Most Popular Entries

The whole team stood on top of Cayambe today! An 11 p.m. wake up had us leaving the hut shortly after midnight, winding our way up rocky trails for a little over an hour to the base of the glacier. From there we made great time up the moderate slopes that make up the lower half of the route. Somewhere in the 17,500’ range the glacier becomes much more complex and the slope angle increases significantly. Slow and steady movement up firm and exposed terrain brought us to the seemingly endless summit plateau, but by 6:45 a.m. the entire team was on top at 18,997’! Winds were gusty throughout the night and most of us were in all our layers for the latter half of the ascent. But as we started down the temperatures soared under the equatorial sun and we were soon in base layers trudging back towards the hut. We climbed through intermittent clouds and fog all night, but by morning most of the clouds cleared out and we were treated to our first clear views of Cotopaxi and Chimborazo! After a long and tiring day we’re all looking forward to a full night’s sleep and a rest day tomorrow before heading south to Cotopaxi! 

--RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo and team

Hello there!

Sunshine all day long today. We needed that.

We started the morning walking through a valley of female yaks (called naks) and their babies. The cutest little things.

We took it nice and slow, making our way to the moraine of the Khumbu Glacier and crossing over into Thukla for a tea break.

The highlight came after the climb up to Thukla Pass: the climbers’ memorial, draped in prayer flags and tributes to those lost in the mountains. We took our time there. It’s a special place and the weather and views were nearly perfect.

On the way up the hill I heard “Lookin’ good, Pancake!” and then “Feelin’ good, Cajun!” I’ll let you all guess which team members have acquired those trail names. The point is — the camaraderie is high. Whether it’s trolling each other by putting rocks in (or on) backpacks, taking ridiculous selfies on phones left unattended, or hollering words of encouragement as we waltz along the trail — we’re having the best time and laughing nonstop, even if it means spending the next 30 seconds after catching our breath.

Lobuche — the mountain — made her first real impression last night, framed perfectly in our teahouse window. After the climber’s memorial, we could even see the steep rocky route to high camp. A little intimidating but we’re stoked.

Everyone arrived to Lobuche, the village (confusing, we know), in good form. We were greeted with french fries, RaRa soup, and a long afternoon of rest.

Tonight we sleep at 16,200 feet. And by sleep I mean toss, turn, wake up for some deep breaths — but honestly? Good enough counts up here.

All is well.

RMI Guide Jess Wedel and the team

The team absolutely styled Cotopaxi this morning, or more accurately, last night. Midnight departures are more or less the standard here in Ecuador, as the hut staff typically provides hot water for coffee and tea and bread rolls with butter and jam at 11 pm. We started out on a winding sandy trail above the refugio that quickly turned to firm crunchy snow, and were soon traversing the lower slopes of the glacier.

A brief but intense rain storm rolled through yesterday afternoon not long after we had arrived at the hut, so we approached the steeper upper mountain with caution due to some uncertainty around how much snow had fallen up there and how the resulting avalanche conditions might manifest. The tropical high-alpine snowpack on these peaks can behave in strange ways and is often unlike anything we'd typically encounter in the mountains back home. But this time around Dustin and I were pleasantly surprised to find an unreactive interface and minimal slab formation from the previous day's weather. The few inches that had fallen did however make for excellent climbing conditions, allowing us to move through the steep and exposed switchbacks below the summit confidently and efficiently.

Perhaps the only detracting factor of the climb was our few moments on the summit itself, which were kept rather brief due to lots of nasty smelling sulfuric gas, and lacked the iconic views of Cotopaxi's massive crater which was largely obscured by clouds. Once on the descent however the team continued to crush it, and we were back at the Refugio Jose Rivas before 8 am! This meant we've had most of the day to catch up on sleep, food and hydration at Hacienda La Cienega. Tomorrow we'll head to Chimborazo Lodge and start preparing for our last big objective! 

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo

PS- I failed to take a single blog-worthy photo today, but I think Dustin has a few decent ones. I'll ask him to send them when he wakes up from his nap. 

We had a hearty breakfast at Malinzi Resort and loaded up small day packs to head up to the summit of La Malinche today. Everyone seemed to be feeling well. We had absolutely perfect weather for our hike. 

If you like the Disappointment Cleaver then you will love La Malinche. We had alot of loose scree and rock until the final scramble. 

Everyone made it to the gorgeous summit, our camp dog "Lizzy" included! We spent some time at the summit gathering 360 views and memories to share! 

We had an easy decent and made it back in time to relax and shower before dinner. 

Tomorrow on to the next mountain!

RMI Climber Maria McCoy

This morning I tried to hype the team up. Lobuche and Gorekshep are tough — extraordinarily cold, high altitude, the same food on repeat, frozen toilets. You start to miss home a little more than usual.

The team collectively rated my hype talk. 3/10, room for improvement. But they understood the assignment. We stayed positive, we acknowledged the suffering, and we remembered that we’re all in this together.

So we put on our boots, pulled our buffs up, and got walking. No feeling is final — just because today we feel the weight of it all a little more doesn’t mean tomorrow won’t bring something different. Everest Base Camp is right there. That’s how it goes out here.

To Gorekshep we walked, pulling over every few minutes for the hundreds of yaks returning from EBC. The Khumbu Glacier stretched out to our right, and above it, Nuptse — hanging seracs everywhere you look, black and white rock swirled together like a painting. And then, far in the distance: tiny yellow tents dotting a cold, grey landscape. Base camp.

The clouds rolled in (predictably), and after lunch we decided to skip the hike up to Kala Patthar. Better to stay dry, stay warm, and save all we have for the bigger goals ahead.

This afternoon we’re buried in every layer of down we brought. Cards are shuffling next to me as I write this. Tonight: Word Salad — acting out words and matching them, at 17,000 feet, with brains running on less oxygen than they’re used to. It’s going to be beautifully chaotic.

We cannot wait to reach base camp tomorrow. Two nights there, some ice and glacier training on the Khumbu — it’s always a highlight.

Fair warning: there’s a good chance we’ll lose wifi and cell service for the two nights at base camp. If the dispatches go quiet, don’t worry — and if you haven’t heard from your person, that’s why. We’re good.

Here’s to keeping the dream alive and embracing the suck — a motto that’s earning its keep out here.

RMI Guide Jess Wedel and the team

Namaste!

If the past few weeks have been defined by purpose and altitude, today was defined by the sweet relief of coming down from both.

The trail from Pangboche to Namche is deceptive — one might assume a descent would be all downhill, but the Khumbu has a sense of humor. As the saying here goes, “sometimes up, sometimes down.” Legs went to autopilot, brains finally went offline, and the team moved smoothly through the mountains with something that felt a lot like ease.

Arriving at Namche on the back end of an expedition hits differently than arriving on the front — the altitude is kinder, the breathing comes easier, and the body quietly begins to recover.

We made a beeline for Eat Smart, a welcome break from teahouse fare: barbecue chicken sandwiches, wraps, and a freshly baked matcha cheesecake. The afternoon was spent wandering Namche’s vibrant streets — yak bells, hand-painted art, and prayer beads found their way into packs.

Tonight, there’s talk of moving our nightly card games to the Irish Pub or maybe the Dancing Yak. Or if some people’s dreams come true — both. Time will tell. We’ve spent weeks locked in on our goals. It’s nice to just… be here.

RMI Guide Jess Wedel and the team

We are settled in at the Refugio Jose Rivas on Cotopaxi. It is an exceptionally beautiful evening above the valley cloud cover with the sun setting on the mountain.

A couple of nights of good sleep have done everyone well and we are as ready to climb as we can be. The team is hopping into bed right now in anticipation of another alpine start.

RMI Guide Dustin & Team

Safari Day 2

Today we visited the famous Ngorongoro Crater, considered by some to be the 8th wonder of the world. The crater is roughly100 square miles and is home to roughly 30,000 mammals that have taken up residence. We hit the road early with hopes of catching a few of the big cats before the heat of the day sent them in search of shade.

There were many sightings today of hyenas, jackles, ostrich, and countless other birds. We manage to see quite a few lions including one large male up close.

The team also managed to see four Black Rhinos.

We have just finished another wonderful meal here at the Plantation Lodge and the team is off to bed after a long, but very rewarding day on safari.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the safari crew

Thursday, May 14, 2026 - 11:23 pm PT

Hey yall! It’s Haley coming to you from Camp 2! Or 11 camp as it’s called way up yonder.

Why we chose this venture over someplace like Maui, we woke up to clear blue skies and a beautiful, windless day. This stunning and dynamic mountain is truly a place of wonder!

The team felt strong and enjoyed the glorious experience of only needing base layers as we made excellent time up to our next camp. It’s bustling up here already and we are even more thankful to have made it by day 3 after hearing weather pinned lots of teams down for days.

We must be a bunch of plants because the sun really brought us back to life! We plan to spend our next few days back carrying and caching up to 14 so stay tuned for updates on our wild and wondrous adventure!

Out here having a blast and a half,
RMI Climber Haley

PS I love you Kevin, Mom, Dad, William, Kayla and Abel

We had a nice rest day yesterday as we made our way from La Cienega to the famous Chimborazo Lodge. Tucked in one of the valleys under the south face of Chimborazo, it’s essentially a climbing museum that happens to offer rooms for climbers- every conceivable inch of wall space is covered in photographs or memorabilia spanning the entire history of alpinism both in Ecuador and abroad. Surrounded by dozens of llamas grazing in the surrounding fields, the ambiance was perfect the last night before our final summit attempt of the trip. 

This morning we awoke to dense fog and made our way up the road into Chimborazo National Park with never more than a few feet of visibility in front of bus. The hike up to high camp was longer, snowier and steeper than the approach the Cotopaxi hut, but at least we all have a few more red blood cells at this point in the trip! The Chimborazo high camp is much more primitive than the Refugios at Cayambe or Cotopaxi, but the big white domes up here are still a big upgrade over tents, especially in a raging thunderstorm like the one that rolled through a few hours after we got up here this afternoon.

There is a lot of snow on the ground up here and more falling as I write this, so we are unsure what the upper mountain will look like tonight and tomorrow. With a high degree of uncertainty around the state of snowpack and much more consequential terrain than our previous two mountains we are going to take a cautious approach into our climb tonight and climb as high as the mountain allows us to with a reasonable margin. We’ve controlled every variable we can at this point, so it’s just a matter of seeing what the mountain allows us to do. As of right now the plan is for a midnight departure, check back tomorrow to see how we fared! 

RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo