It was only our third day on the trail but after today, we will arrive at Plaza Argentina Base Camp. The day began with a frigid river crossing that involved several strands to navigate. The river wasn’t more then knee-deep. However, the water was pretty cold at 7 in the morning with its glacial headwaters…
Category: Epic Treks
Aconcagua Day 4: Trek to Casa de Piedra
The fourth day on the trail was another chill one. Our guides were really good at helping us conserve energy by always slowing us down. The pace was so laid-back. By the way, this 360° Traverse is waaaay more interesting than the standard route — more on that later. Here’s looking back at where we…
Aconcagua Day 3: Trek To Pampa de Leñas
This adventure finally got real on Day 3 with the trek from Punta de Vacas to Pampa de Leñas. The 360° Traverse route starts by following along Rio de las Vacas (Vacas River). The terrain along this trail in February is very hot and dry–much like hiking in southern Utah or Arizona. The mules pass…
Aconcagua Day 2: Shuttle to Puente de Inca
Following breakfast the next day, we were packed up and ready to roll by 10am. Our travels will take us from Mendoza to Puente de Inca, about 3 hours away up into the Andes. Our first stop was in Uspallata for lunch and tiramisu (which turned into a constant craving for several of us during…
Aconcagua Day 1: Meet and Greet
Following Inka’s proposed itinerary, our first “official” day involved meeting the guides and having them check our gear at the hotel. We then visited with the front office staff to pay our balances before heading out to rent whatever we were missing from one of the few mountaineering shops nearby. This expedition was lead by…
Denali Prep on the Kahiltna Glacier
DAY 3 – Flight In, Basecamp Setup, Anchors 101 The weather finally broke on the third day, allowing us to fly into the Range. We loaded an Otter aircraft, considered by many to be the quintessential “bush plane” due of its short take-off and landing (STOL) capabilities. Within an hour, our Talkeetna Air Taxi had us…
Traversing Mexico’s Sleeping Beauty
DAY 8 – Izta Summit Day Midnight came quickly as it always does. Not sure why we had to start that early again and our guides really didn’t have a good answer. We only had 4,000′ of elevation in 4 miles, very much like a typical day in Utah. Granted, we were starting from 13,000′…
2023 Year In Review
My focus for 2023 was clear! I just declined an invite for Denali at the beginning of the year and knew I had to fill a large gap between where I was (beginner level) and where I want to be (advanced level). That meant a lot more intermediate level experience was needed. So I immediately…
Everest Ridge Repeat
What an unbelievable winter we’ve had along the Wasatch Front this year. It’s been record-breaking with totals reaching 900″! For many of us, that excitement has transitioned from powder skiing to mountaineering as warmer weather consolidates this incredible snowpack. Conditions couldn’t better right now for local objectives that involve an ice axe and crampons. A…
2022 Year In Review
I’m pretty satisfied with what was accomplished in 2022. I wanted to do a lot, but only did a little. Yet the little that I did, was significant from the list of things I want to do. Here’s a summary of what I was able to get done. STATE HIGHPOINTS As the year started out,…