Climbing the Southernmost 6,000m Peak on Earth
by Ethan Glanger, Ronnie Forslund, Santiago Cifuentes
From December to early January, expedition filmmakers Santiago Cifuentes, Ethan Glanger, and Ronnie Forslund set out to Chile to summit the southernmost 6000m peak in the world: Cerro Marmolejo (6108m). With autonomous acclimatization on Cerro El Plomo and guide support from James Baragwanath and Francisco Galilea, the experience created a deep bond within the group and a once-in-a-lifetime shared opportunity to see the Central Andes in all of its remote beauty.
Photography by Ethan Glanger ⛶ Olympus mju ii
Ronnie Forslund
Ethan Glanger
Santiago Cifuentes
Cerro El Plomo
Ronnie | After arriving in Chile, Ethan and I met up with Santiago to gather equipment before heading to Cerro El Plomo. At 5,424m (17,800ft), El Plomo is the most iconic mountain visible from the city of Santiago, Chile. Its sheer size and prominence make it the front cover of countless pieces of art and photographs. Santiago has summited Plomo on multiple occasions, so the team would only need basecamp support. Other than that, we were alone on summit day.
Ethan | The trek to base camp took 9 hours. The trail that once lined up with hikers was now desolate except for us three. Plomo loomed over the trail fading in and out of view as the high-altitude clouds swiftly swept by. We arrived at the virtually empty base camp with support from Capital Travel. After a few hours at camp I began to come down with what ended up being the most brutal altitude sickness I’ve experienced along with an excruciating sunburn on my neck. With some meds and lots of water later, I went to bed in hopes of getting a wink of sleep through the nausea, pounding headache and sun blisters. I guess this was the mountain's way of saying hello.
Start of our base camp trek
Santiago crossing our first penitente patch of the trip
Santiago | Waking up to a beautiful day, Ethan and the rest of the team responded well to therapid altitude jump so we decided to head up to the glacier lake “La Olla” for a littleacclimatization day. The sound and sights of ice and rock fall occur every couple of seconds which was daunting to hear, especially considering our route for summit day was on the right shoulder of the moraine.
Ronnie | Summit day began at 3:30am on New Year’s Eve. With only the light from the vibrant stars and our headlamps, the team ascended up the steep and exposed loose scree leading to the right of the moraine. We hit a couple of ‘no fall zones' which was a quick wake up call to the crew that each step needed to be perfectly calculated with no error. Santiago was our guide for the time being and played an important role with perfect execution. Trusting in each other became a recurring theme on this entire expedition. Higher up the route, we crested the ridge which gave us an unforgettable sight the South-Eastern Andes range right as the sun rose.
Plomo Base Camp (13,450ft / 4,100m)
Summit Push
Ethan | At this point, we are higher than I have ever been by a large margin, making each of my steps a new personal record. Not having experienced altitude like this prior and with the rapid acclimatization, the pace slowed but we pushed on as a headache began to form yet again. Staying together, the long ridge traverse made the hours go by until we made it to the summit plateau. Once we reached the summit, a 360o panorama of the Andes opened up with a beautiful blue sky along with the occasional wispy clouds. The group couldn’t stop expressing how this was the best summit view any of us had ever seen. We stayed up there for about an hour celebrating, capturing, and just basking in the moment.
Ronnie | The descent was swift with the loose scree allowing us to practically “ski” some parts with our boots. After some naps at base camp, we stayed up for New Year's. Ethan, Santiago, and I met in Capital Travel’s dome tent with the guides and waited and waited until the clock struck midnight. We regarded this moment as one of the most special. Who else gets to summit a massive mountain in Chile on New Year’s Eve and then welcome 2025 all on the same day? Let’s just say we were grateful.
Summit of Cerro el Plomo (17,800ft / 5,424m)
Santiago | After having climbed Cerro El Plomo several times myself, this was one of the most memorable ascents. Being alone during the summit attempt, especially on New Year’s, made it an expedition I will never forget.
Ethan | After two days of resting and recovering in the city, the time came for us to pack, yet again, for Marmolejo. This one took a lot more mental preparation and reliance on one another.
Cerro Marmolejo
Ronnie | Marmolejo is very remote to say the least. With only mule support to base camp, we had nothing but the packs on our backs past that. Additionally, Marmolejo is much colder and poses significantly more dangers apart from the sheer high altitude of a 20,100ft summit. Being a fully self-sufficient trek, we needed gear we could trust.
Ronnie | The day began with meeting our guides James and Cisco. Both legendary guides and climbers. With accents on countless 6000m peaks, and big walls like El Cap, Fitz Roy, etc we were in strong hands. Santiago, knowing James previously and ascending Ojos Del Salado (6893m) with him, a strong bond was already at the core of the group.
Santiago | Once all of the gear was packed, we drove to Valle De Engorda through the Cajon Del Maipo. We gathered together to assemble the equipment at a farmhouse. It was refreshing knowing we had mule support to base camp to carry our heavy packs. But even with the support, the team knew the day ahead would be tough.
Ronnie | The trek started at 7,500ft and went up to 11,000ft for about 13 miles. The trail is nonexistent in some parts, and the river crossings add significant excitement but inconvenience to the day.
Ethan | Similar to Plomo, as we went up, the green disappeared and the world transformed. This already felt far more remote. Freezing cold river crossings became a common theme for this first day. Arriving at base camp which was reasonably named “Baghdad” due to the consistent rockfall from Marmolejos collapsing Wester Shoulder, we quickly set up the tents and watched the sunset explode with colors. Hearing the gully’s crumble on themselves in the distance, the eruption of rocks smashing into one another definitely raised some concern from the group as our campsite was filled with large boulders.
Beauty of the base camp trek
Ronnie | Ethan, Santiago, and I were stuck in one tent together which became some of the most laughter-filled moments for us three and really highlighted the friendship we were all creating through this. Waking up the next day, the team knew the road ahead would be difficult, especially glaring up at the route to Camp 1 which we like to call “the death grunt”. Now wearing the heavy packs, which must have been over 50lbs, we were officially beginning the ascent of Marmolejo. We decided to go up a 45 snow couloir to the right of the Death Grunt so we could crampon up and avoid the slippery rock. It was long and grueling, but we finally crested the ridge and took a right to start up the shoulder.
Ethan | Santiago had a fall right before the top as he attempted climbing up a large boulder to crest the crux which led to a decent gash in his leg. This especially shook me, as I had just scrambled up the exact rock face no more than 1 minute before Santiago did, so seeing it break for him wasn’t the jolliest of sights. Definitely a wake up call. At the end of the day, the mountain will do what it wants regardless of who’s climbing. Not long after, a minor snowstorm struck as we arrived at camp 1 (14,000ft), but nothing accumulated. The clouds dispersed enough for us to get our first view of Marmolejos black pyramid summit and some of the surrounding giants. It was a great reward after a long and tough day.
Ronnie | Day 3 started slow and peaceful with a bluebird sky which gave us good spirits for the ascent up to high camp at 16,000ft. James and Cisco are chefs in the mountains and the food was somehow incredible and filling. Looking behind the route was Loma Larga and the subrange that straddles the Marmolejo massif. I looked back way too much because it was just so incredible already. We made it to camp 2 with the good weather still holding strong. The route up Marmolejo was now visible, and after walking through the glacier for a little while we concluded that the penitentes, which would be 6ft in height, were safe enough to cross. For our summit push, we have 2 glaciers to cross with minor technicalities and about 4,000ft to the top.
Ethan | The next morning began so quiet you could hear a pin drop. We started at 3:00 am and traversed the first glacier in the night. This was my first time ever stepping foot on a glacier, so although it didn’t look too daunting, I still had some nerves building up. Getting to navigate terrain like this especially under the luminous stars was unlike anything I’ve done before, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t pinch myself a few times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. The blue morning started to illuminate the surrounding views and we thought to ourselves “We are a long way from home.”
Ethan | Although the sun had begun rising, we were blocked from it by Marmolejos steep summit which made the coldest hour last longer than it should have. After a couple more hours of numb extremities on the second glacier, we arrived at the base of the infamous black pyramid. A 2,000ft endless rocky climb leading to the summit. At this point, we are higher than El Plomo’s summit so I was yet again setting new altitude records with every step.
Santiago and James on glacier two, the black pyramid towering up ahead
Ronnie | Ethans drive and ability to push through his rising internal pain highlights his character. Santiago and I together with James played tandem with Cisco and Ethan as they paced slower. What felt like minutes was hours and vice versa. My thoughts started to slow as my brain emptied itself. I had to manually engage every step as it was easy to just drift away. My heart was pounding like I was sprinting. Through all of this, I remember soaking in all the pain and the beauty and just basking in every moment. The weather held as the team met up together for the final hundred feet.. The team made their way and we each took our turns to walk to the summit. As each of us came in, we were welcomed by the others with high fives and hugs. We reached the summit of the southernmost 20,000ft peak in the world. It was euphoric for all of us, especially Ethan.
Ethan | Reaching this summit in particular was unlike anything I’ve ever done. Having only had 5 weeks total to train before this expedition due to the last second nature of this trip, getting to the summit of the main objective, hell even getting to the base of the mountain seemed like a pipe dream. The constant mental battle of subsiding my internal physical pain to take my next step only got harder with each movement forward, and there were definitely a few moments I thought I’d finally reached my true limit. Once at the top, I took the moment in and allowed myself to come to terms with what just happened. A few tears managed to slip out under my goggles. This was a feeling I would never forget.
Rest of the crew on the summit ( 20,107ft / 6,108 )
Ronnie | We decided to head down after about 20 minutes on the summit. After almost 10 hours to the summit and 4 so far of descending, we were completely exhausted. The lower glacier was sloshy and filled with penitentes that were, although not big, very inconvenient. Our only motivations were a sip of water, a nap, and the incredible views surrounding us. Every once in a while we turned around to look at the summit and said “we stood up there.”
Ronnie | Soon enough, we made it back and all of us collapsed before our tents. We laid on the hard rock for who knows how long. It was like all the difficulties and trials of the climb swept away. It was that moment that Ethan, Santiago, and I became brothers. Brothers for life.
Santiago | After reaching the summit and the great effort it took, I felt the need to sit down and watch the sunset once back at high camp—no cameras, no phones. Just taking a moment to be grateful for the incredible day we had. Watching the play of lights and passing clouds was like having a front-row seat at the movies—truly a spectacle in the mountains.
Ronnie | The fifth day began as we packed everything to make our way down not just the mountain, but the entire trek back to our starting point. We had to meet up with our mules at basecamp so we were on a tight schedule. In total it was about 9,000ft of elevation descent with almost 15 miles. A big day for our poor knees. Thankfully, the lower we went, the more oxygen there was, so our minds were strong as we passed by camp 1 and skidded down the exposed death grunt. Avoiding the snow couloir, the loose scree allowed us to practically run down without much hassle. Once past the steepest part, we did some boot skiing on the final portion of snow patches. I tried, but skiing is not my forte. Ethan and the others rocked it like it was nothing.
Ronnie | At basecamp, the race against the mules begins. We had to book it in order to meet them at the starting point. We jumped over rivers, crossed moraines, and ran down some sections of the trail. The energy from the oxygen made us feel superhuman.
Ronnie | Our last objective was to cross the river that straddles Valle de Engorda. On the initial trek in, the river was already a formidable objective. But now, later in the day, it had significantly grown due to glacier melt the warm day had brought. So, the team decided to form an “eddie line” as per James’ quick thinking. Facing the current lined up like a train, we crab walked in the powerful waist deep water holding each other's backpacks for support. Not only did we have to care about ourselves, but also the priceless camera equipment that was vulnerably sat in our packs. After some trembling moments, we practically jumped the river’s edge on the other side. The excitement was building up as the end approached. All the emotions came rushing in as the farm homestead we began the trek at came into view. We all tapped the hood of the car and celebrated. It was a magical moment, possibly more unforgettable than all the others.
Ronnie | Ethan, Santiago, I have come out of this expedition as brothers with James and Cisco. We got to experience true remoteness with no one but each other. This is the start of a beautiful friendship. Ethan and I now have hearts that appreciate the beauty of Chile and its people in a very deep and impactful sense that will stick with us until our final breaths. Here’s to Chile. And here’s to my brothers Ethan, Santiago, James, and Cisco.
(left to right) Ethan, James, Santiago, Ronnie, Cisco
