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Hello from 14,200'!
Life is good here in the Peruvian Andes. Acclimatization and technical training were the name of the game today. After a good night's rest, a pancake breakfast, and some warm morning sun, we dove right into knots and hitches; the foundation for some of the technical systems we'll learn later on. Chicken soup and beat+potato salad were a welcomed lunch break before a short hike to the top of the moraine at 15,200'. The views didn't disappoint. From our perch we could see all the real time glaciation on
Tocllaraju, as well as our future route up Urus Este. We're back in camp awaiting what is surely to be an incredible dinner spread in our dining tent. Life is pure, simple, and beautiful here in Peru, and our entire team is feeling great. We'll update you tomorrow from the Ishinca Glacier during our on-snow training day. Until then, hasta luego!
RMI Guide Robby Young and team
Well, the whirlwind is finally over... We enjoyed a breezy, sunny, but not too hot walk down from
Plaza Argentina into Pampa de Leñas complete with multiple river crossings and the sore feet that come with a seemingly endless rocky trail. The camp at Pampa de Leñas turned out to be a ghost town... only the Rangers were there along with us and one herriero who was running a small mule team with our gear. The head ranger at the camp, Hugo, wished for me to pass on his hello to several RMI guides including JJ, Garrett, and Katrina. It's fun to see familiar faces like Hugo's over the years, and even though we only get to hang out over maté once a year we still feel like we know eachother. Anyway, our ragged team enjoyed a truly amazing meal prepared by Barco, our lone herriero which we devoured sitting around the fire. We ate a typical Argentine asado complete with roasted veggies, slabs of grilled beef, bread, and of course wine.
The next day was a bit of a slog but we managed to dispatch the remaining miles to the trailhead before the afternoon and before we knew it we were packed and on the van back to Mendoza. While the Rodrigo and the friendly staff at the Nutibara hotel are totally used to returning Aconcagua climbers there were certainly looks from other hotel guests while we were checking in. I guess they're not used to crews of people coming in dusty, sweaty, bleary-eyed, and stinking of mule farts with over a dozen filthy duffel bags piled in the lobby. Lucky for the people of Mendoza we cleaned up nicely and ate a casual meal at a nearby restaurant because we were a bit tired. We're saving our big celebration dinner for tonight at a fancy pants restaurant even though some of our comrades are gone already and others will be headed out this afternoon. Sorry amigos, you'll be missed.
I wanted to thank our whole team for their hard work in making this expedition a smashing success... but I especially wanted to thank Hannah and our local guide Rolo for working their butts off for the rest of the team. You guys are rad.
Well, that's about it... Until next time.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Yesterday we awoke to a crisp morning, with a blanket of fresh snow up high. Enough snow to stop our van in its tracks on the approach road to
Lonquimay, but we didn't mind the extra skinning. The weather was a bit stormy the top 2,000' of the mountain, so we decided to save the summit for the next day. We still got to ski a couple long, very fun laps above massive lava fields, and later our crew went for a pre-dinner soak at the local thermas.
Today we had perfect Southern Hemisphere spring weather and were able to ski from the summit. We skinned up to about 8,500', where we transitioned to boot crampons and threw our skis on our backs. Another 900' of methodical climbing and we were on top.
The big news however is that Sergio, our host here in Malalcahuello, is cooking his famous Chilean asado for us tonight - something I look forward to every year.
All is great with us.
RMI Guide Tyler Reid & the Chile Ski Team
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Mike King reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team climbed into a cap, and had boot deep snow above 13,000'. They spent a short time on the summit before starting their descent.
Congratulations to Today's Team!
On the good side, it wasn’t windy last night. The tents were quiet and we got good rest. On the bad side -from a flying perspective- nothing else changed. It was still snowing and the clouds were still sitting right down on top of us this morning... and throughout the day. Nobody went flying. So the folks in
Punta Arenas who were hoping to get in stayed put. The people at the South Pole wanting to get back to Union didn’t. The gang out at Vinson ready to go home sat at Base Camp. The peeps at Union wanting to head to Vinson had to wait. Those that wanted to go to the Pole did not. And the five of us intent on escaping Antarctica never had a chance today. So we took it easy, went for walks and lectures and books. Ate meals and took naps and read forecasts of more poor weather.
Basically, we hung in there.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Greetings from Huaraz!
Your
Peru Expedition Skills crew had a full day of fun here in the beautiful city of Huaraz, Peru. Nestled in a valley at 10,200’, we set our sights higher today, and hiked above town to 12,000’ as part of our acclimatization sequence. We stimulated our muscles, and sparked cellular changes in our blood as we work towards a move to Base Camp in the Ishinca Valley (14,400’) in a few days. The views from Puca Ventana (Red Window) did not disappoint this morning. We followed our hike up with a delicious lunch at a local climber favorite, Cafe Andino. Fresh squeezed juices, Inka Kola, Burritos, and Lomo Saltado were popular choices amongst our team. The rest of our afternoon was spent perusing the narrow streets, shops, and restaurants of Huaraz (aka, the Chamonix of South America). Tomorrow, more acclimatization and prep is on the docket. Well keep you in the loop!
RMI Guides Robby Young, Alan Davis, William, and your ESS-Peru climbing team
Happy New Years from
Pampa de Las Lenas! Today was the first day of the trek to Aconcagua Basecamp and we had a sunny day with a consistent 'breeze' that kept it cool and at times made walking a little difficult. Our trek follows the Vacas River which looks like it's filled with delicious chocolate milk and I don't even drink milk. The team enjoyed the five-hour hike and arrived in good spirits until the light rain set in. I learned long ago from a mentor that it never....keeps raining at Lenas Camp. True to form some group members put on rain gear and set up tents and the rain stopped almost immediately. We all met up with the descending RMI crew and celebrated the New Year's with the best steak asado dinner ever prepared on the Planet...since man learned to cook with fire. . . Yeah it's that good! The group is nestled in their tents thinking of the coming weeks and how good that steak was. We will get an early start tomorrow, bask in the remaining portions of shade offered on this climb while we hike to Casa de Piedra. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
We kicked off our Antarctic mountaineering expedition with a walk around the windy streets of Punta Arenas in the far South of Chile.  Most of the gang came in on the afternoon flights from Santiago, so stretching legs was crucial following all those uncomfortable hours in the air, the airports and the airliners. We had a nice dinner at La Luna, one of the friendly restaurants just a few blocks from our hotel on the shore of Magellan’s Strait. Turkey wasn’t on the menu, nor was there any cranberry or gravy... and it was five unrelated strangers sitting down to get to know one another. So not your typical Thanksgiving feast, but for that, it was quite nice. It was still plenty light out at 8:30 pm when we walked from the restaurant, a pleasant reminder that we’d switched hemispheres and seasons.  Tomorrow we’ll get down to the business of packing and preparing to climb Vinson. Tonight was just for relaxing with new climbing partners.Â
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The
Four Day Summit Climb July 21 - 24 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 6:30 am led by
RMI Guide Dave Hahn. The team enjoyed blue skies and good visibility from the crater rim. They will descend complete today and return to Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon to complete their program.
Congratulations!
Greetings from Huaraz!
Do you like movies? Recognize the Paramount Pictures' logo? Well... that mountain exists, and we're off to climb it!!!
After a day of international traveling, and a night in Peru's capital, Lima, we drove north through the Pacific coastal desert, then through a section of Peruvian farmland where chili peppers are getting dried in the sun and finally, over the 14,000-foot pass of Conococha to arrive in Huaraz, the gateway of the "Callejon de Huaylas" Valley. This is where the
Cordillera Blanca Range extends for nearly 100 miles. We checked in to our hotel, and a clear evening provided a great view of the mountains to the Northeast form the terraces of our rooms in the Hotel Andino, an incredible facility, where after four years, we're part of the family now.
We're off to bed, excited for our acclimatization hike tomorrow. Stay tuned as we start our expedition.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos and team
Hello Everyone,
Tommy and I wish we could be there for the celebration. It was great being with all of you. It was a truly amazing trip. Reaching the summit and enjoying the time on the trail with each of you was terrific. Congrats on a successful trip back to Mendoza. Thanks again for being willing to help me when the injury occurred.
A special thanks goes to Billy, Hannah and Rolo for being the best guides ever!!!!
Posted by: Rick Jordan on 2/2/2017 at 8:57 am
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