Entries from Ecuador

Monday, January 12, 2026 - 5:30 pm PT

Our 6th day in Ecuador actually started on day 5, as we “woke up” at 11 pm for an alpine start and our first summit day of the trip. We left the hut at 12:10 am and climbed through clouds until we reached the toe of the glacier at around 16,000 feet. From then on, the clouds steadily cleared leading to great summit weather and incredible views of the sunrise. The entire team reached the summit of Cayambe around 7am, once again setting new high points for many in the group. A highlight of the day was having the hut, mountain, and summit all to ourselves as we were the only group climbing Cayambe today. We’re now back in Quito and looking forward to a well earned rest day before heading to Cotopaxi.

RMI Guide Nick Sinapius

Hello friends and family from the Summit of Cayambe!

We all made it up and down safely. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.

RMI Guide Walter Hailes

We’re just hours away from attempting our first Ecuador volcano. Today we drove to our high camp, unloaded our gear and then climbed about an hour above our hut to the edge of the glacier. The upper mountain peeked out from the clouds a couple times today but lower clouds blocked the views for most of the afternoon. We double checked our boot and crampon fit and practiced our ice axe technique. We’re looking forward, and a little anxious, for our attempt to summit Cayambe.

RMI Guide Walter Hailes

Today was a rest and travel day as we made our way from Otavalo to a climbers hut on the lower slopes of Cayambe. On the way we stopped at the Otavalo market to shop for a few last minute essentials and some things we didn’t know we needed. Negotiating prices in Spanish was a challenge and we had varying levels of success, but most of us walked away with what we think was a good deal. The big purchase of the day was a somewhat large painting and the group is now brainstorming ways to get it back to the US intact.

We spent the afternoon reviewing knots and now we’re organizing gear, looking forward to the next couple days and our first climb of the trip. 

RMI Guide Nick & Team

We have broken free from the city and made our way into the highlands. Today we drove north through the rain to hike around Lake Cuicocha. Fortunately, the last drops of rain fell with our first few steps on the trail, and by the end of the hike we were rewarded with clear, sunny skies. Hopefully, that good weather luck follows us to the big peaks ahead.

We’re becoming fast friends—laughing almost constantly as we trade stories on the trail and around the dinner table.

RMI Guide Walter Hailes

Thursday, January 8, 2026 - 6:41 pm PT

Our second day in Quito started with a leisurely breakfast followed by a taxi ride to the Teleferico ( gondola ) that took us up to 13,000 feet and the first of our many volcanoes of the trip. We hiked to the top of Rucu Pichincha (15,407 ft.), one of the many peaks of the pichincha volcano that overlooks Quito. Most of the day was spent in the clouds until we reached the summit and they cleared for a view of the city below. This marked a new high point for some members of the group, being higher than any point in the continental United States. Our decent went smooth and most of us escaped with only minor sunburn.

On our way back to the hotel we worked on our Google Translate communication skills and after a brief rest we walked to a local Ecuadorian restaurant for dinner, managing to avoid the worst of the evening rain. Our biggest takeaway from the day was to trust the local taxi driver’s weather forecasts. 

RMI Guide Nick Sinapius

Hello from Ecuador!

We had a beautiful first day on our Ecuador adventure. After introductions and a quick team meeting we set off on a tour of Quito.

Our first stop was at the equator, where it’s hard to walk in a straight line, easy (for some people) to balance an egg on the head of a nail, and water swirls this way and that. Our tour guide explained the physics being all these things correctly enough to meet the approval of Paul, our Astrophysicist. Most of us were just happy to see the water swirl in different directions.

We finished our sight seeing with a walking tour of the historic district and a panoramic view of the city from the base of the Virgin off the Panecillo.

Overall a really strong start with a great group of people.

RMI Guide Walter Hailes

Hello again everyone!

We are finally back in Quito after a successful climb of Cotopaxi! 

Today was redemption day for us with the weather. We had incredibly clear skies with moonlight to help illuminate the way. The team hit the trail right at midnight and slowly made our way uphill, and I mean uphill. Seems no one here in Ecuador got the memo that we (North) Americans prefer switchbacks to lessen the steepness and make it easier. Anyway, the team did great and 4 of the 6 climbers were able to stand on top for sunrise this morning. 19,347 feet to be exact. If that sounds familiar it’s because it’s 7 feet higher than Kilimanjaro!

We are all safely back in our hotel freshly showered and catching up on some much needed sleep. It’s been a wonderful adventure and cultural experience here in Ecuador. And I hope the team brings these stories home to share with you all. A huge thank you to our excellent local guide team (Fatima, Gustavo, Ronaldo and Daniel) for keeping us safe, making it fun and enjoyable, and sharing their local knowledge. 

As I have done before, I’ve asked all the team members to share just one word that best sums up their trip. So in no particular order here are our words. 

Grateful 
Nostalgic 
Camaraderie
Ellipsis
Inspiring 
Alive
Awesome 
Educational 

Hope you enjoyed following and if any of this sounded enjoyable, come join us for an adventure sometime. 

RMI Guides Casey Grom and Jackson Breen and the Cotopaxi conquistadors

Tuesday, November 11, 2025 - 5:50 pm PT

Greetings from Ecuador.

Today was a scheduled rest day and that’s exactly what everyone did!

 We are staying in an incredibly beautiful and comfortable Hacienda just a stones throw from Cotopaxi with stunning views of the mountain right out the window.

The team ate well, read books, napped, and just generally lounged around to recharge after our challenging time on Cayambe. We’ve had some great conversations about life, shared cooking tips and some exciting and funny stories about being in the mountains.

Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to one more night of good sleep before heading to our final climb tomorrow.

RMI Guides Casey, Jackson and the 6 amigos.

Weather is such a fickle beast when it comes to mountain climbing. As climbers we train, plan, prepare, have the right equipment, and know how to use it, but at the end of the day we can only control so much.

Today we hoped to climb Cayambe. When we woke up to begin our climb in the middle of the night we were greeted with rain, snow, and wind. We waited in the warm Refugio to see if conditions would improve. Precipitation continued to fall with periods of relative clearing and torrents of angry wind and snow. We eventually decided to give it our best shot and go out and climb as high as we safely could. After a few hours of climbing through the storm, breaking trail, and getting all of our jackets soaked to the core, the team decided it was not safe to continue.

We made it back to the hut, hung some gear up to dry and crawled back into bed for naps before breakfast and our departure from the Refugio. After stopping for lunch outside of Quito with our Ecuadorian guides we continued to Cotopaxi where we arrived at our hacienda. We continue to dry out our gear while we enjoy warm showers, hot dinner, comfy beds, a full nights sleep, and some much needed rest.

Despite some nasty weather and a disappointing outcome our team all had smiles on their faces when we finished the climb and a great respect and appreciation for this incredible place we have the privilege to visit!

RMI Guides Casey Grom & Jackson Breen