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Today was the real first step of the adventure. We woke up early to catch one of the first rides on the gondola and we’re glad we did. The team enjoyed beautiful views of the surrounding volcanoes, Rucu Pichincha itself, and the cityscape of Quito to start our morning up in the hills. The weather out here in Ecuador is notoriously unpredictable though. Shortly after we set out, we were surrounded by clouds and a breeze that chilled us for the remainder of the climb. Still thankful for no rain, we climbed on and reached the summit in style. The best part of the climb? Well of course it was the coffee and donuts that awaited us at the top of the gondola. The Euro-style café there has sprawling views of Quito and coffee that tastes extra good after a hard day’s work. The team is headed back to Quito for our last night here before we head out to our next peak, Fuya Fuya.

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - 4:50 pm PT

We are enjoying a nice sunny rest day at 14,000’ camp today after our carry to 17,000’ yesterday. We are waiting to see what the weather has in store before we make our next move. All is well here at camp!

RMI Guides JT, Kiira, Alan and the RMI team

Good evening from Huaraz! We have officially started our 2019 multi-peak climbing adventure. Everyone arrived in Peru on time, and we proceeded yesterday to do the long drive between the country's capital and the Huaraz, the epicenter of climbing activity in this Andean country. The drive brought us over Conochocha Pass, nearing 4,200 meters of elevation and with astonishing views of the immediate massif of Pastoruri mountains, as the gateway to the Cordillera Blanca. Without much hesitation, we continued on today with an acclimatization hike to Lake Churup, at 14,400ft above town. Beautiful turquoise waters below a steep peak of the same name, provided the best rewards for the first day of activity on our trip. The day followed with a team's lunch in town, and getting pre packed for tomorrows drive and approach to Base Camp. Everyone is excited, in great spirits and the weather looks good for the next few days. Cebollapampa Base Camp, between Chopicalqui and Yanapacha (our next objectives over the next few days) await! Stay tuned for our updates from the mountain. RMI Guides Elias de Andres Martos & JT Schmitt

Pampa de Lenas is at an altitude of 2,800 meters. And that is where we are sitting right now. It's our first day trekking and we had a beautiful day walking into camp. The scenery towers above you as the condors soar high above. Pretty poetic huh? Okay, I'll stop. The team had a fun day stretching our legs. We'd like to lie and tell you it was arduous but after a picnic lunch of sandwiches, chips, fresh fruit, cheese, olives and cookies we all wobbled into camp. There is no setting up tents here! Are you kidding! You will never see stars like these in your life. So we are all sleeping under the stars tonight. I'm just trying to remember who sang the song, "Southern Cross?" So help me out RMI fans!! We are relaxing in camp and excited for dinner, which is being cooked over an open fire. Living don't get no better than this!! RMI Guides JJ Justman and Leah Fisher

On The Map

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir led by JJ Justman and Pete Van Deventer reached the top of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team reported excellent climbing conditions with clear skies and no wind. The team spent time on Columbia Crest celebrating and snapping photos. They have started their descent back to Camp Muir. Congratulations Team!

A rest day! The gang has been hanging out most of the day today catching up on sleep, reading, and calories. Our first night in Aconcagua Basecamp wasn't the smoothest... Despite sleeping quite well most of us were feeling a little lethargic this morning from spending the night at nearly 14,000'. Regardless, spirits are high after moving around a bit and getting prepared for tomorrow's carry/cache up at Camp 1. The guides spent the morning packing group food and equipment and the team has been packing up their personal gear that they plan to cache. The weather has been a little funky but nothing terrible, hopefully tomorrow brings better or at least similar weather for our first foray onto the upper mountain... Hasta mañana, RMI Guide Billy Nugent

On The Map

Today's plans called for our first foray onto the mountain above basecamp. After a quick breakfast the crew got busy organizing loads of both personal and group gear, food for nearly 12 days, and a couple of gallons of fuel. We then set out for Camp 1 climbing along a lateral moraine, crossing a glacial remnant, and finally ascending a long scree slope (brutally loose) into the camp at over 16,000'. We put a cache together, took a nap in the sun, and then cruised back down to Plaza Argentina. All in all, we spent a little less than 7 hours in the field and the team performed exceptionally well. The guys were really excited to finally get down to the nitty gritty of climbing this thing. Tired but happy in Plaza Argentina, RMI Guides Billy Nugent, Leon Davis, and the gang.

Last night at high camp, it just didn't seem like we would get a chance to make the top of Aconcagua... it was snowing and socked in when I sent yesterday's dispatch. But then, just before darkness came on, the snow stopped and the clouds dropped. During the night there were occasional waves of intense wind that could be heard coming from miles away, but these were short bursts and sure enough, at 4 AM the stars were out and the wind was gone. Our stoves were cooking by 4:15 and we were walking out of camp by headlamp at around 5:15 AM, bound for the summit. We had crampons on all the way and were lucky to be on snow for about 95% of our journey. Peter mentioned that he'd done the same climb without once touching snow, just loose rock, so we were happy with the conditions. It wasn't terribly cold and once we found sunshine things were quite pleasant. We lost that sunshine when we began the long, long traverse to the base of the Canaleta. There were perhaps a hundred other climbers going for the top today, but we ended up nearly in the lead by half-way up the steep and direct Canaleta. This broad gulley is about 800 vertical feet... easy at sea level, I'm sure, but beginning at 22,000 ft makes it somewhat challenging. We were challenged, but all did well, the extra nights at high camp had worked in our favor for acclimatization. We popped out on the summit at noon and enjoyed a sunny and wonderful hour up there. We were victorious and thrilled with the new views... but several of us cried like babies as we remembered our friend Fede and his tragic passing on the summit of Aconcagua all too recently. We left the top at 1 PM and walked quickly into a snowstorm. Not a vicious snowstorm, there was little wind, but a socked-in, steady snowfall. It only took us two hours to make it back to high camp and so we knocked the tents down and set out walking for basecamp. We were anxious to get down and rejoin the rest of our team who'd descended yesterday. In Basecamp by about 6:30, we had a fine reunion dinner and made plans for our walk down-valley begining tomorrow. An improbable summit became a treasured moment with great friends close to 23,000 ft above sea level. All are safe, all are down the hard part of the mountain.

100% Team Summit of Ixta!

Fresh off our successful summit of Malinche dodging thunder storms, our Mexico Volcanoes team pulled into La Joya, our basecamp for Volcan Iztaccihautl, to find dime-sized hail falling and lightening cracking just overhead. 

We overheard a trip report from some nice climbers who had camped at 15,500'. “Our hair was buzzing. We threw everything metal out of the tent, then the lightening struck! I still can’t feel my thumbs!”

This pretty well made our decision for us to not walk out into the storm to our high camp on a ridge. Easy decision, but it meant that summiting Ixta the next day would be anything but easy, and could only be done in a single push from La Joya. 

We discussed with the team that this would be a very long and demanding day, and they were all excited for the challenge. 

And they crushed it! We left camp at 1am and walked the normal three miles and 2,000 feet to high camp, then turned to the upper mountain, and no one flinched. Eight and a half total hours of climbing later we all stood in the sun on the 17,169' summit of Ixta. 

Our total time on the climb was a little over 14 hours, with somewhere around 5,500 vertical feet. Half of which we normally do in a big day the day before. Strong work by our whole team!

As we pulled into Puebla around 6pm for our much needed rest day, there wasn't an open eye in the van. 

RMI Guide Joe Hoch

Finally with all of our gear, we left Mendoza this morning and headed for the mountains. The tree-lined streets of Mendoza gave away to carefully tended vineyards that produce the famed Malbec wine for which Mendoza is known. The road led into the foothills of the Andes, weaving along the edge of the thick red Mendoza River. The small hills soon grew to tall mountains and the road began passing through tunnels carved through the rock in the mountain sides. By midday we reached the ski outpost of Penitentes, a handful of kilometers from the Chilean border. Penitentes, no more than a few buildings with long slanted tat break the incessant winds, is a ski resort in the winter and a staging ground for Aconcagua climbers in the summer. We spent the afternoon in Penitentes preparing our gear for the mountain. We set up and checked our tents, fired up the stoves, and packed our food and fuel into tight, well protected containers to endure the jostling of the mules on the approach to Base Camp. Once our loads were prepared, we ventured up the valley to Punta del Inca, a famous natural bridge created from geothermal springs that spans the entire river. Decades ago visitors would drive their cars across it. We ventured a bit further up the road to the mouth of the Horocones Valley where we caught our first views of Aconcagua since reaching Mendoza. Capped in clouds and new snow, the mountain's impressive south face loomed over the head of the Horocones Valley. It was an impressive, exciting, and humbling moment. We are settled into our Hosteria now, enjoying the thin cold air, and happy to finally be in the mountains. RMI Guide Linden Mallory