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Here we are, situated nicely at Camp 2 (19,200 ft) after a long move from Camp 1. Tomorrow will be another rest day that should allow our bodies to make some final adjustments before we take a crack at the summit. The team is in good spirits and is looking forward for our chance to stand on top! Should be soon!

Today we carried half of our gear to the top of Windy Corner. True to it’s name, it was definitely windy. It was great to see the upper part of the mountain though and everyone did great on the carry. It’s definitely a different feeling as one moves up from the camp at 11,200 feet. Below there you feel as if you’re walking amongst mountains; above you feel like you’re really on Denali. Conditions are really working out in our favor. The snow is great for walking and other than some wind up high the weather is very good.

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Today we could see the light at the end of the tunnel. By the end of the day we would be back in civilization, back using the wifi. All that stood between us was seven hours of walking and a two hour jeep ride. All went well on our walk out, besides a sprained ankle. But with a good tape job by our doctor Jorge and some ibuprofen we made it. Promptness isn't much of a thing around here, so after waiting for just over two hours our jeeps arrived and we made the bumpy ride back to our holiday inn in Talkot. Tomorrow we will take a bus back to Dahngadi where we fly back to Kathmandu. We are quite excited for our showers tonight and a bed. What a journey, RMI Guide Hannah Smith

Namaste! The team has arrived after some very long and tiring flights . Everyone is doing well after a well deserved night of rest here at the peaceful and appropriately named Yak & Yeti Hotel. We started our day with a nice big buffet breakfast, then had a team meeting to discuss all the gear and review the details of the adventure that we are about to head out on. After our meeting we went on a brief tour of Kathmandu where we visited the beautiful Monkey Temple, and the famous Boudhanath Stupa. It's quite the culture shock visiting this busy city packed with nearly four million people. The streets are packed with people, motorcycles, and cars that honk endlessly. I'm sure everyone is looking forward to peace and quietness of the Khumbu where we head tomorrow. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

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Update from Mike King at 10:30 am PT: If you haven't listened to my hypoxic voicemail from today, you should know that we stood on top of Aconcagua, 22,841' around 1pm local time. The climbers are back in camp trying to avoid these late afternoon snow/heat waves...ya doesn't sound fun does it? The climb had wind, snow, heat, drifted snow in the trail and lots of other parties attempting the summit. I'll leave the details from the summit day for your loved ones to tell...but the guides are in agreement, one of the harder days we've had in the mountains. Tomorrow we will start our downward retreat to the thick air of base camp. Summit call transcription: Hey, this is Mike with the RMI Aconcagua Team. We are standing on top of Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of the Himalaya. The team did well, we had a really cold morning, probably about 25 mph winds in the face for the first several hours. Now we are sitting up here, we could be in jeans shorts and tank tops. The team did well and we're going to hang out here and take some photos. Then we still have to descend. We will call in or send a dispatch once everyone is safe back at camp. Thanks for following along. Everyone sends their best. RMI Guide Mike King

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We did it! The team stood on top of 19,347ft Cotopaxi this morning at 7:30am. The team climbed brilliantly through bitterly cold temperatures and the ever-present lack of oxygen to check the active volcano off their bucket lists. We were treated to clear skies all day long and it wasn't until we were finally driving away that the mountain fell back into it's usual cloak of dark clouds. Oh and we had another birthday today! Happy Birthday to Kris Vargas! And what a way to spend it climbing one of Ecuador's finest volcanoes on a truly spectacular day. We're all back at Tambopaxi packing our things for the drive back to Quito where we will enjoy one last dinner as a team before most of us depart back to the States later this evening. Thanks to everyone for following along. This will be the last blog post of our trip! Until next time! RMI Guide Steve Gately

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July 16, 2017 Today we all woke up feeling good, had a very nice breakfast and sipped coffee before heading out on our acclimatization hike. At 8:00 William met us and we loaded into a shuttle for a 40-minute ride bumping through small villages to the trail head at 12,300'. We were all eager to stretch the legs and started out of the gates a little fast. Within minutes we settled into a pace more suited for our altitude. After two hours we found ourselves over looking Laguna Churup at 14,600'. With perfect weather we lounged on the granite slabs around the alpine lake occasionally dozing off in the mid day sun. Shortly after noon we started our descent back to the shuttle and then back into Huaraz. After grabbing a quick lunch in town we did a gear check and got our duffle bags packed for our launch tomorrow and then strolled back into town for a casual dinner. Everyone is doing great and we are all excited to hit the trail tomorrow. Thanks for following along. RMI Guide Geoff Schellens and the Alpamayo team

May 15, 2017 Now that we have a second to breathe, there is time to recap our last day on the glacier. The team woke at 0400 to the hard whiteout conditions and the forecasted 6 inches of new snow turned out to be a few feet. We slowly packed up camp and headed downhill at 0700 as things were not getting better. We were walking in full instrument conditions and even walked in a circle trying to find wands that mark the old track. Hard to tell up from down, left from right that morning. A strong wind followed us down Ski Hill where we emerged from the soup and kept up all the way to Heartbreak Hill. By 1300 we were at the airstrip hoping the Otters would be able to handle the crosswinds for landing on the SE Fork of the Kahiltna. Sure enough, by 1600 our team was loaded up on two K2 planes and back to the green smells of town. Grand experience for us all and we appreciated the tenacious nature of our climbers. RMI Guide Leon Davis

June 9, 2016 - 1:28 am PT And... we climbed the "Lost Marsupial", on The Throne. Stellar route, stellar scenery and stellar crowd. It is hard to describe what it is to be atop one of these formations, surrounded by the longest glaciers in North America, the tallest peaks in the Alaska Range, and the best views in the world. Nobody around for miles, and a sense of insignificance directly proportional to the size of our accomplishment. Our two rope teams climbed and descended synchronized, like a well oiled machine, and pitch after pitch, rock, ropes, snow and gear were one with our climbers. Magic enough? More tomorrow. RMI Guide Elías de Andres Martos and team

June 27, 2015 10:32 pm PST We intended to get stirring by about 2:30 this morning, but to no one's disappointment, that didn't happen. It was socked-in and cloudy then with wettish snow in the air. Likewise at 3 AM, not so good, and not at 3:30 either. But then things started looking up. We got up just after five and were climbing by 8:45. Conditions were once again great for climbing. With snowshoes on, we stayed right on the snow surface, as did our sleds. Without too much trouble, we got up "Ski Hill" and hit our intended camp at 9,500 ft around noon. By then we were in the clouds again and light snow was falling, but we'd gotten high enough to make things cold and so wetness was no longer a problem. The team all pitched in admirably to build a new camp and then retreated for afternoon naps. It was burrito night in the POSH tent where we were comfortably seated on snow benches out of the weather. We'll see about moving up to 11,000' tomorrow if folks are feeling good and the weather gives a break. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map