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Aconcagua 2022! Yes, it’s happening. Covid delayed this trip by a full year but we are all in Argentina, healthy, happy and ready to climb.
I must thank the hard work of Jeff, Autumn, Jack and Luke for working out all the logistics of my covid related delays and making sure that this trip didn’t stop before it ever got started. The whole team is now together in the town of Uspallata, spending tonight in a beautiful hotel a few miles outside Aconcagua National Park. If the weather report holds, we will fly to Base Camp mid-day tomorrow. But until then, we are enjoying more of the friendly people, tasty food and great wine of Argentina.
Our 3 Guardsman, Alden, Brett and Chip are raising money during our climb. We welcome everyone following along with our adventure and thanks for your support and generosity.

RMI Guides Walter Hailes & Jack Delaney

An accomplished skier and mountaineer, RMI Guide Tyler Reid knows a thing or two about exciting ski mountaineering trips and the Chile’s Volcanoes Ski Mountaineering Expedition stands out as one of his favorites. Tyler sat down to reflect on ten of the best things about skiing the Chilean Volcanoes: 10. The Timing. September is an amazing time to be skiing, and a healthy dose does wonders for your patience level while waiting for the Northern Hemisphere winter. 9. Pisco Sours. The perfect cap on any ski day. 8. Araucarias (Monkey Puzzle Trees). Combined with the volcanic lunar landscapes, these add to the prehistoric nature of the subalpine landscapes, and you get the sensation you might run into dinosaurs at any moment. 7. Young Volcanoes. Villarica’s summit crater is a boiling cauldron. Llaima last erupted in…2009! 6. 4 Volcanoes in 10 Days. Many expeditions are lucky to climb one mountain in 10 days. 5. The Proximity. The relative spacing of these four mountains could not be more perfect. Less car time, more skiing. 4. Light Backpacks. Most international expeditions involve hauling heavy loads. Not really the case on this trip. Three out of four of these peaks we ski with day packs. 3. The Corn. There’s something about Southern Hemisphere corn that’s extra buttery (corn snow that is). 2. The Country. Chile is a land of otherworldly landscapes, interesting culture, and incredibly friendly people. 1. Aesthetic Lines. The ski descents themselves are even more impressive than the summits. Find out more about skiing Chile’s Volcanoes this September on RMI’s Chile’s Volcanoes Ski Mountaineering Expedition…

Today was the day we have all been looking forward to. Hacienda life and acclimatization hikes have been pretty great, but we’re excited to switch gears and get to climbing. We spent the rainy morning double checking gear, packing, and looking outside hoping we’d see a break in the weather. By lunch the rain finally let up and we loaded the van headed for our final objective, Cotopaxi. We arrived at the trailhead at about 15,000’ to a thick fog, no wind, and some light snow on the ground with no views, but we were dry! We’ll take it! The team made quick work of the short hike to the hut at 16,000’. After re-organizing gear and enjoying a hot meal, we are tucked in to our sleeping bags dreaming of clear skies. Our team is strong, feeling good, and fired up to climb this volcano! RMI Guide Jess Matthews

More than a few of us got up this morning saying we’d slept better than on any other night on the mountain. 

Mweka Camp was calm and quiet… except for the now familiar sounds of our kitchen crew going to work to get breakfast on.  We enjoyed one last meal on the mountain and then threw packs on for the final walk down.  We needed to get rid of four thousand feet of elevation.  Almost immediately, we were into the rain forest and the trail was slick and a little treacherous as a result.  We picked our way carefully down muddy stairs as porters from various expeditions ran at full speed a few inches to one side of our team. We reached the Mweka Gate at 11:15 a.m. and signed out with the Kilimanjaro National Park.  A short bus ride took us to our celebration lunch hosted by our fabulous mountain staff. They sang a few traditional songs and got our gang dancing.  We took the opportunity to distribute tips and thank the entire team of hard working men. 

A two hour bus ride got us back to Rivertrees Inn and showers and fresh clothing.  We relaxed and started the process of shifting gears from climbing to safari-going. 

We’ll head out first thing tomorrow to see what we can see at Lake Manyara. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn and team

With RMI's very successful Aconcagua season wrapped up and our Everest Expedition just a few days from being underway, RMI Guide Linden Mallory discusses how our dedication to Responsible Climbing and the fundamentals of Leave No Trace influence our climbs as a guest writer on the Leave No Trace Community Blog. From the planning and packing of our climbs to the daily activities around camp, Linden outlines how we approach our climb and offers some good advice for planning of your own adventures. Check out his blog post here. Read more about RMI's dedication to Responsible Climbing here.

Today was our first real rest day. The task was to do nothing, and we excelled at it.

After sleeping for about 12 hours, we got our aching bodies into the breakfast tent and were served several delicious courses to replenish as many calories as possible: bagels with bacon and salmon, cereals and breakfast burritos.

Happy and with full bellies, we dug comfortable resting places into the snow and spent most of the day out in the sun, listening to music, eating some more, chatting and just enjoying the amazing view over glaciers and clouds below us.

The day finishes with shredded beef burritos and the feeling that we are ready for another big day tomorrow, moving our camp to 14,000’ feet.

Sebastian and Team

This morning the Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir team woke to this beautiful view at Camp Muir. After a week of training and a successful summit climb Brent Okita, JJ Justman and team wrap up our 2012 season here on Mt. Rainier. Thank you to all who joined us for an adventure on Mt. Rainier this season. We hope to see you in the mountains soon!

The Four Day Summit Climb teams led by Kel Rossiter and Walter Hailes reached the Mt. Rainier summit this morning in cold temperatures and windy conditions. With a cloud layer settled in at Camp Muir, the team enjoyed clear skies on the summit. Congratulations to today's summiteers!

Here's one more haiku,

The otters finally flew

We have made it back.

 

After a few long days sitting and waiting in our tents at Basecamp, K2 Aviation was able to make their way up glacier to come and grab our teams and sneak us back to Talkeetna last night.

We unpacked all the group gear, took our first shower in a long time, and got to enjoy a hot meal not prepared by an RMI guide.

After a long and challenging trip, we were all very thankful to make it back to land safe and sound.

Until next year!

Nikki

Today was the day! We woke up early to clear skies and absent winds. A first in over a week! We walked out of camp 2 at 2:30 hoping to get ahead of the numerous climbers that had stacked up waiting for the same weather window. Unfortunately, we weren’t early enough to beat all the other climbers out the door and ran into a fair amount of traffic. However, the extra traffic couldn’t spoil the perfect weather or the stoke emanating from the climbers, all of whom had been chomping at the bit for a chance to climb all week. The route felt extra steep this year, but the climbing was aided by good quality snow for much of the upper route leading to the summit. After nine hours of climbing and dodging other climbers, five out of seven of us stood on the summit of Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of the Himalaya. It was a perfect summer day with almost no wind and clear skies for epic views all around. After enjoying our hard won success for just a few minutes, believe it or not it can be hard to breathe at 22,841 feet, we turned downhill and continued walking downhill all the way into basecamp around 7:15pm. An absolute epic of a day for those that managed to climb to the top. Despite the sore muscles and blistered toes, the crew was smiles all around the dinner table sharing stories from the day. Tomorrow we walk out to the trailhead and make our way back to Mendoza for a much needed shower and a good night sleep in a proper bed.

Congrats to all those who summited! And good luck on your next adventure!

RMI Guide Nick Scott