The Right Mountain

My brother and I were looking to do some more serious mountaineering this summer but are unfamiliar with technical ice climbing. We both are in excellent shape and have plenty of experience rock climbing and with smaller mountains in the Rockies, but haven't done anything higher than 15,000 feet or anything with serious glaciers or technical ice climbing. We can handle some ice climbing but don't want to risk getting caught way out of our depth. Are there any mountains above 15,000 feet in North/South America that don't require extensive technical skills?

Have you considered getting some instruction for snow and glacier travel? Through a guide service?

If you want to go above 15K, it would be a good idea.

Maybe Aconcagua?

Mexican volcanoes.

Liam Nyfelerwrote:

My brother and I ... are unfamiliar with technical ice climbing... We can handle some ice climbing...

Seems super contradicting and extremely vague. If you are unfamiliar with technical ice climbing it sounds like you have never ice climbed and therefore have no business ice climbing on a big mountain PERIOD. 

Saying you want do "serious" mountaineering (again, super vague) next year with what you described reads similar to someone saying, "I go top roping at the gym regularly and now I want to solo a grade VI big wall. I've never climbed outside but I know I can climb cause top roping. Which big wall should I do?" 

Sounds like you watched/read some stuff and got psyched... good for you. I recommend being very specific about what you envision for the future. Break it down into the skills required. Figure out how to learn and practice those skills. Let that determine your timeline, not that you want to do something just because next summer is the soonest opportunity. OR accept that you don't know enough and pay for a guide to take you up something. 

Elevation doesn't have anything to do with the technical side of a route or Mountain.. Classes and experience will keep you from becoming a statistic.

The ice festivals offer good clinics an classes, along with other guide services. Traveling far to climb a non technical mountain seems like one wouldn't get the most out of there trip.

Looking for a mountain to fit the man seems backwards.   Become a man fit for the mountains, then the options are endless.  

Thank you. I appreciate all the advice and help.

If you are in the rockies, I would suggest doing some easier routes on the 13 and 14 thousand foot peaks.

Kieners route on Longs Peak; Dreamweaver Couloir on Meeker; Martha on Mount Lady Washington.  

These would be reasonable objectives for a person who is technically competent on multi pitch ice and rock and wanted to transition those skills into mountaineering. 

If you are not yet competent on multi pitch ice and rock, then you should build those skills first before trying to apply them in an alpine setting.   

Whatever happened to apprenticeship? 

Build your skills, progress logically, and then those 'serious' objectives will naturally follow. 

The Mexican volcanoes are probably the "easiest" and "least technical" of anything >15k feet in North America, but hazards still abound and if you don't have much ice/snow/glacier experience, I'd strongly recommend a guide service, or going with an experienced mentor. There are similar objectives to consider in Bolivia and Peru. 

However, judging by the tone of your post you're curious about building your mountaineering resume but you're not sure how to go about it. Instead of trying to simply climb higher altitude peaks, you should consider broadening your experience, knowledge, and comfort on more difficult and varied routes here in the lower 48. The Cascades have long been an incubator for great American alpinists. You can take your first steps learning glacier travel and moderate alpine ice on Hood, Rainier, etc. easily with the help of a guide service or an experienced mentor. When you can climb something on the level of Liberty Ridge or another similar route under your own steam and planning, you'll know you'll be prepared (hopefully) for bigger mountains in Alaska, Canada, or the Andes. 

There are a number of 6000m Andean peaks (Chachani for one) are basically hikes if you get a good weather window. 

Seems like there is plenty of opportunity to train on ice within an hour or two of Unknown Hometown.