Raymond Holt

Mexico's central highlands sit at the intersection of ancient culture and extraordinary mountain terrain, a landscape where colonial towns and traditional markets share the valley floor with some of the highest peaks in North America. This nine-day expedition climbs two of the finest: Ixtaccihuatl at 17,340 feet, whose broad ridgeline and Arista del Sol route approach lead to an airy summit walk above Mexico City, and Orizaba at 18,491 feet, the crown jewel of the Mexican volcanoes and the third highest peak on the continent.

The program builds deliberately. An overnight acclimatization hike on La Malinche, an extinct volcano rising above the Puebla Valley, introduces the team to altitude before Ixtaccihuatl and sets the stage for Orizaba's Jamapa Glacier. The sequence is efficient without feeling rushed, with each objective preparing climbers physically and technically for the one that follows.

What makes this program distinctive is the combination of serious high-altitude climbing and genuine cultural immersion. Mexico City, the Puebla Valley, and the small towns of the country's heartland are not backdrops to the climbing. They are part of the experience, and the program is designed to move through them with enough time to take them in.

Ecuador's Avenue of the Volcanoes is one of the great mountaineering environments on earth, a chain of glaciated peaks rising above highland valleys that offers more high-altitude climbing variety per square mile than almost anywhere else in the world. This fifteen-day seminar takes full advantage of it, moving progressively through five volcanoes in a sequence designed to build skills, confidence, and altitude experience from the first acclimatization climb to the summit of Chimborazo at 20,703 feet, the highest point in Ecuador and, due to the equatorial bulge of the earth, the point on the planet's surface farthest from its center.

The program is built around progression. The early acclimatization climbs introduce rock scrambling and high-altitude movement before the team moves to Cayambe, where glacier-based skills training prepares climbers for the technical demands ahead. Cotopaxi applies those glacier skills on a bigger, more crevassed objective, and Chimborazo is where all of it comes together on a serious high-altitude climb with a summit that rewards everything the program has built toward.

What sets this seminar apart from a standard Ecuador climbing trip is the deliberate arc from acclimatization to technical proficiency to summit achievement. Climbers leave with a skill set that translates directly to bigger objectives, and the experience of having applied those skills on three of the Andes' most celebrated peaks. The cultural richness of Ecuador, from Quito's colonial streets to the Otavalo Market, is woven into the program throughout.

The Ruth Glacier's Great Gorge sits in the heart of the Alaska Range, surrounded by walls and peaks that provide exceptional terrain for expedition-level instruction. RMI's Expedition Skills Seminar is built around this setting, using nine days on the glacier to teach the systems that define performance on bigger objectives. The program is designed specifically to prepare climbers for guided ascents of Mt. McKinley and Aconcagua, and to build the self-sufficiency needed to pursue glaciated peaks independently.

The curriculum covers glacier travel and navigation, ice climbing, crevasse rescue, camp construction, sled hauling, and fixed-line travel. Skills are introduced in structured sessions and applied directly on the terrain surrounding base camp, with the summit of 9,545-foot Mt. Dickey via the West Face as the primary climbing objective. Mt. Dickey is a serious and rewarding Alaska Range peak, and the program is structured so that the skills developed in the early days translate directly into what the climb demands.

The 3:1 climber-to-guide ratio keeps instruction focused and personal throughout. Guides move between teaching fundamental systems and leading the team toward the Mt. Dickey objective, with evening discussions covering expedition medicine, weather interpretation, route planning, and decision-making. Climbers leave with a working knowledge of expedition mountaineering systems and the on-mountain experience to apply them.