RMI Expeditions Blog

The Mexico Volcanoes team led by RMI Guides Dustin Wittmier and Will Ambler arrived in Mexico City on Saturday. The team headed out of the city the following morning to La Malintzi resort, located at 10,000ft. They enjoyed a relaxing afternoon and began their acclimatization process.  Today the team stretched their legs and lungs on a hike to the summit of La Malinche, 14,636', it was cloudy and a bit cold.  They will return to the cabanas at the base of the mountain for a second night.  Tomorrow they will make their way to the base of Ixtaccihuatl.

Hello again everyone,

After a relatively good nights sleep the team woke early to have breakfast and head higher up the mountain to do some training, acclimating and put ourselves in position to climb Cayambe.

Unfortunately the clouds had gathered and some light rain greeted us for breakfast, and didn’t let up until this afternoon. However, we made the most of it by moving up to the climbers hut (Refugio), getting settled and we were able to sneak out for a quick hike to help our lungs prepare for the deep breathing we’ll be doing tonight. 

Here in just a short while we will have our summit talk, where we will review the climb and game plan for tonight. Then we’ll have an early dinner before hopefully climbing into our sleep bags for a few hours of rest. The plan is to wake up around 10:30pm (yes…you read that right) have breakfast and hit the trail around 11:30.
I’m expecting the climb to take in the neighborhood of 7-8  hours to reach the summit if weather cooperates.

Everyone is doing well, a little excited and a little nervous, but that’s all very normal for climbing big mountains.

We’ll touch base as soon as we make it back down tomorrow.

Wish us luck with the weather!!

RMI Guides Casey, Jackson, Fatima and the Cayambe crew.

After a good nights sleep and a wonderful breakfast we loaded up the bus and left our cozy hacienda for the famous Otavalo market! We wandered between vendors picking out souvenirs to bring back to all you lovely people reading this blog. With our new treasures in tow we headed to a beautiful restaurant for lunch on Lago San Pablo. After filling up on delicious steaks, seafood, and a variety of classic Ecuadorian dishes like ceviche we made the long drive to our spectacular hut on Cayambe. We rearranged some gear and had another delicious meal prepared by our incredibly kind Ecuadorian hut keeper. As I write this, people lay about, relaxing, reading, and sawing logs before we move yet higher again tomorrow!

RMI Guide Jackson Breen

Buenas tardes, amigos!

All is well here in Ecuador. Today the team left the modern comforts of Quito and made our way north for our second acclimation hike. It was incredibly clear on our drive with amazing views of Cayambe, Cotopaxi and Imbabura. We were also joined by our amazing local guide and all round superwoman Fatima. She will also be guiding and providing her local knowledge to further enrich our experience here in Ecuador.

We drove about three hours north to visit and hike around the beautiful Laguna Cuicocha. It’s a hidden lake that sits high above the town of Otavalo where we are staying the night. The hike was just under four hours and took us from dense forest, Andean highlands, to surreal views of the lake and city beneath. Everyone enjoyed the day even if it was a little hot at times with the sun shining nearly all day.

The team is currently relaxing in our new very comfortable lodge for the night and looking forward to a peaceful and good night's rest.

Casey, Jackson, Fatima and the RMI amigos!


 

Started today before sunrise with a 6:00 a.m. departure from the hotel. We drove along scenic roads high into the hills around Quito and were rewarded with beautiful views of the city and some of the surrounding volcanoes, including our future objectives: Cayambe and Cotopaxi! When the road ended and we reached the trailhead, we began hiking toward Rucu Pichincha. We walked through gorgeous grasslands and scrambled over rocks, moving in and out of the clouds all day. A few hours and a few thousand feet later, we reached the summit (15,407 ft). After a quick descent back into warmer weather, we arrived at the top of the TelefériQo just before some afternoon thunder. We waited out a brief storm while enjoying coffee in the restaurant before taking the gondola back into town. Most of the team spent some time at the spa, testing their mental fortitude in the cold plunge before dinner. Another great day enjoying Ecuador and acclimating to the altitude!

Thanks for following along—we’re all looking forward to tomorrow’s adventures!

RMI Guide Jackson Breen & Team

Hola from Ecuador!

The team arrived late last night after some long and late arriving flights. Today we started our day with a team meeting where we did our usual round of introductions to get to know each other and then discussed the game plan for our upcoming 11 day adventure here in Ecuador.

After the meeting we headed out on the town to explore this beautiful historical city with our local and very knowledgeable tour guide Gloria and trusty drive Angel. We first headed to the southern part of Quito to a big hill called La Panacia that over looks this beautiful city. Then made our way on foot to the oldest parts of Quito, to take in the sights, admire the colonial Spanish architecture, and visit one of the many old churches found here Quito.

We finished our tour with of course a visit to the Equator from which Ecuador derivesits name, stopping by a museum that had a pretty interesting collection as well as some unique test that attempt to prove it’s the actual middle of the world.

We wrapped up the day with a quick gear check to make sure everyone has all the gear needed for our climbs. Then it was off to dinner at a nice restaurant where we were enjoyed getting to know each other better.

RMI Guides Casey Grom, Jackson Breen and the the Quito Crew!

Ama Dablam doesn’t need an introduction — it’s the mountain that makes everyone stop mid-trek, pull out their phone, and say “what mountain is that?” It looks impossible, like a granite shark fin dropped into the Khumbu. And we got to climb it. After a few weeks of hiking, acclimatizing, and a lot of time perfecting our tea-to-oxygen ratio, our team made a summit push. We climbed to Camp 1 at 19,000 ft followed by Camp 3, then up to the summit. We skipped the infamous, and smelly, Camp 2 to avoid the cramped "sleeping" and opted to climb the Grey Tower in the daylight with No Crowds!! 

We left Camp 3 in the wee hours of the morning due to the wind whipping across the seemingly near vertical wall facing you. We needed the sun to start making the air warmer, though the face doesn't get sun for quite some time in the mornings.  The fixed lines started right out of camp, and we got into a rhythm quickly — one step, one jumar, a deep breath, repeat. The climbing from Camp 3 is the kind of terrain that keeps you smiling even while your legs burn. It’s steep, exposed, and wildly scenic — you look down and realize how much of the world is way below you. A few hours later, we were standing on the summit — some wind, blue skies, and the type of view that doesn’t feel real until you’re back at basecamp scrolling through your photos thinking, “oh yeah, that actually happened.”

We had opted to head all the way back down to basecamp after our climb, which made for a long day, but a worthwhile endeavor, nonetheless. A hot meal, a mattress, a warm dome, all after summitting one of the most iconic peaks on earth. We got back in the dark, but damn was it worth it. 

Ama Dablam always lives up to the hype, a mix of gritty weather, unreal scenery, and the kind of that technical climbing that makes you grateful for strong ropes and stronger people.

Huge thanks to our Sherpa team, the staff at basecamp, and everyone back home following along. 

Until next time,

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

UPDATE: Friday, October, 31, 2025

Cumbre! 

We all went to bed with a degree of anxiety about the weather. For days prior, and even the day we went to Cotopaxi Refugio, there were intense periods of rain. However, luck was on our side and our guide Sam woke us up around 11pm with the best news ever - it was a clear starry night. We finalized our packs, put on our crampons, and set out for the summit.

The climb began on rocky terrain, a steady but manageable approach. We soon got to the soft snow level and the intensity started to pick up. It was a constant uphill ascent without any switchbacks. For many of us, this was the steepest continuous climb we’ve ever done and also the highest altitude ever achieved. This led to some challenges, but we pushed through with our resilience and amazing support from our guides. Before we knew it, the summit was in sight. The entire group showed their grit and determination and we all made it! What an incredible sight that we were rewarded with at the top of Cotopaxi. After taking it all in, we began the descent. We weren’t able to appreciate the beauty of the mountain on the ascent as it was mostly dark, but the descent revealed Cotopaxi’s splendor from various angles. We enjoyed a light breakfast at the Refugio and then descended to the parking lot where a bus took us to our cozy hacienda. It wasn’t long before we arrived at the hacienda that the rain and hail storms began. It’s still a mystery on how we had such a perfect weather window for our climb, but we are grateful! And all excited about our accomplishment!

RMI Climber, Madhur Nayan

Friday, October 31, 2025 - 11:00 am PT

RMI Guide Mike Bennett sent a quick update to let us know that 100% of the team reached the summit of Cotopaxi today! They will return to the climbers hut, repack and meet their drivers and vehicles for the short transfer to Chilcabamba Lodge where they will spend the night.  Tomorrow the team will return to Quito for their final night in Ecuador.

Congratulations team!

Cotopaxi Express Daily Blog 

The team woke up this morning in a packed climbers hut at the ripe hour of 4am to climb Illiniza. Snow and sleet covered the ground and word came from the top to go back to bed. After a brief breakfast The team set off at 7 am towards Illiniza Norte with a windy snow still coming down but daylight on our side. Teams split into smaller groups to tackle the snowy scramble up the knife edge ridge of the mountain. Conditions remained poor, and we turned around 16,300’ to head down to the familiarity of the climbers hut. Repacked and trekking down to the bus, snow turned to rain and the bus was a warm bumpy welcome down the cobblestone roads. Lunch at a VERY FAMOUS pizza dive. Now the team is relaxing in front of wood stove fires, gazing over pastures towards the cloudy abyss—looking to catch a glimpse of the pinnacle objective hidden in the mist.

RMI Climbers, Dan and Joe Hayden 

Today the team left the comfort of Quito to begin our journey south to Illiniza Norte (because Illiniza Sur is apparently hard so we’re going to skip it). Unfortunately, we had to make an early morning start to get from our rooms to the hotel lobby by 9am.

With everyone safely on the bus we began the drive south to a famous gas station to buy critical snacks, meet our local guides Gustavo, Felipe (one of RMI’s finest) and Jaime, and sign paperwork. After saying goodbye to the gas station (and the last real toilet) we continued our drive to the trail head where we met horses and mules to carry our gear to the refuge.

We are now furiously chomping down popcorn and hoping for a good climb tomorrow.

- RMI Climber, Joe Maguire & Team