See More Pictures from Ricardo's Alive! Expedition - posted as of 04/30/2006

Ricardo's Alive! Expedition with James Vlahos is featured on the cover of National Geographic Adventure magazine!

Read the extensive coverageof the Alive expedition in National Geographic Adventure magazine's April 2006 issue.

Survivors of the Andes Trip -  January 23-29, 2012. Visit the site of the Alive story with survivor Eduardo Strauch and Ricardo Peña! Contact us for more info

MT. EVEREST 29,028'
Alpine Expeditions is proud to announce this special opportunity! Ricardo Pena and world class climber and three time Everest Summiter: Hector Ponce de Leon offer qualified climbers the opportunity to climb the highest mountain in the world at a much more affordable price than all other Major Outfitters (their prices ranging from $55,000 to $65,000). Hector has the best Sherpas and contacts in Nepal. This, combined with his impressive high altitude experience assure you the best chances for success on this challenging peak. For more info on Everest and other expeditions Contact us

New - Inquire about our Kilimanjaro and Mt Elbrus Expeditions. For more information Contact us.

Alpine Expeditions offers instruction on all mountaineering skills: hiking, camping, rock climbing, ice climbing, winter and arctic mountaineering, glacier travel, crevasse rescue and expeditionary climbing.

On the News!

April 20, 2005

Another article featuring Ricardo was printed in the Boulder Daily Camera!

Excerpt from the Daily Camera

Survivors returning to 'Alive' wreckage

Boulder man plans documentary of survival in Andes

By Vanessa Miller, Camera Staff Writer
April 20, 2005

They are going back.

Back to the plane wreckage tucked high in the Andes Mountains. Back to the fatal circumstances that necessitated cannibalism. Back to the ambition, the hope and the trek for survival.

And they want to bring the viewing public with them.

Ricardo Peña, the Boulder man who traveled earlier this year to the site of the 1972 airplane crash documented in the book and film "Alive," returned last week from a trip to Mexico where he met with two of the tragedy's 16 survivors.

During Peña's time with Eduardo Strauch and Carlitos Paez, the three began planning an expedition that would retrace the arduous route survivors took to exit the Andes and find help. The climb will be sponsored by Peña's Boulder-based mountain guiding company, Alpine Expeditions.

March 12, 2005

Ricardo has been featured recently in the Rocky Mountain News and in the Boulder Daily Camera.

Excerpt from the Rocky Mountain News

Boulder climber's trip to Andes crash site a voyage of discovery

By David Montero, Rocky Mountain News
March 12, 2005

When he picked up the piece of yellowed plastic fashioned into the shape of a knife blade, Ricardo Peña's mind began racing.

Here he was, almost 12,000 feet up in the Andes with no one around except the 29 ghosts of those who died more than 30 years ago in a plane crash. And not just any plane crash, Peña thought - the crash that had haunted him since childhood.

Excerpt from the Daily Camera

New chapter in 'Alive' tale

Climber, friend discover lost wreckage of plane

By Vanessa Miller, Camera Staff Writer
March 12, 2005

It was more than the rugged skyline and the endless expanse of peaks that caught Ricardo Pena's breath as he stood part way up a mountain in the Andes, several thousand feet above the site of the 1972 airplane crash documented in the book and film "Alive."

What halted the 36-year-old Boulder resident and his Argentine climbing partner, Mario Perez, under brilliant blue skies in the South American summer were visions of engine scraps, cutting tools made from airplane windows and articles of clothing.