Entries from Bolivia

We woke up to full-on winter on Huayna with several inches of snow outside and more coming down- quite the contrast from the summer-like conditions we experienced on Pequeno Alpamayo just a few days prior. We dragged out feet a bit and drank some more coffee to give the skies time to clear. Finally at 2:30 am we geared up and headed outside. It was still snowing lightly but without much wind the temperatures were honestly quite pleasant for climbing.

After scrambling through a few hundred feet of rocky terrain to the toe of the glacier we roped up and began a gradual ascending traverse. The snow continued falling steadily, but the winds remained minimal and everyone settled into their hypoxic headlamp bubble as we trudged up the glacier. Hannah, our local guide Marcello and I were constantly digging small hand pits in the snow and assessing the potential avalanche conditions- we were pleasantly surprised to find the storm snow well bonded to the surface and generally unreactive, so we continued climbing as into thinner air despite the snow becoming gradually deeper the higher we got. Finally at around 18,600' we were faced with a steep traverse and a change in the snow- what was previously benign fluff had changed to a fairly concerning wind slab. Add in the increasing severity of the terrain and a gaping crevasse underneath the traverse and the decision to turn around was disappointing, but easy to make.

We turned tail and made quick work of the descent, stepping off the glacier onto the rocks just as the sun crested the horizon. The snow had stopped and the skies remained clear for a few minutes, and we were treated to an absolutely stunning sunrise as we made our way back down to the hut. More coffee, a second breakfast and a brief nap for some followed, and before long we were making our way down the steep and rocky trail to the base hut. While always disappointing not to reach the summit, our team did everything in our power to make it happen, and I'm confident that with more favorable conditions we would have summited in great style. We're back in La Paz now getting some well earned rest.

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo & Team

We're all settled in up Huayna high camp. Yesterday we enjoyed a mellow morning at Condoriri Base Camp, and then made our way back to the bus with the help of the mules once again. From there it was back up and over the pass separating the eastern side of Huayna from the Condoriri zone and down Refugio Vista Panorámica Huyana Potosi, a lovely and comfortable mountain lodge with stunning views of the route we're climbing tonight. Everyone got a long and welcome night of sleep, and we moved well up the steep and rocky trail to the high hut at almost 17k'. Our wonderful cook staff from Andean Summits has prepared a delicious lamb and rice lunch for us, and now everyone is having a siesta ahead of another alpine start tonight!

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo & Team

The whole team stood on top of Pequeño Alpamayo today! We woke up to an almost shockingly warm night, and although it still got a little chilly at 17,000' at 4 am we spent most of the day in just one or two layers and thin gloves. Conditions were vastly better than the last time I climbed Pequeño in 2024, but don't be fooled, this was still a very long, hard day and everyone had to give it their all. To even get to the mountain one first must summit Tarija, itself a glaciated 5000m peak, before descending several hundred feet of 3rd and 4th class rock terrain to the saddle with Paqueño Alpamayo, all before the really steep climbing starts. All told you essentially summit three 5000 meter peaks, since you have to climb back up the rocks to Tarija on the way back, which makes for a pretty challenging "acclimatization" day, but such is the nature of climbing in the Cordillera Real. Hannah and I are both so proud of this team and impressed by everyone's efforts both on the mountain and in the preparation at home. We couldn't be more excited for two more big summit attempts within the next week!

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo

Wednesday, May 20, 2026 - 4:52 pm PT

Made it up to Condoriri basecamp today with the help of about a dozen mules. After setting up camp and having lunch we kept walking up to the toe of the glacier at around 16,000,' where we spent a few hours reviewing some more advanced mountaineering skills- steep cramponing, ice climbing and lowering and rappelling. We're getting to bed early ahead of an alpine start tomorrow, we'll check in when we're all back in camp tomorrow afternoon!

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo

Tuesday, May 19, 2026 - 5:49 pm PT

We left La Paz in the wee hours of the morning, navigating the maze of city streets to the highway leading to Huayna Potosi. As we neared the base of Huayna we could see headlamps high on the summit ridge, an exciting preview of what's to come. The sun was just beginning to rise as we turned north on a road that seemed improbable at best in a passenger van, but our driver navigated with ease and precision while we took in breathtaking early morning views of the west face of Huayna. After creating a 16000+' pass the "road" dropped down towards the Condoriri valley, and we hopped out of the van to stretch our legs for the final few miles to the Rinconada trailhead. We set up camp in the meadow surrounded by grazing llamas and alpacas. After lunch the rest of the afternoon was spent napping and organizing gear into loads for the mules that will help us move up to Condoriri base camp tomorrow. It's great to be out of the hustle and bustle of the city and under the spectacular Milky Way sky.

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo

Monday, May 18, 2026 - 6:13 pm PT

Yesterday took the team to several unique sights around the south end of La Paz, all while breathing the thin air and preparing our bodies for the high peaks that lie ahead. First up was Valle de la Luna, a bizarre collection of rain-eroded rock towers in the middle of the suburbs not far from our hotel. From there we drove uphill a few minutes before hiking to Muela del Diablo, a striking rock tower overlooking the city. After taking some time to enjoy the views it was on to a longer hike to a stunning viewpoint a little above 13000', where we enjoyed a picnic lunch and made a traditional Bolivian offering to honor the mountains we came here to climb. Yesterday in the Witch's Market we acquired an offering pallet of sorts, made up of various chalk and sugar pieces each inscribed with imagery asking for blessings of various parts of our travels, topped with a generous helping of coca leaves. Javier, our local liaison and logistics coordinator, explained the significance of each part of the offering before setting fire to it all on the mountain top where we found ourselves enjoying lunch, complete with great views of Huayna Potosi to the north and Illimani to the south. This important ritual complete, it was on to another short hike past more stunning columns of eroded conglomerate, these ones several hundreds of feet high!

Today we ventured a little higher with an acclimatization hike near Cerro Saturno on the northeastern edge of the city. It was a lunar-like landscape of near-black sand, loose shale and the occasional picturesque lagoon. We topped out at just over 16000', a new altitude record for some in the group! We returned to the hotel by mid-afternoon to organize and pack our gear for the coming week of climbing. After a leisurely few days of acclimatization, it is finally time to head to the big mountains! We're making an early start for Rinconada tomorrow, and will spend the next several days climbing in the Condoriri group. The team is feeling strong, psyched and ready to get up high! 

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo

Saturday, May 16, 2026 - 7:26 pm PT

Greetings from La Paz!

After many hours of travel over the last few days, the whole team assembled at Hotel Mitru Sur this morning for the official start of our trip. After a gear check and a delicious steak and seafood lunch we headed out to explore the city, making use of the teleferico (cable car) system that travels all over the cities of La Paz and El Alto.  This allowed us to see some sights and reach 13,000' without having to put in too much effort as we start to acclimatize to the high altitude we start at here in Bolivia.

We plan to spend the next two days based out of La Paz, with making day hikes to progressively higher altitudes to allow our bodies to begin adjusting before we head to the big mountains. I'm so excited to be here for the second time, and to share this beautiful country and stunning mountains with a new group.

Stay tuned for more in the coming days! 

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo

It's been a whirlwind of a last couple of days for us,

Once we arrived at basecamp of Illimani and saw the conditions up close, we realized how icy, firm and steep conditions were on the route.  Our local IFMGA guide Javier who has been guiding in Bolivia since 1982 said it was the worst conditions he's ever seen.  Climbing Illimani is a serious undertaking that has taken the lives of numerous climbers over the years.  With the conditions we were faced with, it was clear then that the risks associated with making a summit attempt were simply too high, and that Illimani would have to wait.

We decided as a group to not attempt the climb but take the next day to all climb to high camp at 17,800' (called the Condor's Nest). On our hike up the rocky ridge, we were graced by a rare sighting of an Andean Condor overhead. We enjoyed another beautiful night in basecamp next a peaceful creek, where llamas grazed in the fields around our tents.  

The next day we made the long trip back on the windy dirt roads to La Paz where we enjoyed some really good pizza and not so good beer (unless you like sours).  With the program drawing to a close a day early, it gave people an extra day to explore everything Bolivia had to offer.  Most of our time here had been spent in the high mountains and the highlands that are typically over 14,500'.  Yesterday we made the long descent some 3500m down into the rainforest and jungle on the eastern side of Bolivia, where we wound up at a wildlife refuge. Breathing the thick heavy air at 4000' and lush green jungle and coca farms it felt like we had entered a different country.  

Although we weren't able to summit our last peak, the group was able to climb Pequeno Alpamayo and Huayna Potosi, which are two impressive peaks in one of the most underrated parts of the Andes. Bolivia is home to some of the most amazing mountains and friendliest most welcoming people.  It was great to be back here after 5 years and to share it with such a great group of people.  We're looking forward to returning to Bolivia in 2025!

RMI Guides Henry and Andy

The group got a much-needed rest day in La Paz that included some shopping, laundry and good eating. We went to Ancestral restaurant for dinner, which is one of the top up and coming restaurants in Latin America. Most of us selected our own steaks and we enjoyed an amazing dinner.

The next morning, we loaded our van and headed to Illimani.  After several hours of driving on windy dirt roads we arrived in Another winding dirt road led us to basecamp where we slept next to a peaceful creek under a starry night.

RMI Guides Andy Bond, Henry Coppolillo & Team

Yesterday was our second summit of the trip, and the first time above 6000m for several members of the team! We had the luxury of being the only group in the refugio on Sunday night so it was easy to get to bed early in advance of our midnight wake up. 

We left the hut at 1 am under a beautiful starry sky. A short rock scramble brought us to the toe of the glacier, which started out as the loud, crunchy ice we’d become accustomed to on Tarija, but quickly transitioned to grippy neve. The night was cold but dead calm, and it was a really pleasant few hours of climbing in the darkness until we finally caught the first rays of sun at the base of the summit pyramid. 

The final few hundred feet to the summit made for the hardest climbing of the day. The challenge of steep, at times rocky and loose walking was compounded by the thin air at almost 20,000’! The team took it in stride and soon we were all on top, admiring the views of La Paz and the surrounding peaks. After high fives, photos and a brief rest we began making our way back down to the hut. Everyone moved well and we made it off the glacier well before noon. With showers, comfy beds and cold drinks in La Paz in mind we only spent about 45 minutes resting at the hut before continuing the descent all the way back to the road. A few hours later we were enjoying a delicious dinner at Hotel Mitru Sur before turning in early for a well deserved night of sleep. 

This morning everyone headed out to explore the city and do some site seeing and souvenir shopping. This afternoon we’ll pack up for Illimani and head south to Pinaya first thing tomorrow. 

RMI Guide Andy Bond & Team