Entries By henry coppolillo

Climbers on the Four Day Climb July 15 - 18 reached the summit around 6:30 am today led by RMI Guides Sam Hoffman and Jack Ritterson.  Jack reported a very nice day and a great route but quite windy.  The teams were descending from the crater rim around 7 am.  Once back at Camp Muir they will take a short break before continuing down to Paradise this afternoon.  Their program will conclude at Rainier BaseCamp later today.

Nice work team!

Custom RMI trip led by Henry Coppollilo successfully summitted Mt. Shuksan. The team ascended via the Fisher Chimneys, a classic route that involves a mix of hiking, rock climbing, and glacier travel through beautiful North Cascade terrain.

The team is back at camp now, and said they had a lovely day.

Great work, team!

RMI's four-day climb led by guides Henry Coppolillo and Sam Hoffman reached this summit of Mt Rainier this morning around 5:15am. They reported cold temperatures and moderate winds. They are currently on their descent back to Camp Muir and will return to Ashford this afternoon. 

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz June 19 - 24 led by RMI Guides Henry Coppolillo, Dylan Anderson, Margo Kerr, and Aidan Whitelaw reached the summit of Mt. Rainier just before 10 am today. Henry reported beautiful weather and great route conditions. The team spent a few minutes in the crater before starting their descent. They will return to their high camp for one more night on the mountain and some additional training.  Tomorrow they will retrace their steps to Paradise and conclude their program at Rainier BaseCamp in the afternoon.

Way to go climbers!

The Four Day Climb June 14 - 17 led by RMI Guides Joe Hoch and Jess Wedel were turned around by high winds at 10,300'.  The telemetry at Camp Muir is showing wind gusts up to 48 mph. The teams returned to Camp Muir and enjoyed a bit of rest and perhaps a nice sunrise.  They plan to descend from Camp Muir around 9:30 am.  We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.

RMI teams led by guides Henry Coppolillo and Nick Sinapius attempted to summit Mt Rainier this morning, but turned around at 11,500', just above Ingraham Flats due to deteriorating route conditions.They returned to Camp Muir and are on their descent back to Paradise. They will be back in Ashford this afternoon. 

We woke up to full-on winter on Huayna with several inches of snow outside and more coming down- quite the contrast from the summer-like conditions we experienced on Pequeno Alpamayo just a few days prior. We dragged out feet a bit and drank some more coffee to give the skies time to clear. Finally at 2:30 am we geared up and headed outside. It was still snowing lightly but without much wind the temperatures were honestly quite pleasant for climbing.

After scrambling through a few hundred feet of rocky terrain to the toe of the glacier we roped up and began a gradual ascending traverse. The snow continued falling steadily, but the winds remained minimal and everyone settled into their hypoxic headlamp bubble as we trudged up the glacier. Hannah, our local guide Marcello and I were constantly digging small hand pits in the snow and assessing the potential avalanche conditions- we were pleasantly surprised to find the storm snow well bonded to the surface and generally unreactive, so we continued climbing as into thinner air despite the snow becoming gradually deeper the higher we got. Finally at around 18,600' we were faced with a steep traverse and a change in the snow- what was previously benign fluff had changed to a fairly concerning wind slab. Add in the increasing severity of the terrain and a gaping crevasse underneath the traverse and the decision to turn around was disappointing, but easy to make.

We turned tail and made quick work of the descent, stepping off the glacier onto the rocks just as the sun crested the horizon. The snow had stopped and the skies remained clear for a few minutes, and we were treated to an absolutely stunning sunrise as we made our way back down to the hut. More coffee, a second breakfast and a brief nap for some followed, and before long we were making our way down the steep and rocky trail to the base hut. While always disappointing not to reach the summit, our team did everything in our power to make it happen, and I'm confident that with more favorable conditions we would have summited in great style. We're back in La Paz now getting some well earned rest.

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo & Team

We're all settled in up Huayna high camp. Yesterday we enjoyed a mellow morning at Condoriri Base Camp, and then made our way back to the bus with the help of the mules once again. From there it was back up and over the pass separating the eastern side of Huayna from the Condoriri zone and down Refugio Vista Panorámica Huyana Potosi, a lovely and comfortable mountain lodge with stunning views of the route we're climbing tonight. Everyone got a long and welcome night of sleep, and we moved well up the steep and rocky trail to the high hut at almost 17k'. Our wonderful cook staff from Andean Summits has prepared a delicious lamb and rice lunch for us, and now everyone is having a siesta ahead of another alpine start tonight!

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo & Team

The whole team stood on top of Pequeño Alpamayo today! We woke up to an almost shockingly warm night, and although it still got a little chilly at 17,000' at 4 am we spent most of the day in just one or two layers and thin gloves. Conditions were vastly better than the last time I climbed Pequeño in 2024, but don't be fooled, this was still a very long, hard day and everyone had to give it their all. To even get to the mountain one first must summit Tarija, itself a glaciated 5000m peak, before descending several hundred feet of 3rd and 4th class rock terrain to the saddle with Paqueño Alpamayo, all before the really steep climbing starts. All told you essentially summit three 5000 meter peaks, since you have to climb back up the rocks to Tarija on the way back, which makes for a pretty challenging "acclimatization" day, but such is the nature of climbing in the Cordillera Real. Hannah and I are both so proud of this team and impressed by everyone's efforts both on the mountain and in the preparation at home. We couldn't be more excited for two more big summit attempts within the next week!

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo

Wednesday, May 20, 2026 - 4:52 pm PT

Made it up to Condoriri basecamp today with the help of about a dozen mules. After setting up camp and having lunch we kept walking up to the toe of the glacier at around 16,000,' where we spent a few hours reviewing some more advanced mountaineering skills- steep cramponing, ice climbing and lowering and rappelling. We're getting to bed early ahead of an alpine start tomorrow, we'll check in when we're all back in camp tomorrow afternoon!

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo