In the rugged expanse of Mexico and the Atacama Desert, where jagged peaks pierce the sky, there exists a realm that beckons adventurers and challenges climbers. Here, amidst the untamed beauty of nature’s fortress, SCARPA athlete Chris Fisher embarks on a journey that transcends mere conquest; it’s a quest for connection, self-discovery, and the relentless pursuit of vertical limits.

Setting FKT’s, climbing the highest volcano in the world, and embracing the beauty of the Atacama desert, SCARPA athlete Chris Fisher takes us on a wild ride through the mountains of Mexico and Chile tackling massive project after massive project.

“I’ve spent the past six weeks running and climbing in both Mexico and the Atacama Desert in Chile, tackling big mountains, acclimating, and attempting speed records to prepare for my next big adventure. I’ll be headed to Nepal to attempt Lhotse without Oxygen with my good friend, Tyler Andrews.

During my time in Mexico, I spent two weeks learning the route on Pico de Orizaba very closely. From extra summit days to dialing in the routes on the lower sections of the mountains, I really got to know the mountain well. While really digging into the route, I realized that the Jamapa glacier on the upper part of the mountain had been in worse condition than normal for this time of year, making it very hard and unsafe to attempt to move fast over. I knew this would end up being a problem for me on race day, especially when the FKT is already fairly stout.

I raced hard and still achieved the Second Fastest Known Time on Pico de Orizaba, the highest point in Mexico, despite facing very adverse conditions. Even with the blue ice on the glacier and extremely slick conditions, I managed to complete the ascent and descent in a time of 4 hours and 11 minutes round trip. The route covered 13 miles and included 7,300 feet of elevation gain. This experience was a significant test to my ability to navigate and climb big mountains at a fast pace, even under less than ideal circumstances.

Shortly after my Mexico expedition, I returned to the Atacama Desert for the second time to tackle projects on even higher mountains. The Atacama desert is the driest desert in the world and one of the harshest environments to live in. From the scorching sun that will burn anything left uncovered to the dry lands with little to no water in case you packed incorrectly for the day, it’s truly a place of magnificent beauty and a realm to test your abilities up high. It is one of the few places in the world where you can access many mountains above 6000m with a vehicle and the ability to run fast and push your limits with somewhat of a safety cushion. It is home to Chile’s highest mountain, and the second highest in the western hemisphere as well as the highest volcano in the world, Ojos del Salado, standing at 6893m (22,615ft) as well as many surrounding 6000m giants.”

“Within a week of arriving, I set a new Fastest Known Time (FKT) on the Ojos del Salado Ascent from Atacama Refugio (5200m). When I awoke on race day, a snowstorm had already started to lay fresh snow on the ground and the sun had yet to break through the clouds. I knew it was going to be another day filled with adverse conditions but I told myself that I would “just start” and see how things went. I was blessed with a short window of sunshine for the first hour of the climb before the snow socked in the rest of Ojos and turned the mountain into a whiteout-snowstorm. When I made it above the glacier, I was presented with a fresh trail of snow for the last 300m that I had to break myself. It really slowed me down and made things much more difficult at these high elevations. This posed another true test to my abilities under harsh conditions. When I stood on the summit after 3 hours 9 minutes, shaving over 16 minutes off the previous FKT, I was greeted by my friends Tyler Andrews and Connor Sleith. I was ecstatic to have been able to put up the time that I did under the conditions and was already thinking ahead to what I could do under better mountain conditions.

Ten days later, I made another attempt on the route during perfect weather conditions. Despite hitting a significant wall of fatigue in the last half of the climb, I managed to shave off an additional five minutes from my previous time. I entered another episode of fueling improperly during this race effort and it severely impacted my speed on the last third of the mountain. Up until that point I had been over 10 minutes ahead of my previous pace and was really looking forward to how much further I could move the bar. It isn’t my proudest effort, but I can’t be too upset with setting a new PR and record on only my third time up this altitude.

The most ambitious project I undertook was the first traverse of Tres Cruces with my friend Tyler Andrews. We linked together three 6000-meter peaks in a single push, following an aesthetic south-to-north line and closing the route in a loop back to our starting point. This traverse had never been completed in our style before, and it proved to be one of the most challenging experiences at high altitude for both of us. It took us 18.5 hours to complete. I used the Ribelle® Run GTX shoes during all of my projects in Mexico and Chile and they are really the perfect shoe for all mountain terrain. They have extra protection around the toes which really help with not completely trashing your feet during long days. On top of that, the rubber/grip on the bases have been perfect for all terrain that’s thrown my way, from snow, dry scree and scrambling on 3^rd-low 5^th class terrain.

We fought deep stop and maze-like tower scrambling sections on the climb up to Tres Cruces Sur. After many hours of slogging up the second highest peak in the Atacama, we had reached the summit and could see the rest of our day laid out in front of us. We made our way down to the col connecting TC Sur and TC Centro and met up with my girlfriend, Erin Ton, who was kind enough to bring us up 4L of water so we could refuel for the last half of the project. We fell into a seriously deep slog while climbing Tres Cruces Centro, but with the extra company and stunning landscapes we made it to the summit and had a snack before sending it towards the final 6000m peak of the day. After what seemed like many hours fighting a mountain of sand we had reached the crater, about 100m below the true summit right at sunset and were won over by the high alpine lake reflecting both TC Centro and Sur in a perfect mirror. It was one of those, Must Be Present to Win, moments and I will never forget that mirror, showing us the route where we had faced some of the most difficult mental and physical battles up at such elevations. We summited Tres Cruces Norte and completed a dream project for us both. Although we still had to make our way down the mountain and back to the car safely, we were in complete awe of what we had just accomplished and knew that this project would serve as a major training steppingstone for stepping into higher places of the world very soon.

All these high adventures and training sessions have served as a true build-up for what’s next: my first expedition to Nepal to attempt Lhotse without Oxygen. After completing the Colorado Winter 14ers, I began dreaming about the Himalayas and anticipated making my way to that side of the world within the next few years. However, things have progressed much more rapidly, and just one year later, I am headed in that direction!

To the top!”

- Chris Fisher