Entries By jess wedel

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Today the whole team stood at 17,160 feet on the summit of Ixtaccíhiuatl. It was a near perfect day with sunshine and no wind. 

Even with great weather it was a hard-fought summit on Ixtaccihuatl today. Everyone fighting through a host of maladies trying to hold them back - blisters, rumbling tummies, headaches and more. It will be no surprise to family and friends at home that every single person on this crew has serious GRIT!

One of the most special moments was the sunrise just as we were topping out onto the ridge - right before the final push to the top. It had been a particularly steep and icy stretch getting there. Just when we were all thinking we didn’t know if we could do it - we topped out to the golden glow of dawn. We sat and took it in for a few minutes, the boost we all needed to keep on.

Thirty minutes later, we were all standing on the summit together in perfect daylight.

After a long descent back to our camp, we packed up and continued downhill to the base. We were greeted by the awesome Servimont team with lunch and cheers!

After a little more packing (we’re expert packers now), we loaded the van and took off for real beds and showers in Puebla! As we were driving, the sun set outside our windows over Ixta and it was a perfect end to the day.

As we drove in the van, I heard conversations recalling the huge day and frequent “that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done” which is saying a lot coming from this experienced team.

Tomorrow we’ll have a well-earned rest day exploring the charming and historical city of Puebla. 

RMI Guides Jess Wedel, Josh Geiser and Los Chivos

Wednesday, February 26, 2025 - 6:04 am PT

RMI Guide Jess Wedel checked in at 6:04 am PT today to let us know the whole team was on the summit of Ixtaccihuatl at 17,340'.  They will send a blog later today once they descend to the trailhead and make their way to Puebla.  

Way to go team! Congrats!

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Today was a huge day of logistics, travel and climbing uphill to Ixta high camp!

We started early knowing we had a few hours in the car. We said goodbye to our friends at La Malintzi (especially all our new sweet dog friends) and hit the road.

Clear skies prevailed and we had views of Ixta and Popo all day. When we were almost to the national park, we noticed plumes of clouds coming off Popo! So cool to see an active volcano.

We got to the base of Ixta, repacked our bags for the climb and started hiking. With heavy packs and over 12,000ft it was tough walking. Everyone did great and we made it to high camp in three hours. 

After an early dinner, we laid down in our tents as soon as we could knowing that the alarms would go off sooner rather than later - Ixta summit here we come!

RMI Guide Jess Wedel and the team

Monday, February 24, 2025

Malinche day! And Melissa’s birthday!

Well, well, well we had another wonderful day in the mountains. 100% of the team made it to the top of Malinche and we were rewarded with amazing views.

It’s rained every afternoon since we’ve been here so we got an early start on the trail. We were sent off in the dark by a pack of friendly doggos. The trail went up and up through majestic trees and eventually we saw the pink of the sunrise peaking through the canopy. We continued on and before we knew it we could see the ridgeline of Malinche.

The views were amazing - Orizaba shining bright to our left and Ixta and Popo on our right. The skies were clear but there’s been some recent snow so we took our time through steep icy rocks just before the summit.

We celebrated with team photos and enjoyed the moment up there before we headed back down to La Malintzi for the night. 

RMI Guides Jess Wedel, Josh Geiser and Los Chivos

P.S. ONE FINAL FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS TO OUR GIRL MELISSA!

Sunday, February 23, 2025

Hello!

This morning, we woke up, ate breakfast and shuffled our duffels back down to the lobby. After a few hours on the road, we arrived at La Malintzi, a beautiful resort nestled at the base of La Malinche. It was a bustling Sunday afternoon, filled with hikers and campers enjoying the outdoors.

We stepped out of the van and took a leisurely stroll on the trail. We desperately needed to stretch our legs and breathe in the fresh, invigorating air. As the weekend traffic cleared, we found ourselves playing like carefree children on the playground. We bounced up and down on the teeter totters, laughing and laughing. It’s always good to let loose and be silly!

After checking in to our cozy cabins for the night, we headed to dinner. Since we were one of the only groups left at La Malintzi, we enjoyed a leisurely meal with soup, the most incredible guacamole we’ve ever tasted, rice, tortillas, and carnes asados. The food kept coming out to the table, and we couldn’t get enough.

With our bellies full and our spirits high, we are all settled in to sleep, preparing for our early morning adventure to climb Malinche.

RMI Guides Jess Wedel, Josh Geiser, and Los Chivos

Hola from Ciudad de Mexico!

The American Lung Association Climb for Clean Air is off to an exciting start - the team has been arriving over the last few days and I am happy to report that everyone made it.

We spent the day exploring this vibrant city, enjoying endless tacos al pastor and some of us even ventured to the Frida Kahlo museum. 

Tonight we had our first official team meeting. We talked about the itinerary, gear, but the most important part was hearing about all the reasons why this trip matters so much - raising funds and awareness for the American Lung Association and climbing mountains while doing it. The connections to the cause all stem from love, from grief but the team is all united by a need to do something.

One thing is for certain, it’s going to be a special climb with a really special group of people.

Tonight, we sleep with the sounds of the city outside our windows, knowing tomorrow we’re off to our first of three mountains - La Malinche.

RMI Guides Jess, Josh and “LOS CHIVOS” 

Buen Dia!

We woke up to our final breakfast on the mountain, one more time we put our hiking shoes back on and bid farewell to Jimmy and Daniela - the amazing Grajales team at our last camp.

The wind stayed at our backs as we descended the final 8 miles of the Vacas Valley. Today, the conversation was flowing - more air, full bellies! We saw lots of lizards and butterflies and even a couple mice scurrying across the trail. Signs of life reminding us we are no longer at high altitude.

With ample amounts of dust and dirt embedded in our clothes, we made it to Punta de Vacas. The place we started 2 weeks ago. We took one final group picture and headed to Penitentes to grab our duffel bags.

Before we knew it, we were on the van headed back to Mendoza! But not without a stop for empanadas along the way.

What an end to an amazing trip! We’re all safely back in the comforts of the Diplomatic Hotel - hot showers, pool time, rest and recuperation is on the agenda before we all fly back home.

Thank you for following along!

RMI Guide Jess Wedel

After a well deserved snooze in the Grajales Dome at base camp, the team started the day with our typical Grajales breakfast - cheesy bread, eggs, and a new edition, palta! We said our goodbyes to our incredible base camp staff, and began our trek down from the mountain.

Around noon, we bid farewell to Aconcagua proper and entered the Vacas Valley. Guide Jack stopped us for a lunch break at a small spring adjacent to our final river crossing.

Finally, after sixteen miles of undulating hills,  sticker plants, and rocks of all shapes and sizes, we arrived at our final camp of the trip. We were greeted by familiar Grajales staff faces, jugo, and apples! The team rallied for a delicious dinner in the Grajales dome, and is now setting up sleep systems for one last night in the mountains. Bittersweet feelings all around, yet we know this mountain has held so much for us and will be here for those of us yearning to return. 

Climber Anne Bradford 

THE WIND FELT PERSONAL 

The tent slapping against my face is not my favorite way to wake up. Alas that is how the team's final night at high camp was spent. I personally continued to feign sleep until finally enough rays of sunshine peaked over the horizon that it was reasonable to start rousing everyone from their summit climb exhausted slumbers. Needless to say, most of the team was already awake due to similar wind induced tent slapping. They say it takes a village to raise a child, well they should also say it takes five climbers to take down a tent in high winds. Well teamwork made the dreamwork and soon we were headed downhill towards Camp 2 with our packs over encumbered with everything that had originally taken us two trips and a porter to get there. Camp 2 was a warm, windless paradise at what now felt like a very refreshing 18,000 feet. Sadly, we still had a long way to go to get to base camp. Thankfully, gravity assists on the downhill and the air only got thicker as we descended. Soon we arrived to an enthusiastic welcome home at Plaza Argentina with the various amenities we loved, namely fresh fruit and cerveza! The rest of the afternoon was spent reorganizing, showering, packing, eating, and celebrating our safe return. A rotating cast of our favorite base camp people stopped by for a drink and a laugh. A perfect final night enjoying the incredible hospitality of base camp. After a restless night at 19,600 and then descending nearly 6,000 feet - a well-deserved sleep will be had by all tonight. 

Cheers, 

RMI Guide Jack Delaney and the Sleepy Sies 

Hello to our friends and family!

We talked about this as a team yesterday before we went to bed “the possibility exists that we could make it to the top!” But if we knew for sure then my job (as a guide) would be so boring and mountains wouldn’t be that fun for anyone to climb.

You don’t come here because you know you are going to succeed. You come to the mountains because you are open to both - success and failure.

Today some of the team stood on the summit of this beautiful and brutal mountain and some of us turned around. But each one of us was pushed in a different way and most definitely beyond limits we had previously set for ourselves. We endured strong, cold winds from start to finish, learned something about ourselves along the way and are all safely back in our tents at campo 3. I’ll call that a successful day - summit or not.

After such a tough climb, most everyone is snoozing in their tents. Going to 22,841 feet really takes it out of you.

Jack and I will wake everyone up soon for their favorite meal ever, FREEZE DRY (hopefully the last one of this trip) and then we’ll all head straight back to bed to sleep better than we’ve ever slept at 19,600 feet.

Big, big winds are moving in so we’ll get an early start tomorrow on our descent to base camp.

I’m so proud of each person on this team and the courage they had to try something so hard.

RMI Guide Jess Wedel