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Howard Liao

@howieliao

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5897m or 19347ft in freedom units @alpenglowexpeditions

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Back on one of the most beautiful mountain on Earth — Alpamayo!
This season was a special one. When we arrived at base camp, we started hearing reports about an unstable mushroom feature forming on the classic Ferrari Route. By the time we reached high camp and saw it for ourselves, it was clear that the objective hazard was too high to justify attempting the route everyone else had been climbing until then.

We turned our attention to the French Direct, which looked much more promising. After scouting it, my partner and fellow guide @nicolas_navarrete.ec and I decided to climb it ahead of taking our group. Conditions were excellent overall, aside from the final 30 meters, which took us two hours of digging to reach the top. On the descent, we equipped all the anchors with double V-threads for safety.

That same night, we left camp with our team at 23:00 and climbed this incredible line — a route that hadn’t seen an ascent in nearly seven years — reaching the summit right at first light.

We’re deeply grateful to our local team for their unwavering support, and to our group for trusting us on this incredible journey.

@alpenglowexpeditions
#adventuredoneright

@petzlenecuador
@monodedoecuador
@elmuroec
@totemmt
@nutracrick
@fisiofit_ec

#Alpamayo #Alpamayo2025 @ifmgaofficial @aseguimecuador #guidelife #ClimbPeru #CordilleraBlanca #PeruvianAndes #FerrariRoute #FrenchDirect #AlpineClimbing #IceClimbing #ExpeditionLife #MountainGuides #ClimbingLife #ChooseAdventure #Mountaineering #ClimbersOfInstagram #GuideLife #AlpineStyle #HighAltitudeClimbing #MountainsAreCalling #AdventureCulture #ThisIsPeru #ExploreMore #ChasingSummits #GratefulHeart #TeamworkInTheMountains #RiskAndReward

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Severe weather prevented the summit attempt on our original Aconcagua expedition and made us return to Mendoza. The day before our flights home, the weather forecast suggested a short window conducive for a summit attempt. I cancelled my flight home and hauled my gear back to Aconcagua to attempt an audacious 4-day summit plan. At 12:52pm January 4th, we reached the top of Aconcagua (22,841 feet / 6,962 meters), the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere. An amazing journey and I’m grateful to have shared it with incredible members of the team @emilyrliao @kaelyn.jenny @run_bold_bill. I’m thankful for our guides @solitude66 @amd_guide for providing leadership (and extra WAG bags :)). Special appreciation to @alpenglowexpeditions @aconcaguavision for organizing the expeditions. Lastly, @emilyrliao thank you for your support and always believing in me.

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An aspect of mountaineering that I have come to really respect is the importance of a strong team. Some examples of real teamwork in action are:
1) In the morning, we ask how each other is feeling. "Fine" is rarely an acceptable answer. The rest of the team really expects an honest answer since the team leader needs to assess the present strength of each member towards the challenges of the day ahead. In most other arenas of life, people just say "fine" because their ego won't admit otherwise or they know the asker doesn't really care to hear more.
2) We celebrate small wins along the journey with fist bumps, high fives, or hugs to acknowledge good work and progress towards our ambitions. The power of encouragement is often forgotten in other areas of life when it would make an impact for good.
3) Leaders who earn the trust of the team every day through involving the entire team in big decisions and protect us from the hazards that we may not even understand are surrounding us.
Thanks very much to this amazing band of humans for accepting me onto such an awesome team for such an epic journey.
And special congratulations to Howard, Kaelyn, and Adrian for taking an audacious second run at the mountain and scoring a win this week. I admire your boldness.

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Cumbre!!! Yesterday our #ecuadorclimbingschool team made the summit of Volcán Cotopaxi, 19,347’.

The team braved through difficult conditions and cold temps, putting in an incredible effort to reach the summit!

New altitude high points ✅
Great learning opportunity ✅
Epic adventure ✅

The team now moves on to Chimborazo for the third and final peak of the expedition. Vamos team! 🏔

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Despite the constant snowfall we summited Cotopaxi! (19,347 feet / 5,897 meters) #cotopaxi #ecuador

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Our Ecuador Climbing School team finished up their skills day on Cayambe and are now resting and preparing for their summit bid tonight. The team is psyched!

We believe that education and building strong fundamentals leads to competent and experienced climbers. The more experience, the higher chances of success and larger margins of safety on taller, more difficult peaks. Practice makes perfect!

Follow along as the team goes for their summit push!

Photos and videos by: @solitude66 and @christian_llivicura

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