RMI Expeditions Blog

Pretty smooth day all around.  Considering that in other years it has taken weeks to get from Punta Arenas, to the Ice and then to Vinson, we are mighty lucky to have done it all in a day.  And for that, it wasn’t even a stressful day.  No angst about whether we were going to go or not… no waffling weather or closing window for flying.  It was just a day of green lights from the get go. 

We left the hotel at 6 AM and there wasn’t too much slack time out at the airport.  There were eighty of us, dressed in quite the variety of colorful cold weather gear and fancy boots.  We mingled and had mini reunions with old and less old acquaintances.  And then we trooped on out the gate to board our plane.   Things are different this year!  We used to ride in cargo and troop transports… this year we walked into a shiny Icelandic Air Boeing 757.  And it was nice and nobody was fighting over the mask mandates.  I have to say though, that a little bit of the cowboy feel to flying to Antarctica is now gone.  It was a lot like going from Seattle to Denver or Dallas.  Time to watch movies or sleep.  The pilot put the wheels down on Union Glacier’s ice runway at 12:45 PM just like he’d been doing it forever.   We bundled up and came down the stairs.  It was a remarkably fine day for November.  Our faces and fingers weren’t in danger of freezing as we milled about on the ice, snapping pictures.  Then we got on board a souped up van with great big wheels and were chauffeured over to Union Glacier Camp.  It was comfortable there and we were immediately warned not to get too comfortable.  The plan was for the three of us to be on the first airplane out to Vinson.  There was time for a tour of camp and a hot and hearty meal in the dining tent and then we loaded into a ski equipped Twin Otter for the hop out to Vinson.  After 45 minutes and another perfect landing - this time on the snow strip of the Branscomb Glacier at 7000 ft of elevation- we were walking around in our new and beautiful home at Vinson Base Camp.  This was around 4:15 PM.  The work began.  Lots of camp building and digging and sorting gear and getting settled.  We didn’t eat dinner until after 9 PM, which didn’t matter too much, the sun was quite strong making our dining tent comfortable.  Not all eighty passengers on the 757 were Vinson climbers, but there are six different guided groups out here as of today to kick off the first climbing season since the pandemic began.  Now it is 12:30 AM, still with good sun, but time for bed. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Seven in the morning and we are out at the airport in Punta Arenas, through security and ready to fly to the Ice. 

Lots of excited and oddly dressed people.  There will be eighty people on the flight.  Some climbers for Vinson, some skiers for the South Pole, some Emperor Penguin lovers and some eclipse watchers. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Happy Thanksgiving from Patagonia!  The RMI Vinson team has assembled, there are three of us.  Under normal circumstances, it is a little bit of a big deal to successfully negotiate and navigate through airlines and airports to reach Punta Arenas, Chile complete with climbing equipment, ready to take on Antarctica.  In this pandemic year, it is a really big deal to accomplish such a feat.  We’ve been testing constantly and jumping through bureaucratic hoops in order to travel safely internationally.  And now we are almost there.  Today, our gear will be collected and weighed and packed on the jet.  We hope to fly to the Ice tomorrow, but we will hear more later as to current weather and what is possible.  These last few days, Rajat and Mark and I have been walking the streets of Punta Arenas (in masks), flashing our “mobility passes” to get into restaurants, and tracking down last bits of essential gear.  We’ve had some good walk and talk sessions along the shores of Magellan’s Straight, gazing out at Tierra Del Fuego and a million wind-driven waves.  We hope that today is the end of our hotel based “testing period” to ensure nobody brings the virus to Antarctica. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The team was treated to an almost windless summit day on Orizaba to cap off our Mexico Volcanoes trip! We summitted at 9:30 am and got down safely in time to enjoy a delicious home cooked meal in Tlachichuca. The team is showered, full, and ready to see our families when we fly out tomorrow for home. Till next time Mexico!

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

The RMI Mexico's Volcanoes team enjoyed a restful day in Puebla. The historic town square was a little less festive this year but colorful murals, buildings and food didn’t disappoint. The highlight for some was a sunset dinner and drinks at a rooftop restaurant. 

This morning we got an early start for Tlachichuca, at the base of Pico de Orizaba, where we are currently having a meal after packing for our climb. We also got our COVID tests done - a requirement to return to the United States. 

Our drive today to Piedra Grande Refugio, Orizaba's high camp, will be on a bumpy and dusty road. We will take a walk to get some exercise and then turn in the evening. We hope to get good rest for our alpine start and summit attempt on Orizaba tomorrow. We’ll be updating the blog upon returning from Orizaba tomorrow afternoon. Fingers crossed for good weather.

Thanks,

RMI Guide Mike King

We are currently in the town of Puebla, taking a rest day after our climb of Ixtaccihuatl and preparing ourselves for our upcoming climb of Orizaba.

Yesterday we left our high camp on a warm but windy night. The route takes us up through a steep scree field and into a short section of chimneys that requires a little scrambling. After gaining the ridge we made our way along the circuitous route, taking breaks to regroup and adding layers as the wind continued to blow. We put on crampons and grabbed our ice axes for the steep descent onto the Ayoloco Glacier. With daylight breaking the horizon we had two remaining false summits before getting to Ixta’s high point of 17,340'. The sun rose just in time for us to take pictures and share some high fives. We descended back to high camp and eventually back to the trailhead. After sorting some equipment and enjoying a few refreshments, we got on the shuttle to head for Puebla.

Climbing Ixta can be deceiving; we don’t cover many miles and the vertical gain seems minimal. However, the rocky and loose terrain makes for slow progress, especially when compared to being on snowfields and glaciers.

The team worked hard yesterday and is planning to take full advantage of today's rest day before we head to Orizaba tomorrow.

Thanks,

RMI Guide Mike King

RMI Guide Mike King and the Mexico's Volcanoes team reached the summit of Ixtaccihuatl (17,340') early this morning.  Mike reported a clear and windy day with many climbers on the route.  The team left early from their High Camp and their reward was enjoying the sunrise from the summit.  We will get a full report from Mike once the team has descended.

Congratulations team!

We had a casual start to the day. Our hike took us to 15,400’ on Ixta where we have camp set up for the night. Our plan is to rest a little bit after the hard effort of carrying heavy packs and still adjusting to these higher elevations. This evening we will do some gear and skills refreshers. There are some ravens squawking over head and the sun feels good on the tents. Tonight we will ascend the “knees” of Ixta and gain the long and circuitous ridge line and hopefully be on the summit around sunrise. Spirits are high and everyone is healthy and enjoying having the heavy packs off their backs.

RMI Guide Mike King

We awoke to a perfectly clear night and were on the move by just after 1am on Friday.  The first section of the climb, which is often a trail through pebble scree was covered in a perfectly hard, thin layer of snow.  In fact, conditions on the entire route were near perfect.  We followed La Ruta Antigua due to crevasse conditions on the more standard route.  Shortly after sunrise we were walking up La Arista de Yanasacha, staring down the final headwall and trying to catch our breaths above 18500'.  Upon reaching the summit, we were rewarded with 360 degree views of the highlands of Ecuador including numerous other active and dormant stratovolcanoes.  Everyone did their standard summit rituals, ate a favorite snack, took some pictures and headed down.  This team made quick work of the descent and we were eating pancakes at the hut by a normal breakfast hour. 

Thanks to all the members of this team for showing up ready to climb and thank you to you all for following along with our travels!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier & Team

We got an early start after breakfast today. Eventually we made a short stop in Amecameca for some last minute provisions and a light lunch before riding up to Paso de Cortez where the park entrance for Ixta resides. We opted for a five mile hike instead of riding the bus on the bumpy road. While the hike was mostly on a gated dirt road we enjoyed the rolling grassy hills and scattered pine trees. Afternoon clouds had built up and we were able to see the lower portion of our climbing route. 

We’ll spend the remainder of the afternoon setting up tents and getting our gear sorted for the move up to our high camp tomorrow. The Team is doing well and hoping for Popo to put off some ash plumes for some good photos. We will check in tomorrow from high camp.

RMI Guide Mike King