RMI Expeditions Blog

¡Buenas! 

Today the team met up with our local guide Jaime, who has summited Cotopaxi over 400 times, and had our first acclimatization hike to the summit of Rucu Pichincha, (15,696 ft or 4696m).  The weather was great with some clouds lingering but no precipitation which is amazing for this time of year in Ecuador. Today’s summit was the highest elevation a few of our climbers have ever been to, but the whole team did an amazing job. Luke even made a friend on the summit with a Carunculated Caracara, a falcon found high on the grassy slopes of Ecuador. 

The team has been taking advantage of the spa and cold plunge back at the hotel with Eric taking his first cold plunge yesterday and loved it so much he tried to go again at 5am this morning! (The spa was closed). 

Tonight the team continues to settle into life at high elevation, enjoying dinner in Quito, and packing for our move to the Illiniza Refugio (15,100’ or 4600m) tomorrow.  

¡Adios! 

RMI Guide Mac Nolde

Sunday, October 18, 2026

The fall Cotopaxi team has arrived in Ecuador and is settling in and acclimatizing in the city. We spent the morning getting to meet one another, covering some basics on travel and culture in Ecuador, and then venturing into Quito to explore.

A local tour guide provided the team with great insight and education on various cultural and religious point of Quito. Additionally, the team visited the Equator and spent some time learning through interactive exhibits and displays. The late afternoon was occupied by a team gear check before being cut free to rest and indulge in local cuisine before resting for the evening.

All is well and the team is doing well and looking forward to the big days to come. 

RMI Guide Mike Bennett

After nearly 30 hours of travel, we finally made it to this side of the world and checked into the comforts of our hotel. It is always challenging to stay awake the whole day after a long bit of travel, but we make it until evening. 

Tomorrow the plan is to catch a helicopter into the Khumbu Valley and slowly work our way to Ama Dablam Basecamp over the course of two days. The path will take us through a scenic river valley below towering peaks. We'll check in once we get established in Basecamp and have an updated weather forecast and from plan. 

Wish us luck! 

RMI Guide Eric Frank

Sure enough, our last night in Lukla was memorable.  Our guides and porters gave us a wonderful sendoff.  And today dawned crystal clear for the first time in perhaps a week.  Great weather for flying. It took most of the morning to get three helicopter loads of people and gear from the mountains to the big city but we did it.  Thankfully it was all smooth and uneventful… just great views of a million terraces and mountains and waterfalls and eventually roads and buildings and city streets.  In no time we were back to comfy hotel rooms with plenty of hot water for showers.  The team did one more hike… over to Thamel -the tourist sector- for a final dinner celebration.  The urban walking was at least as challenging as the rugged trails we took along the Dhud Khosi.  The team earned a victory dinner, for sure. 
Still a few travel days and many thousand miles before individuals are home, but we have come to the end of the program and the scattering of an excellent team. Thank you for following.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Orizaba summit! Windy and cold, but clear and above the clouds! An amazing mountain shadow as well :)

We topped out 7:15 am with all smiles.

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Boy oh boy, where art thou Roy?! We missed you good sir, but I have to give a huge congratulations to the rest of our team for successfully standing on top of Mexico! It was a big summit day for us on Pico de Orizaba. A job well done on this trip to all. Early this morning, we weren't sure if our final objective would come to fruition. As teams left the refugio to ostensibly climb Pico in the rain, we waited a little longer. We planned for the same, but 10 minutes later, the stars came out, we ripped off our hardshells, and off we went to summit Orizaba. Navigating through the Labyrinth and amongst other teams, the new snow made it seem like the day could end early, but alas, we endured. Along the way we got WAY too philosophical, sang songs that should have stayed in our head, and pushed ourselves to all new heights...literally. Have we had enough tacos yet? Definitely not. Do we wear ghastly colors like black. Heck no. Is bringing your sleeping bag everywhere with you a power move? Heck yes. And did we have the adventure of a lifetime?! Yes, we did, indeed. To all the perritos we met along the way, stay safe, y'all are cute, next time you can come home with us if you want. Congrats again to such an amazing team coming together to conquer this expedition in a variety of amazing ways. We are proud of you. And Roy, we expect a comment, or we may very likely for certain be disappointed.

RMI Guide Ben Luedtke & Team

Mexico dispatch 10.9.26
Hola!! to those following our trip.
Today was a big day for us! Moving from the comforts of Puebla to High Camp on Pico de Qrizaba. Our team member Roy unfortunately had to stav back on this one so I ate a pack of skittles (his favorite hiking snack) in his honor. We will definitelv miss him on this climb for his climbing strength and lighthearted demeanor! We are hoping to catch back up with him when we return ta Mexico.

We drove to Tlachicuca and dropped our duffels at Señor Reyes' climbing hostel where we will return after our summit attempt! It was super cool and even had an RMI poster hanging on the wall!
We all prepared for this climb in different ways. I slept for 17 hours and looked at pictures of my doa from his daycare he's at back home: Ben L. did his thing to make sure everything was ready to go to keep us ready and safe, scoured the streets of Puebla for his favorite summit snack, and peed a lot: Ben W. is ready for his redemption arc and made sure to swallow his chewable motion sickness medicine instead of chew it. Hey- we've all got our quirks
It has been a pretty cloudy and rainy day. Ben L. sees a small summit window so please send some prayers, wishes, or positive vibes our way for weather good enough for a strong summit attempt (and if you have some to spare, perhaps a dog showing for myself. I haven't pet one in a few days now).
Thanks for keeping up with us!

-RMI Climber Alexa Franks

It rained good and hard in Phakding last night and when we hit the trail this morning it was still mighty cloudy. We could just barely catch glimpses of new snow coating the hills above.  Our walk wasn’t too difficult, just a few good hills to scale -which gave our seasoned crew no trouble whatsoever.  The challenge was again dodging trains of loaded mules charging up valley with supplies for the tea houses. 
We did put on raincoats and pack covers at one point but the rain didn’t really set in until we’d reached our comfortable tea house in Lukla.  Our hope is that the weather will clear enough for our flights back to Kathmandu tomorrow.  In any case we are having dinner with our local guides Tenzing, Dawa, Kala, Jangbu and Surya along with our nine porters. We hope to thank them properly for getting us safely up and down in the big mountains while smiling all the way. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Today was cloudy, even drizzly and raining at times, but not altogether unpleasant.  We came down the big hill out of Namche and crossed the ultra high swinging bridge.  Back down to the crazy Dhud Khosi frothing and splashing and turning 90 degrees every fifty feet.  Before too long we exited the National Park and had some tea in Monjo.  A few more hours of walking, a half dozen more swinging bridges and dodging about a hundred load-bearing mule teams and we were back in Phakding.  We’re enjoying the low life down here at 8600 ft. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Thursday 10.8

After our early start on Ixtaccihuatl (Izta) yesterday, today was a free day. Our official itinerary was to "relax and explore the city," and we took that very seriously. Our alarms were off, our boots were retired for the afternoon, and the only summit we chased was whichever café had the shortest line. It did take a couple of trips up and down the stairs before we could stop leaning on the handrail for safety reasons!

Our hotel has been operating since the mid-1800s, in a building that was built in 1668, which makes the original building older than the United States, the mass production of sliced bread, and most of our knees. It's a block from the Zócalo, so we spent the day wandering the historic downtown and admiring churches that have been standing for centuries. The one sad thing about our neighborhood is how few stray dogs there are, which hit one of our teammates especially hard!

I also want to say that this group is great. We've been up in the middle of the night, above 17,000 feet, and tired in ways most people can't understand, and somehow everyone is still kind, funny, and attentive to each other. It makes the hard parts a lot easier. Two peaks down (La Malinche and Izta), and tomorrow we head for Orizaba, the big one at 18,491 feet. Tonight, though, it's dinner, a real bed, and probably another warm shower before sleeping. Orizaba's challenges can wait until tomorrow.

RMI Climber Roy Kurtz

RMI Guide Ben Luedtke and Team reached the summit of Ixtaccihuatl on Wednesday, October 7 at 7:10 am local time with two climbers and two guides. They were in a cloud, but it is beautiful, no wind, and pleasantly warm.