Entries By dominic cifelli
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Mike King, Dominic Cifelli
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 18,818'
Sunday, May 29, 2022 - 6:33 pm PT
Today we climbed Iliniza Norte to it’s quite pointy summit at 18,818 ft. The entire group made the top in a mere two and a half hours from the hut. We began at 6:30 AM in partly cloudy conditions. It was a little cold and windy at first, on icy and slippery rock and dirt, but things improved. We got amazing views of Cotopaxi and Iliniza Sur, but the rugged rock scrambling required to get up Iliniza Norte kept us well focused on the task at hand. We hit the top at 9 AM and spent 30 minutes before beginning a careful descent. The team moved well, with excellent help from our local guide staff, and we were at the base of the mountain by midday.
We enjoyed a celebratory steak lunch at a restaurant on the way to Cotopaxi National Park and then made our way uphill and into the park to the Tambopoxi Lodge. Clouds cleared from the mountain at sunset and we had amazing views of our big objective of the next few days.
Best Regards,
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Mike King, Dominic Cifelli
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 15,500'
May 28 5:15pm PT
Checking in from Nuevos Hortizantes Refugio!
The entire team, 20 of us plus 5 local guides, are in place for a summit attempt on Iliniza Norte. This is an important part of our preparation for Cotopaxi. Today we climbed three hours and 2700 ft under cloudy skies to reach the hut. We'll set out at 6 AM to go toward the 16,818' summit. Hoping for clear skies and grand views. Perhaps we'll get some good exercise.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and Team
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Mike King, Dominic Cifelli
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 15,696'
Our team made it down to Ecuador yesterday and this morning. By midday we were together in Quito and ready to stretch out after travel. We need exercise and altitude to get prepared for our climb of Cotopaxi in a few days. We took a bus ride through the bustling and vibrant city to the tram onto the slopes of Rucu Pichincha. The teleferico got us way up to 13,500 ft in a hurry. It was cloudy, so we only had glimpses of the bases of the great volcanoes, but conditions were just fine for strolling along the trails. We enjoyed seeing Caracaras (colorful hawks) and went close to 14,000 ft in altitude. By then the hour was getting late and we decided to call it good for a big first day in Ecuador. We had an easy walk down, a few coffees and donuts for the tram ride, and then a trip back to the hotel. We finished with a fine dinner and a plan for setting out for further altitude training in the morning.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and Team
Posted by: Brent Okita, Dominic Cifelli, Dustin Wittmier, Seth Burns, Jess Wedel, Lauren Macklin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
What a difference a day makes. 40mph snow and wind at Camp Muir. A perfect day to train inside.
After a cloudy walk up the Muir Snowfield on Monday we enjoyed two gorgeous, sunny days of training on Tuesday and Wednesday, learning the basics of snow and ice climbing, glacier travel, crevasse rescue and ice climbing.
This morning the weather has changed! Blowing snow all night and day has us thankful for the shelter of the bunkhouse at Camp Muir where we're learning about avalanches - how to avoid them, use the tools of the trade and perform a rescue.
We'll continue with other topics of interest and get out for some hands on training if and when we can do it safely outside.
Everyone is doing great and happy we got so much training in even though our summit aspirations are no longer realistic after finding serious signs of avalanche hazard on the slopes leading to the summit.
We'll be headed down tomorrow morning after some training and packing up in the morning.
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
The team met for one last breakfast this morning. Recalling our climb of Pico de Orizaba and our other exploits from the trip while laughing and drinking coffee. Only 24 hours ago we were standing at the summit and oh what a difference a day makes. It’s a great way to end a great trip and seems like yesterday that we met up in Mexico City as strangers. I’m impressed and proud of this group on and off the mountain. I look forward to climbing with each and every one of them in the future, but for now, we’re excited to get back to our families and friends. This is the RMI Mexico team signing off for the last time of the trip and season.
100% team success on Pico de Orizaba!! We really had to dig deep for this one, but the months of training, hard work, and discipline landed us on top of the third tallest peak in North America today.
From Piedra Grande we head straight up an old aqueduct turned trail with loose rock and scree covering the winding trail. Ixta had us prepared for this though and the team made short work of the trail and up to the base of a feature called the Labyrinth. True to its name it’s a winding maze like feature made of rock that ascending teams must scramble and navigate in order to gain access to the glacier above. Once there, the never ending descending escalator begins. It takes us about three and half hours to climb from base to top. With no good place to take a break, it’s certainly a marathon. The team dug deep, pulled together and summitted the highest point in Mexico.
Congratulations! Awesome job. Looks like it was a beautiful day up there.
Posted by: Patrick Johnson on 3/5/2022 at 10:00 pm
The team left the comfort of Puebla for the more rural town of Tlachichuca. Here is where we met back up with our climbing equipment and got to work. Packing and sorting for the climb ahead.
We ate a quick lunch and hopped in the 4x4’s for a rough ride. Long, dusty, and hot we swayed back and forth on what seems like the bumpiest road in Mexico. After two hours of that intense discomfort we arrived at Pico de Orizaba Basecamp and are now settled in to our tents, resting for the climb ahead. We’ll eat some carne asada and head to bed. It’s a clear night here at camp and we’re hoping for that trend to continue till we get back down.
Wish us luck!
The team enjoyed a well deserved rest day today. We leisurely ate breakfast, sipped coffee, and explored the city. We stay in a hotel close to the main square of the city so everything we could want is within walking distance. Tiny street markets, beautiful churches, old dive bars, and the colors of the buildings make Puebla a true joy to wander in. The team met up for dinner at a local favorite, El Mural de Los Poblanos, where we shared stories of our days and recalled our climb of Ixta. After we walked to my favorite ice cream place in town and enjoyed the sweet treat to end the night. We leave early for Tlachichuca tomorrow, but not before one more good nights rest in our beds.
Today was the day, the team successfully reached the summit of the eighth tallest mountains in North America, Ixtaccihuatl. We woke up dark and early at 1230 AM for our alpine start, scarfed our oatmeal, chugged our coffee and we were off.
The route from high camp starts off with most of the elevation gain and a steep scree field to boot. Taking two steps up and one step back, the team trudged up “the knees” of Ixta to gain one of its magnificent ridges. Though the skies were clear, the wind was out with a vengeance. A cutting, constant 30 mph wind greeted us at the top of the ridge and decided to join us for the rest of the climb. With most of our layers on our person and buffs covering all but our eyes, we leaned into the wind and traversed until we dropped down into the ever-receding Ayaloco Glacier. Down and up the half pipe of a glacier, we gained the final ridge and pushed on to the summit. The team moved so well that we beat the sun to the top, but we were able to find a wind break and watch a gorgeous sunrise at the summit. Congrats to the team!
Now we’re off to well-deserved showers and beds in Puebla.
RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli & Team
Congratulations to all! I’m very impressed and enjoy watching the adventure.
Posted by: Bobby Hall on 3/2/2022 at 3:37 pm
Awesome. On to Orizaba! Enjoy Puebla first, though. Watch out for the tacos arabes, Dom :-)
Posted by: Patrick Johnson on 3/2/2022 at 3:15 pm
The clear, beautiful skies made for a cool and frosty night down at Ixtaccihuatl Basecamp. The team woke up to flakes of snow hitting our face, courtesy of the moisture from our breath. We ate our breakfast, packed our bags and were on our way.
The sun was strong, but a cool wind kept our temperature regulated quite perfectly as the team worked their way up. Our months of hard work and preparation paid off as the team was strong as ever. Making the move from 13,000ft to 15,400ft is no small feat, especially with the heavy loads of the day. We made short work of it though, getting to our high camp in around four hours flat. Now we need to move into camp, relax for a bit, and talk logistics for the day ahead. I’m proud of the way the team performed today and it makes me as hopeful as ever for our summit day tomorrow.
RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli
Thank you for all of the updates for those of us at lower elevations here in the Twin Cities and others! I am sorry to hear you won’t be able to summit but am glad you all are taking precautions. Enjoy the views from up there, it’s something not everyone gets to experience in their lifetimes. Good work team!!
Posted by: April Londo on 5/13/2022 at 4:34 pm
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