Entries By ben luedtke

People have asked me why I climb mountains. My answer has changed over the years. The short answer is I climb mountains so I can escape the mountains of my mind. 

I like Robert McFarland’s quote on the subject too. 

“The true blessing of the mountains is not that they provide a challenge or a contest, something to be overcome and dominated (although this is how many people have approached them). It is that they offer something gentler and infinitely more powerful: they make us ready to credit marvels - whether it is the dark swirl which water makes beneath a plate of ice, or the feel of the soft pelts of moss which form on the lee sides of boulders and trees. Being in the mountains reignites our astonishment at the simplest transactions of the physical world: a snowflake a millionth of an ounce in weight falling on to one's outstretched palm, water patiently carving a runnel in a face of granite, the apparently motiveless shift of a stone in a scree-filled gully. To put a hand down and feel the ridges and score in a rock where a glaciers has passed, to hear how a hillside comes alive with moving water after a rain shower, to see late summer light filling miles of landscape like an inexhaustible liquid - none of these is a trivial experience. Mountains returns to us priceless capacity for wonder which can so insensibly be leached away by modern existence, and they urge us to apply that wonder to our own everyday lives.”

Mountains of the Mind, Robert McFarland

To wrap up how I’m feeling right now, laying in a tent, at 13,000 ft, when I dream, when I attempt to define happiness, this is it. To be with new and old friends outdoors, doing things that allow us to walk the line of comfort and risk. A guide helps control this risk and allows for this exploration of growth. Thanks Ben.

Sometimes I climb mountains just to say I did.

RMI Climber Hannah McEntire 

Ps: Congratulations to the team today for our summit on Izta!

Mexico Dispatch — 2.24.26

After another wonderful breakfast, we made our way out and over to Ixta. With a quick stop in Amecameca for enough water to drink a camel dry, we got ourselves checked into the park and made the bumpy ride to La Joya. Well-fed and packed up tight, we’re looking forward to at least a few hours of sleep before tackling our next objective: Ixta.

Hip hip, cumbre?

RMI Guide Ben and Team

We had a hearty breakfast at Malinzi Resort and loaded up small day packs to head up to the summit of La Malinche today. Everyone seemed to be feeling well. We had absolutely perfect weather for our hike. 

If you like the Disappointment Cleaver then you will love La Malinche. We had alot of loose scree and rock until the final scramble. 

Everyone made it to the gorgeous summit, our camp dog "Lizzy" included! We spent some time at the summit gathering 360 views and memories to share! 

We had an easy decent and made it back in time to relax and shower before dinner. 

Tomorrow on to the next mountain!

RMI Climber Maria McCoy

"Star Mountain"

Mountains allure us

Mexico we traveled to

Together we climb.

RMI Climber Jesse McEntire

Good morning from Mexico City!!!

What a beautiful place. After a wonderful plate of tacos for dinner, a good night of rest, and a relaxing breakfast, we are packed, mingled, and ready to roll. We are off to the cabins at La Malintzi. Today will be an easy day of acclimitization, but tomorrow will be our first true test to reach the top of Malinche at 4,461 meters. (14,636 feet) Dormant for the last 3,100 years, Malinche's original name was Matlalcueitl, meaning "lady of the blue skirt," a goddess of rain and song. Hopefully the goddess helps keep the rain away so we can reach the top to sing our song tomorrow. 

RMI Guide Ben Luedtke & Team

Hi team, it's my turn to write this blog from afar. For say goodby and thank you. I am so happy because we achieved our goal, and I'm not just talking about the summit. In my first blog, I asked myself why we come to the mountains, and I discovered it was to find challenges. Well, Aconcagua was a great challenge for everyone. I met amazing, strong people and a very united group. That's not easy, and we did it. I truly enjoyed the days we shared, guiding and speaking English. I just want to say thank you, and I hope you enjoy the asado and vino in Mendoza. Writing in English isn't easy for me, so it's not a very long blog, but it's from the heart. 

A big hug and after so much adventure, I hope your return to home will be tranqui panki.

Grajales and RMI Guide Batti 

Why do we do this?

No showers, marginal nutrition, bitter cold, stifling heat. Don't forget the heavy packs tired legs, strong winds, and thin air. As our minds wander, step after step, I think it's the dichotomies of climbing that keep is coming back. Always yearning for the next far away peak. The calm within the chaos, the humbling yet empowering nature of the mountain, the isolation and the strongest connections a group of people can make. Mountaineering is the greatest team sport I have found in my short but varied 25 years on this earth. People from all walks of life coming together for a common goal. Summit or not it is a fast track to making friends for life. I would be mistaken if I didn't recognize the people along the way who made this journey possible. I am grateful for our team of climbers who were brave enough to try, my fellow guides , Ben and Batti, who supported the team every step of the way, the kind and organized staff of RMI and Grajales expeditions, Shane and Jonny, our friends and families back at home, and most importantly Aconcagua herself. I love this shit.
PLG

- RH (RMI Guide Ray Holt)
P.S. Happy Birthday Andrew!

First and foremost, with great honor, we want to congratulate this team for reaching the summit of Aconcagua! For those of us that made it, however, I believe we would all agree that it came with a cost and it was very bittersweet. This team truly became a family, and it's rough given that not all of us made it. We are so happy and excited for those of us that did, but heartfelt and bummed for those of us that didn't. Not having all of us stand on top left a mark on us, but it also brought out a bond in us that was truly inspiring.  

As guides, we couldn't be more proud of this team from start to finish. Everyone busted their asses, supported each other, and we are all better climbers because of it. We look forward to climbing together again, and what brought us together wasn't just a goal to climb a big mountain. We are a team consisting of an author, a coach, a mother, an entrepreneur, a father, an adventurer, someone going through a mid life crisis, an explorer of life, and someone living their dream. 

We will let all of you decipher who is who. ;)  A huge thanks to this team for coming together in every situation, pushing on, and being part of something even bigger than Cerro Aconcagua herself. 

Congratulations team!! :)

RMI Guide Ben Luedtke

As we left Basecamp, we wondered what toll Aconcagua would ask of us. As we sit in high camp, Camp Colera, at 19,600 feet, with just over 3,000 feet remaining to summit, the mountain’s toll is clear. 

A different question weighs on us now, “What will we ask of ourselves?” Ultimately, this begins at a simple but complex source: Why do we climb? Do we climb to reach new heights? Do we climb to meet new people? Do we climb to show our kids what badasses they can be if they follow their hearts? Do we climb to check boxes, boxes that we alone create and complete out of our own otherworldly competitiveness? Do we climb because the power of mountain vistas must be experienced through our own eyes? Do we climb because it’s a calling, a career, and we know we change lives by guiding others to the heights we’ve experienced? (thank you Ben, Ray, and Batti, you have our unending gratitude) Do we climb because it changes who we are as humans when we see these sights, bond with our team, and reach deep inside ourselves, to reserves we didn’t know existed, to complete a mission? Do we climb because sometimes you have to risk something to truly feel alive? (special shout out to Jonny and Shane, who we carry with us in heart and soul) Do we climb because in some way climbing makes us feel like we’ve figured out a small piece of the universe? Do we climb simply because, “It’s there.”

Maybe we all hold multiple reasons for climbing. Maybe we don’t even know our own reasons. And maybe our reasons change.

Personally, I first climbed just to hang out with a few buddies. To be honest, I didn’t love the training, and the climb was pure misery. But somewhere between Rainier’s summit and the Paradise parking lot, we all asked each other, “What are we climbing next?” Now I climb because I love the entire challenging process of it, and with each climb, I become a better father, friend, and family member. I become a more compassionate and dedicated person for the world around me.

When you climb, you realize that each time you climb, summit or no, something changes in you for the better. You become a stronger, more confident version of the old you. In a way, you are born again. 

It’s fitting that high camp on Aconcagua, Camp Colera, is jokingly called Camp Cholera. One of my favorite quotes about life comes from Gabriel Garcia Marquez in his masterpiece Love in the Time of Cholera. 

“..... human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over to give birth to themselves.”

In today’s Argentinian tongue it reads beautifully: “.....los seres humanos no nacen para siempre el dia en que sus madres los alumbran, sino que la vida los obliga otra vez y muchas veces a parirse a si mismos.”

Aconcagua, summit or not, your slopes and peaks and valleys have forced us to become better versions of ourselves. Your people have welcomed us to this sacred place with open arms, and created new love in our hearts for a people and a place. Centinela, we thank you for being you and creating this opportunity to renew ourselves.

RMI Climber Jared Wood

Apologies for the short and sweet blog entry, but I promise Jared will make up for it tomorrow. Today our team carried gear and food to cache at Cholera, Camp 3. At 19,600ft above sea level it was a high point for almost all on the team. The slog uphill in snow was peaceful with beautiful views all around, but damn hard. Elevation gain of 1600ft in 3 hours at the altitude we’re at had us utilizing our rest steps and pressure breaths the entire way up. 

Returning to camp for an afternoon nap was what we all needed, or maybe that was just me. Yes, Brian, I actually took a nap in the middle of the afternoon. Please mark the occasion. We spent the rest of our time mentally preparing ourselves for the next two days which will have us moving to high camp and making a summit attempt. 

As I lay in my tent reflecting on the last 10 days on this mountain, I am again filled with gratitude. I’m grateful I get to spend yet another night on the mountain in good health and spirits. I’m grateful for my gear that is going to keep me warm and moving on summit day. I’m grateful for my teammates who are always encouraging each other. I’m grateful for technology that can get sick climbers off the mountain and to the help they need quickly. I’m grateful for the incredible views from the pee spot at Camp 2. I’m grateful for strong legs to carry me up the mountain. I’m grateful for my tent mate Andrew who doesn’t give me a hard time about having to unzip the tent in gusting winds to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night (sometimes twice). I’m grateful for all my people who love and support me and never tell me to stop doing this thing I love. And lastly, but most importantly- I’m grateful for a guide team that calmly snaps into action and handles urgent situations with the utmost professionalism. Ben, Ray and Batti continue to give us all the confidence we need to get up this hill. I can’t imagine there are finer guides on this mountain than the ones we get to call ours. 

Jojo, CMan and IzBiz- thank you for giving up your mama for a few weeks. I’m almost there! BPerk- paint a picture…

RMI Climber Christine Perkinson