Most Popular Entries
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 17,500'
We left Riobamba late this morning for our approach to high camp on Chimborazo. One of the great things about climbing in Ecuador is that we can drive to nearly 16,000 ft. From there, it was a two‑hour hike to our new dome‑tent home at 17,500 ft on Chimborazo.
The weather is looking good, so we’re heading to bed early in anticipation of an early wake‑up to climb our third—and biggest—volcano of the trip.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Nick Sinapius & Team
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
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
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Hello dear readers,
As I lay down in my tent after another eventful day on Aconcagua, I can hear what sounds like a freight train. And as I type that, the sides of the tent bend into my face as that freight train reaches camp — in the form of 40+ mph winds.
This has become a fairly normal occurrence for the 2026 Aconcagua season.
Here’s what you need to know. Today we carried loads up and up a traverse we’ve been staring at since the first time we saw Aconcagua nearly a week ago. Near the top, we stopped, pulled on our hard shells, and braced ourselves. We knew we were about to get blasted as we crossed the Ameghino Col.
We were right.
Huge gusts ripping through. A brief moment of calm, then another hit. And another. We kept moving. Sometimes stopping to brace. Short breaks. Then back to it.
Before long, we dropped into Camp 2 — snow spinning off the ridgelines, winds strong enough to knock you off balance if you weren’t paying attention. We dove into the dome tent as fast as possible, grateful for even a small reprieve.
There’s plenty more wind in the forecast, but there’s also still hope. If we keep doing the right things, day after day, we may earn a chance at the top. For now, we stay right here in the moment.
Tomorrow we move to Camp 2. Hopefully with less wind. But either way — we’re ready. We’re ready.
I’m beyond proud of this team for charging hard, staying mentally and physically strong, and still laughing with me along the way.
RMI Guide Jess Wedel
P.S. did you figure out who Lady Whistledown was? That’s a secret I’ll never tell. ��
New Post Alerts:
Aconcagua Expedition January 28, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
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
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 15,407'
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
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 20,703'
Sunday, January 18, 2026 - 2:17 pm PT
The clouds started to lift last night and by time we were ready to attempt Chimborazo the sky was completely clear for the first time during our adventure.
We woke at 11 p.m. to start our day and it was virtually perfect for a summit attempt; cool temps, no wind, and a sky full of stars.
The route starts with a rocky traverse but quickly changes to a step snow slope. At 18,000+ feet elevation steep slopes really take their toll, but our team was ready for the challenge. Six hours later, just as the sun was rising, we reached the summit. It was quite cold and a little breezy on top so we watched the sun rise, enjoyed our first real views of the many mountains of the Ecuador skyline, and headed down.
Chimborazo was a challenge but everyone on our team met that challenge with smiles.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
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
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador Seminar January 6 - 20, 2026
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Ben Luedtke, Mike Bennett
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 348'
The June 9th Mt. McKinley Expedition has loaded up in Talkeetna in the K2 Aviation Twin Otters and is heading to Kahiltna Base Camp. Their next check in should be from the glacier.
Good luck team!
New Post Alerts:
Mt. McKinley Expedition June 9, 2025
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Felipe Guarderas
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
We just got as wet as I can imagine a person can possibly be. It may be dryer standing in the shower.
Skeptical of the day's forecast (as always in Ecuador), but also based on the pattern that was observed prior to our arrival, we headed into the cloud and rain on Rucu Pichincha. It was one of those hard shells all day kind of days. Actually, the rain let up for one moment, we took the hard shells off and it immediately began raining profusely and never let up. The weather was in fact so wet that the gondola never reopened for our ride down and we took a steep, slippery trail down an extra 2700'. That was honestly pretty neat with water cascading down the trail and by that point, we couldn't possibly have gotten any wetter, so it was nicer to be warm and wet than cold and wet (waiting for the gondola to reopen).
The team was patient, flexible and overall got a decently nice hike in. In a region that doesn't have centralized heating in buildings due to the stable, comfortable weather, our hanging backpacks, jackets and hiking clothes will surely still be somewhat wet in the morning when we depart the hotel and head for our next acclimatization hike. Oh well, everyone is taking it in stride and at a minimum, today was memorable.
RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier & Team
New Post Alerts:
Ecuador's Volcanoes January 20, 2026
All is well here on Kilimanjaro!
Once again we woke to beautifully clear skies with even better views of Kili and clouds obscuring the valleys below. Our morning ritual has been waking around 6:30 and getting everything in our tents packed up before heading into our very spacious dinning tent for hot coffee and breakfast. Obviously our crew is taking wonderful care of us.
We hit the trail once again around 8am and hiked for an hour before taking our usual 10-15min break, then back on the trail for another hour. All total today we hiked for just over 7 hours before reaching camp which is set up and ready for us.
Along the way we passed around the famous and beautiful Lava Tower reaching just over 15,000ft, setting new altitude records for some and we also chatted with a few other climbers who are on the same schedule with us. All in all it was a really nice day with clouds gathering in the afternoon to help keep the temperature comfortable for hiking.
That’s all for now.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew
New Post Alerts:
Kilimanjaro Climb & Safari January 22, 2026
I’m now following you on the blog. What a great unforgettable adventure! I’m proud of you¡!
Love Mom and Dad
Posted by: Dan O'Connell (sr) on 1/27/2026 at 9:41 am
Hi Dan O’Connell! Sorry I missed your call, I’m at LGM. All is well here. You all look great. Love, Tim
Posted by: Tim Mathison on 1/27/2026 at 8:32 am
Good luck team. Go get um Nord!
Posted by: Mark on 1/23/2026 at 6:34 pm
Hey Dustin!
Sending Better weather wishes to you and your Team !!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 1/23/2026 at 8:23 am
View All Comments