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Hi Everyone!
We are back at
14 Camp after a great day carrying a load of food and fuel to the top of the fixed lines at 16,200'. Our team climbed strong and we were all excited to get a feel for the upper mountain and steeper snow and ice.
We arrived back in camp with enough sunshine left in the day to sit outside the tents and relax and rehydrate while our boots dried (and more importantly AIRED!) out.
The weather is looking good and we hope to move up to high camp soon and make our summit bid!
RMI Guide
Solveig Waterfall & Team
Yesterday we made our first big jump to altitude, from sleeping at roughly 10,000' to 15,000' and everyone seemed to handle it quite well. It's a good sign that everyone is acclimatizing.
Today we were greeted with moderate winds and blowing snow. Not what we were hoping for but we'll keep our spirits up regardless. We spent a little time outside today reviewing some basic climbing techniques to prepare us for tomorrow's summit attempt. We mostly enjoyed the comforts of the hut here on Cayambe. It's more of a house than a hut and sleeps about thirty climbers. It has two small kitchens and most importantly, indoor plumbing.
Everyone is doing great and are anxiously awaiting tomorrow's summit attempt. If all goes well we will try to leave here early in the morning and hope to reach the summit just after sunrise.
Keep your fingers crossed and wish us luck!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
The final four just topped out on Aconcagua!
Ben Luedtke reported that it took the team 7 hours 20 minutes to reach the summit. The winds were blowing at 35 mph and it was cold.
They will report more on their summit day when they return to High Camp.
Congratulations Team!
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Aconcagua Expedition January 31, 2025
On the third day of our expedition we woke early and climbed reluctantly from the warmth of our sleeping bags. Today, we would leave the Vacas valley and climb steadily over 3000 feet through the Relinchos valley to Plaza Argentina, and home for the next three days. The increase in elevation brought some much needed relief from the heat as the temperature dropped with every foot gained. The team traveled together in good spirits under blue skies and marveled at the scale of their surroundings. Early in the afternoon, tired and dust covered, we found ourselves in the small city that is Aconcagua Basecamp. After three days of wandering through the high desert of the Andes, the team welcomed the comforts of the camp with open arms. Tomorrow we have a well earned rest day to lounge and do a bit of packing to prepare for the upper mountain. The team is in good spirits, and despite being tired from the three day trek, are eager to move higher up the mountain. We can only hope the good weather continues and that the mountain allows us the opportunity to climb.
RMI Guide Nick Scott
May 28, 2014 - 10:33 pm PT
Evaluating the weather at 6:20 this morning from the vestibule of our tent I saw a somewhat similar scene to what I saw yesterday. With one exception. A little lightness shining through the clouds to the north. Faint in the early morning light, but there it was. So with that small glimmer of hope that the weather might cooperate for us today, we set the wheels in motion. Stoves were fired up and the call to wake up made. Still uncertain if the weather would improve enough, we held off packing up the tents until last.
But finally the clouds parted enough to give us the confidence to head to
14,200' camp. We could see the sun about 1,000' above the clouds we were in. Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn't want to make it too easy and threw some gusty winds our way on Squirrel Hill. It seemed like the weather might be changing, but everyone was climbing well so we persevered and by the time we got above that hill, things had mellowed out. Even Windy Corner wasn't too bad.
We eventually made it to camp at 14,200' where the sun was out and it was warm and pleasant. To make things even nicer, we were greeted by the RMI group ahead of us who were camped there. Led by Pete Van Deventer, the whole team came out to lend us a hand getting camp set up.
Everybody had great appetites at dinner, a good sign given that we had just moved 3,000' to our higher camp. It was a tired, but very happy team that put down bowl after bowl of Ramen tonight.
We're all ecstatic to be here tonight, and I couldn't be prouder of how the team climbed today.
Well, it's about time that I hit the sack as well.
Goodnight!
RMI Guides Brent, Leah and Nick
On The Map
The southern solstice treated us to a long, restful, and relaxing day here at Camp 2. We waited until the sun reached camp before stirring and then had a relaxed morning, watching the long shadows coming off the mountain above us gradually fade as the sun rose higher. From camp, we have perfect views of a good portion of our climbing route on summit day. There was hardly a puff of wind coming off of the top of
Aconcagua and we could make out our trail crossing the wide scree slope called the Acarero and up the gully known as the Canaleta to reach the summit ridge. The perfect weather, views of the route, and time to rest and recover has motivated us and we are excited about the coming days. Tomorrow we plan to move up to Camp 3 at 19,500' in hopes of making a push for the summit in the following days. We are all feeling strong, rested, and ready for the next push. We'll check in tomorrow from high camp.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Summit!
We did it, most of us anyway, but I have to wonder if those that turned around short of the summit didn't make a better decision. I say that because it was one of the toughest days I've had on
Cayambe in a long time. It was cold, windy, and snowy almost the entire day. The conditions were safe to climb in, but it was far from enjoyable. Six of our nine climbers made the summit and the three that chose to head down early did so because I believe they simply weren't enjoying it.
We started our day rather early with breakfast at 11pm and were walking shortly after midnight. The first hour of the climb went rather smoothly as we made our way to the start of the glacier. We took a short break to adjust layers, put our crampons on and rope up for the ascent. It seemed like as soon as we started walking the wind picked up and the snow began to blow. Unfortunately for us the blowing snow was coming straight down the glacier and directly into our faces. As we painfully made our way uphill, we had to stop and put on our Gore-tex to protect us from the conditions. We slowly battled our way for the next few hours taking short breaks and finally after seven trying hours stood on the summit. It was so windy on top we only stayed for just a few minutes before quickly descending back down the glacier.
Once safely back at camp the team made quick work of getting packed up and we headed down valley to thicker air and a wonderful cafe where we filled bellies before heading south to our home at Chilcabamba for the next few days. I'm sure everyone will sleep soundly tonight and we are looking forward to taking a rest day tomorrow.
Everyone is in good spirits!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Hello everyone:
It was a pretty mellow day here in
Cheget. The team spent the day resting after our big climb. We mostly just relaxed around town doing a little shopping and catching up on some emails at the hotel. Everyone is packed up and ready for our trip to St. Petersburg tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Well rested from our recent international flights, our team went for our first acclimatization climb today, summiting Rucu Pichincha. Rucu is a volcano that is located just outside of the city of Quito, and the gondola-assisted approach allowed us to enjoy some very high altitude today. The summit sits at 15,413', and was a personal altitude record for many members of our climbing team; we should break that record a few more times during our stay here in
Ecuador.
After riding the gondola, the climb consisted of a relatively moderate ascent on good trails to a small Col just shy of the true summit. From the Col, we scrambled for about 15 minutes up 3rd class volcanic rock to the summit. Clouds obscured our views from the top, but added to the ambiance of our team's first Andean summit. Other than some high clouds, the weather was great for our climb today. The temperatures were quite comfortable for climbing, and we had great views of Quito from nearly 6,000' above.
Our team climbed very strong today, without exception, and it is obvious that everyone has been dedicated to their training programs in the past few months. The climbers on this team have a ton of experience in the mountains, from Rainier to Aconcagua, and it definitely shows.
Tomorrow our crew will pack up in the morning and leave Quito, traveling north to our next acclimatization hike of Fuya Fuya, en route to our first major climbing objective, Cayambe.
At the risk of sounding redundant, these climbers are strong and well-prepared for this trip. Sure, we all feel the affects of altitude at this point, but that is expected. The team's collective dedication to climbing and training is allowing us to fully enjoy our experience here in Ecuador.
Thanks for checking in, and we'll provide an update after our next climb. But for now, the well-oiled climbing machine is on track.
Hasta la proxima cumbre,
RMI Guide Mike Walter & team
I once heard the founder of
RMI (Lou Whittaker) tell a group "that climbing mountains is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer, it only feels good when you stop." And I'm pretty sure that our team actually believes this after today.
Climbing in Ecuador is much different than back in the states. There is no weather forecast to help, no route condition updates, and no reliable rescue if you get in over your head. You pretty much stick your head out the door and decide whether or not you'll make an attempt or not.
As you have most likely
read in the last few dispatches its been pretty windy all week. Today was no different except that it was our summit day. It howled all night and even seemed to shake the 2,000 square-foot building we've been staying in. Some of us slept and others did not and around 10:30 pm
Adam, Jamie and myself put some water on the stove and crossed our fingers that things would get better. After breakfast, hot cocoa and coffee we finished the last of our packing and headed out into the night.
It was windy right outta the gates. The wind was blowing between 30 and 40 mph with higher gust. It was worse right next to the hut and subsided once we got a short distance away. Luckily for us the first hour and a half we were slightly protected by the rock buttress we had to climb around/over. It by no means made it any easier, but it did allow us to reach the glacier safely. We took a short break put on the majority of our gear (all those things we just had to have finally were really needed) and started up the mountain. We were able to climb for about 2.5 hours before we found shelter from the wind in a small rock outcrop. It became very clear that the wind and weather were not improving as we had hoped. Right above the outcrop the winds seemed to be getting much stronger. We decided to forge ahead and see if it was really as bad as it sounded. Sure enough a few feet above the outcrop we were in the thick of it, the wind was fierce and everyone was fight to just stay on their feet. We attempted to move forward but it was quite clear that was not a realistic option. Adam and I estimated the winds to be between 50 to 70 mph and gust were outright ridiculous.
We quickly descended to the outcrop and decided that the risk was too great and everyone was happily in agreement. The team safely descend as the weather continued to deteriorate all the way back to the hut.
We took a short nap, packed up and retreated to our comfy hacienda and hot showers. Everyone is doing well and happy to be out of the weather.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
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Hi Craig (and Team),
Good luck and keep up the great and safe work! We’re all thinking of and rooting for you back here in NC!
Craig, after working up nearly 50 sea turtles yesterday I think you may have had the easier and shorter day! :)
Best,
Greg & Diane
Posted by: Greg Lewbart on 5/23/2013 at 12:22 pm
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