Entries By henry coppolillo

Yesterday’s climb of Paqueño Alpamayo provided a full-value introduction to climbing in the Cordillera Real. A 2:30 AM and a short walk on trail brought us back to the toe of the glacier where we’d trained the day prior. We dawned our climbing gear and began working our way up the icy glacier. Each step sounded like shards of glass underfoot and required careful technique to move efficiently and securely. 

We reached the summit of Tarija shortly after sunrise, the first summit of the trip at 17,500’! The views of Huyana Potosi, our next objective, were excellent, and we could see the remainder of the route to Paqueño Alpamayo. This is where the challenge of Paqeño becomes apparent, the route really throws a little bit of everything at you! First, we descended several hundred feet of third- and fourth-class rock, followed shortly by two pitches of 45-60 degree ice up the west ridge. 

Sadly, the effects of climate change are painfully obvious in the Andes, and this peak was no different. What used to be a final pitch of steep neve below the summit is now entirely snow-free, so we removed our crampons and scrambled the final 200’ or so to the top. After a short celebration it was time to start making our way down, we still had a long day ahead of us before we could relax in camp! Some steep down climbing and a short rappel led back to the base of the east ridge of Tarija we’d descended earlier. The rock scramble back up to the summit effectively made for three summits over 5000m over the course of just a few hours! 

The descent back down the glacier was slow and a bit tedious at times given the icy conditions, but we were riding high from such an engaging and beautiful day of climbing. Everyone slept well last night after our big day. We are back at the trailhead now loading up the van to begin making our way to the base of Huyana Potosi. We’ll sleep in the base hut tonight and move up to a higher hut around 16,900’ tomorrow. After several nights sleeping up high and a big day of climbing yesterday the team is feeling stronger than ever in the thin air and we’re all looking forward to our next summit attempt on Monday! 

RMI Guides Andy Bond, Henry Coppolillo

Thursday, August 8, 2024

We had a chilly morning packing up camp and weighing out our loads for the donkeys, but were rewarded with ideal temperatures for the short hike from the trailhead to Condoriri basecamp. After setting up tents and a short rest we continued up the trail to the toe of the glacier where we spent a few hours reviewing the basics and practicing some more advanced skills for our attempt on Pequeño Alpamayo tomorrow.  We're back in basecamp at 15,400' now, packing and resting up in anticipation of an early start. We'll be in touch tomorrow when we're back in base camp, and will be sure to share some photos when we're back to civilization on Saturday.

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo

Wednesday, August 7, 2024 - 5:55 pm PT

Today we left our island paradise for the mountains! After a quick boat ride we made a quick stop in the famous town of Copacabana to walk around the local market. Then it was back on the road for a few hours which brought us to the base of the Condoriri group. It's nice to be back in the mountains meeting our local support crew that will help support our climb and get our gear up to base camp at 15,500'. The team is looking forward to stepping onto the glacier for the first time and attempting our first peak on Friday!

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo

Our team enjoyed the sunrise at La Estancia Eco Lodge this morning. We then toured La Chincana (the Labyrinth) which dates to 800 AD and was a sacred place people traveled to from the Andean Region. Then a walk back to the harbor to catch a boat ride to lunch. It has been another great day here in Isle del Soul.

RMI Guide Andy Bond & Team

Monday, August 5, 2024 - 5:25 pm PT

It was an early start but not an early exit as we left La Paz this morning.  A gasoline shortage in Bolivia left us scrambling to find a spot to fill up our van as we headed to Isla del Sol.  After several hours of navigating La Paz and El Alto traffic we finally made it to the highlands with views of the Condoriri mountains and Huayna Potosi.  A quick ferry and a failed short cut down a dirt road eventually led us back to the standard route through the town of Copacabana which sits right on Lake Titicaca. Yet another curve ball was thrown our way as a fiesta in the town for the Bolivian independence day shut down our route to the boat that was awaiting us to bring us to the island.  After several detours and side roads we finally made it to our private boat that would bring us to the Island of the Sun. 

Isle del Sol is a special island for the Andean people as it is the center of creation for them.  On our walk from the boat to the Eco Lodge we passed by a pre-Incan Temple, and terraces built in the 1300's for farming.  The island itself does not have cars and provides spectacular views of 6,000m peaks that we'll be heading to shortly.  It is also a perfect place for us to acclimatize at 13,000' and enjoy the laid back island life compared to the hustle and bustle of La Paz. After an excellent dinner of fresh caught trout from the lake and local beef we are settling in for bed. As I write this we are being treated to views of a massive lightning storm over the mountains, feeling thankful to be here in our comfortable casitas and headed towards the high peaks in a few days when the weather is forecasted to improve. 

RMI Guide Andy Bond

PC: Andy Bond

For most of us, its been quite a journey to make it to Bolivia, as many of us had to deal with cancelled and delayed flights.  Most of us arrived early this morning into El Alto at 13,500' with the airport sitting on the plateau above the city of La Paz.  Due to the high elevation, (La Paz is the highest capital city in the world!) planes need to land at night with colder air temperatures in order to be able to take off. 

After a little bit of sleep and some breakfast at our hotel Mitru Sur, our group went for a ride on the teleferico (cable car) system that travels all over the city of La Paz and El Alto.  This allowed us to see some sights without having to put in too much effort as we start to acclimatize to the high altitude we start at here in Bolivia.  

We're beginning to pack as we head out tomorrow on Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca (2nd highest freshwater lake in the world) where we will continue to acclimatize at the famous La Estancia Ecolodge before heading into the mountains.  

RMI Guides Andy Bond & Henry Coppolillo

PC: Andy Bond

The Five Day Climb July 19 - 23 led by RMI Guides Henry Coppolillo and Mike Bennett reached 11,300' today before strong winds forced them to switch their ascent to a descent. The teams have returned safely to Camp Muir. They will pack gear and enjoy the morning sunshine from 10,000' before continuing down the remaining 4.5 miles to Paradise later this morning. There adventure will conclude this afternoon at Rainier BaseCamp. 

RMI Guides Henry Coppolillo and George Hedreen led the North Ridge of Mt. Baker July 11 - 14 team. The team reached the summit of Mt. Baker on Saturday afternoon. They spent the night on the mountain and will descend to the trailhead later today.

Congratulations climbers!

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons reached the summit of Mt. Rainier via the Emmons Glacier mid-morning. The Team dodged the worst of the wind, but it was still quite gusty. They will return to Camp Schurman and finish out their week of alpine skills training preparing for future big mountain adventures.

Congratulations Team! 

The Five Day Climb June 22 - 26 led by RMI Guides Walter Hailes and Henry Coppolillo took advantage of the clear and calm weather and made their summit attempt today.  The entire team reached the crater rim of Mt. Rainier at 7 am on a beautiful day.  The teams will return to Camp Muir and enjoy a leisurely afternoon.  Tomorrow they will descending the remaining 4,500' to Paradise and conclude their program.

Congratulations to today's climbers!