“A flag went up in my mind right away. Could this be the volcano from All I Can? Some more digging confirmed that the Volcano in question was in fact the one from the film and, contrary to what Sherpas Cinema would lead us to believe, the crater was still very much in tact. Puyehue did erupt spectacularly in 2012, but it was in a different smaller crater elsewhere on the mountain. Jessa and I both agreed that we had to go and check it out.”

Read more "Lessons in Buddhism on Volcan Puyehue"

“Volcan Osorno is one of the most aesthetic volcanoes in Chile, often likened to Mount Fuji in Japan. As I think the photos included here will illustrate, it’s easy to see why. For me Osorno held another, more personal, significance. It was the first volcano that we skied in the Patagonian Lakes District. This meant that 14 months after starting our Panamerican journey we had officially arrived in Patagonia.”

Read more "Volcan Osorno, Patagonia"

“The ridge was a mix of rock, firm snow, and icy sections, overall good conditions for crampons. Near the summit it was more icy and there was some exposure. I wished I had a rope to short rope Jessa as it was her first steep climb with crampons. We discussed the risk together and decided to finish the last 50m to the 2865m summit of Volcán Lonquimay. Jessa was rock solid and crushed one of her first ski mountaineering ascents.”

Read more "Blue Skies on Volcan Lonquimay, 2865m"

“We enjoyed lunch on the side of the volcano and then skied 1200m of hero snow back to the parking lot in the evening light. The icing on the cake was a rejuvenating dip in the conveniently unattended hot springs above the resort!”

Read more "Powder Hounds at Nevados de Chillan"

“Eventually we heard the echoing boom of dynamite like the start gun in a track race and we started skinning up the valley. The snow was boiler plate hard. Once in the canyon we negotiated a tricky creek crossing, keeping our feet mostly dry, and started climbing wind scoured slopes below the alluring couloirs.”

Read more "Back on Skis in the Maipo Valley"

“After one particularly exciting nighttime adventure when the undercarriage literally ploughed through deep sand at full gas to avoid getting stuck I decided it was probably best to ignore the siren song of the tempting smooth looking side tracks. Thankfully the camper floats remarkably well in sand thanks to its double back tires.”

Read more "No Power, No Clearance, No Problem: Driving The Ruta de Las Lagunas"

“As I carefully leaned over the edge I was met with a butterfly inducing 2000m drop to the valley below where our campsite on the last night of the Cordillera Real trek had been. We traversed the side of the ridge to the true summit, an exciting crash course for Rachel in negotiating steep terrain in crampons.”

Read more "Bringing Back the 80’s on Huayna Potosi, 6088m"

“After coffee we fired the camper up and did the thing I’d been dying to do since first rolling onto the flats; crank Young, Wild & Free on the stereo, point the camper in some arbitrary direction, and burry the gas peddle. It was an absolutely liberating joyride.”

Read more "Young, Wild & Free on the Salar de Uyuni"

“From here there’s a fun section of slightly exposed scrambling on good rock, and then a deceptively long trudge across much looser boulder fields to the top of the Paso Apacheta (5130m). It was a real grind and my legs felt like jello.”

Read more "High Times on Bolivia’s Cordillera Real Trek: Part 2"

“We climbed on a road to 4550m and made our highest elevation camp in a picture perfect spot, tucked between some boulders and the requisite glacier blue meandering creak. It was high time for a wash, and we took frigid but refreshing dips in the glacial water.”

Read more "High Times on Bolivia’s Cordillera Real Trek: Part 1"