RMI Expeditions Blog
We made it to
Plaza Argentina today! The first RMI team of the year is blazing a path uphill. We left our camp at Casa de Piedra early this morning to beat the heat, and to cross the Vacas and Relinchos Rivers before they swelled with snowmelt. A few brave souls crossed the Vacas on foot, surprised at how cold the pre-sunrise water felt on their unsuspecting toes. The rest of the team, less brave maybe, though certainly smarter, decided to take a free ride across the river courtesy of our mule drivers. Some were more comfortable astride our equine friends than others, but nobody fell in.
Once across the river, we started up the Relinchos Valley. Unlike the Vacas, which is wide and expansive, the Relinchos Valley is narrow and has steep walls. The relief is more dramatic here, and the elevation gain becomes less subtle. The team made quick work of it though, and after a few guanaco sightings we were lounging in the sun less than an hour from basecamp. We lounged as long as we could bear it, and then finished off the last stretch into camp. Since arriving, we've set up our tents, organized some gear, and done a lot of eating and drinking. We ate as much dinner as we could, and even enjoyed a welcome cake courtesy of the basecamp staff. It's good living here at basecamp, and we plan to live in style for at least a few more days.
RMI Guides JM Gorum, Hannah Smith, and Avery Parrinello
The team hit the dusty trail this morning in comfortable temps but soon we were feeling the heat. We wondered through the rocky terrain, at times feeling like we were walking on the moon. Guanacos and hares were an exciting sight to tick off our wildlife list, but an even more exciting sight was seeing a quick glimpse of Aconcagua. After setting our tents up at a breezy
Casa de Piedra camp, we are enjoying a relaxing afternoon. Our bellies will be filled by another delicious dinner tonight before we call it a day and look forward to arriving at Aconcagua Base Camp tomorrow.
RMI Guides Hannah, Avery, and JM
On The Map
Well, this morning went about as smoothly as it possibly could have thanks to the team's expert preparations yesterday. We had breakfast in the hotel, and then walked next door to make our final preparations for departure. After a short shuttle ride to the mouth of the
Vacas River, we checked in with the park service and headed up the valley. We had cloudless skies and a consistent breeze all day, so it never got unbearably hot.
The team arrived in camp around 3:30 this afternoon, which left plenty of time for relaxing and exploring. Dinner consisted of more food than we could eat, prepared by the mule drivers on an open flame. Most folks are crawling into bed now, and since the weather is so nice we're going to forgo the tents and sleep under the stars. All the team says hello to everyone at home.
RMI Guides
JM Gorum, Hannah Smith, and Avery Parrinello
On The Map
Friday, December 15, 2017
Back in South America! It was a fine morning out at
Union Glacier. One could tell our outfitter (ALE) was anxious to get rid of the fifty odd stinky, hungry, hyper climbers in camp. The Ilyushin was off deck from Punta Arenas by mid morning and we were on it ready for take off at 3 PM. The morning at Union was wonderful, saying so long to old and new friends. Everyone commented on how long us “V1” climbers had been down (pretty far into V2) and sure, it is true... we got way behind schedule waiting for storms... but somehow today, it all seemed extremely worth the wait. Landing in rain in Punta Arenas was a novelty. Darkness was a novelty. Showers and plumbing were a novelty. Dinner together was just fun and delicious (starting at10 PM -normal for Latin America). We went to the top floor of a high hotel for a nightcap and found the other fifty climbers we’d traveled with. Lots of fist bumping, back slapping and hugging ensued. It began to crystallize... we’d lived through a great adventure together. We’ll remember it forever.
Tomorrow (later today actually) we’ll bump into each other in airports from Punta to Miami and beyond. It will be back to the same old grind... but not quite... we’ve shared enough of the good stuff in the wildest, weirdest corner of the world to make that same old grind a little finer forever.
Thanks very much for keeping track of our adventure.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Today the team said goodbye to Mendoza for a while. After a leisurely breakfast of pastries, and more pastries, we finished off the process of obtaining our
Aconcagua climbing permits. We only experienced a few hang ups in the permit office, which is about par for the course.
We amassed our gear into one big pile in the hotel lobby, partly to prepare to load it into our trailer, and partly just to see how much stuff we have. In my professional opinion we brought enough stuff, judging by volume alone. After transferring our pile into a vehicle, we hit the road to Penitentes. A few naps, and more than a few empanadas later, we arrived in Penitentes.
This afternoon, we packed everything for our travel to Aconcagua Base Camp. Everything has to be packed such that it doesn't get destroyed on the mules. The team made quick work of that task, leaving us plenty of down time before dinner. I'm pretty sure most people took another nap. Tomorrow morning we will hit the dusty trail, and things for us will get much simpler. For a few days we will just walk, eat, and sleep. Everyone is looking forward to it. We'll let you know how it goes.
RMI Guides JM Gorum, Hannah Smith, and Avery Parrinello
The team has arrived in Mendoza. All baggage is accounted for, gear is checked, and dinner has been eaten. After a long day of travel we are hitting the hay relatively early. Tomorrow we will drive to
Penitentes and get everything organized and packed for the walk in to base camp. The team is excited to get out of town and into the mountains. Stay tuned, and find out what happens next.
RMI Guides JM Gorum, Hannah Smith, and Avery Parrinello
Today was just plain easy. The weather was fine, the flight to Chile is still on for tomorrow, the food was plentiful... stress was low, all around. We played games, attended history lectures, rested and talked endlessly with adventurers, explorers and climbers. The dining tent at
Union Glacier is an international crossroads beyond compare. It isn’t uncommon to hear a different language -or two-
at each table as one passes through with platefuls of fresh fruit and veggies flown onto the Ice from South America. Life is way easier here than out at Vinson, but we’re still talking animatedly about summit day there... or about the storms that challenged us. But now we’re also starting to talk about travel plans and what might be next... for climbing or visiting or just for living. If all goes well, we could be back in Punta Arenas tomorrow night, which would require lots of switching gears and reconnecting with the world. For tonight though, we’re still sleeping on snow in a world of our own.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
We did it! The team stood on top of 19,347ft
Cotopaxi this morning at 7:30am. The team climbed brilliantly through bitterly cold temperatures and the ever-present lack of oxygen to check the active volcano off their bucket lists. We were treated to clear skies all day long and it wasn't until we were finally driving away that the mountain fell back into it's usual cloak of dark clouds. Oh and we had another birthday today! Happy Birthday to Kris Vargas! And what a way to spend it climbing one of
Ecuador's finest volcanoes on a truly spectacular day. We're all back at Tambopaxi packing our things for the drive back to Quito where we will enjoy one last dinner as a team before most of us depart back to the States later this evening. Thanks to everyone for following along. This will be the last blog post of our trip! Until next time!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
On The Map
And just like that... everything started moving again. The storm ended exactly on schedule. By 6:30 AM High Camp was calm and sunny and we started brewing up. We packed and dug our gear out of the snow. We shook pounds of ice and frost out of the tents before stuffing them in their sacks. With crampons on one last time, we departed at 10 AM. After seeing virtually nothing for days, the scenery today was welcome and spectacular. We made good time down the fixed ropes in the morning shadow. Lindsay led the charge, pulling the lines free of the wind slabbed snow for a good chunk of the route. At Low Camp, we re-tooled and set up for hauling sleds. No more crampons and ice axes, it was time to switch back to ski poles. By this point we’d been made aware that there were seats on an airplane out of Vinson Base just for us... provided that we got our tails down there in time. We had the lower mountain pretty much to ourselves for the next few hours of trudging through the frozen beauty of the Branscomb Glacier. There was just time enough on reaching base to hastily organize gear before the Twin Otter floated in to a perfect landing. We said our goodbyes to the mountain and the ALE staff at
Vinson Base Camp and climbed aboard. Back at Union Glacier, we got out in early evening to a far easier environment... hard packed level snow, mild temps and walk-in tents with tables and chairs. We caught up to the gang of Vinson climbers we’d originally gone to the mountain with. It was a pleasant reunion with guests and staff and everybody trading notes on weather at the top of Antarctica, out at the penguins, back in the Alps or off in the Himalaya. Word is that an Ilyushin flight may be inbound for us the day after tomorrow... on the 15th. Better late than never. In any case, my team is looking forward to a low altitude night without a storm tearing at the tents. Union is certainly good enough for now.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The skies cleared overnight and we were treated to the first truly blue bird morning of the trip.
Cotopaxi was out in full glory. A leisurely morning lead to another fantastic breakfast served up by our Master Chef Josè. After breakfast we took a short stroll around the area to stretch the legs. It is climber Aaron D.'s birthday today and upon our return from our walk we surprised him with a cake equipped with candles and all! Happy Birthday Aaron! After enjoying our Ecuadorian pastel we hopped onto the bus and took the short drive to Tambopaxi where we will stage for our summit climb. With the weather looking good the team is excited to tackle our last objective! Off to bed here shortly in preparation of an early wake up. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
On The Map
Sounds great! Can you tell Bill that Maggie is home. Everyone is well.
Posted by: Kris (Bill’s wife) on 12/20/2017 at 3:13 am
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