to exploring Puebla tomorrow.

RMI Guides Dominic, Abby and Team

The estimated mileage today was 13.1. It was totally worth it. We left around 6 am and had the trail mostly to ourselves. The hike was mostly “matt approved” but it did require some climbing and large steps that after nine days made several of us glad that we were nearing the end of our trek. Last night in Refugio Torres Central there was a disco that kept some awake and those in tents dealt with a cantankerous set of crepuscular song birds that wouldn’t be silenced, but I digress. The Towers were out upon our arrival in the large granite cirque and the wind was moderate. We watched wannabe influencers take photos and more than a couple almost wreck themselves doing the “jumping” 80’s photo thing that won’t die. The contentious total was 93.4 miles and 16,000' elevation gain over the last nine days.

The entire group is showered and ready to dive into some pizza and continue to quench that irresistible thirst that has stalked us since Lago Dickson. When we distill the trip down, Patagonia is beautiful, sore feet were experienced by all, fun and laughter abounded and now two grown adults dressed in penguin onesies are delivering drinks to say “salud” to a great group and trip together. 

RMI Guide Mike King

Greetings all,

With a body exhausted from little sleep and climbing a volcano the team enjoyed a great nights sleep. Sleep apps showed we all slept so well we were basically comatose. As we all rose from our slumber we casually allowed our bodies to wake while sipping coffee and basking in a beautiful morning. 

Today is a rest day as we transfer to Tambopoxi and run through some skills. A three hour drive through more beautiful scenery brought us to the park entrance. Once again you can feel the excitement as we get ready for Cotopaxi. The mountain is being shy tonight, so no views of this beauty yet. Maybe in the morning she will reveal herself. 

Before dinner the team gathered around a playground set where we pretended the monkey bars were the edge of a crevasse. In this scenario the team learned how to self rescue if they had fallen into a crevasse. Using the previous skills of learning about friction hitches, we all ascended the rope pretending we were climbing out of crevasse. Cookies and a glass of wine/beer wrapped up our skill session. 

Many times on climbing trips you lose some weight, but on this trip we are all eating so well that who knows maybe we gain a pound. Dinner once again was delcious followed by a beautiful looking dessert. We are not sure exactly what it was but we can all agree it was delightful.

With heavy eyes, we all leave the table for bed. Showers and phone calls to loved ones wrappwd up our rest day. Tomorrow we go through some more skills before heading up to the hut on Cotopaxi. Round two here we come!

RMI Guides Adam, Hannah, and team

The team awoke early this morning to frost encasing the tents. As we broke the icey zippers and looked out we saw what the crisp morning had brought. Sprawling views of Ixtaccihuatl, a smoking Popocatepetl, and the valley below. To let the frost melt, we hit the pause button and enjoyed our delicious breakfast/coffee before we donned our heavy packs and hit the trail. Unfortunately, the weather decided to change its tune too. We battled the cold wind and whirling clouds as the team pushed on. With a quicker clip than usual, we were all business and made great time getting up to our high camp at 15,400 ft, many of the teams high points. Now we’re bundled up, eating quesadillas, and planning for the climb ahead. Hoping for good weather for tomorrow. Wish us luck!!!

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli