Everest Teams on the Move

April 2nd, 2024–

Team 2 at the Everest Viewpoint above Namche (Phunuru Sherpa)

The weather has been good the last couple days and our Sherpas at Everest BC are almost finished with building our Camp. They report that the Icefall doctors working on the route in the Khumbu Icefall have now reached above the Football Field and will have the route open to Camp 1 soon.

Lower down, our two teams are moving higher. Ang Jangbu reports that yesterday Team 1 departed Phortse and took the high trail on the west side of the valley up to Pangboche. This is a spectacular and infrequently used trek route, with great view across the valley to Tengboche and Ama Dablam. Today they are moving on up to Pheriche (about 14,300 ft).

Three days behind Team 1, Phunuru and the Team 2 had a nice acclimatization hike up to the Everest viewpoint, and then they moved up to Khunde, following in the steps of Team 1. Now they are moving to Phortse, the local home of many of the IMG Sherpas (including Jangbu and Phunuru). Alls well at Mt Everest!

Team 1 departs Phortse on the way to Pangboche (Ang Jangbu)

On the way to Pheriche with Everest and Lhotse peeking into view (Eric Simonson)

Team 1 reaches Phortse & Team 2 rests at Namche

March 30, 2024

Happy Easter from Team 1 & 2! Team 1 had a lovely hike from Khunde to Phortse today where they will spend the rest of the day and night. They were able to visit the Khumbu Climbing Center where many of our Sherpa team train year-round when not on expeditions. The team was invited to afternoon tea with Lama Phur Temba at his home.

Team 2 is not that far behind- the team reached Namche! Today they will be going for an acclimatization hike to the view point by the Everest View Hotel.

All’s well with both teams!

Team 1 at Khunde, Team 2 at Phakding

March 30, 2024 – The weather cleared up today and Team 1 got the big view of Everest that they were hoping for, from Shyangboche (above Namche). From there they continued on to Khunde village where they were hosted for tea at the home of our longtime IMG trek guide Sonam. After that they visited with the local woman’s group at the community house. Tomorrow they will continue on to Phortse.

Back in Kathmandu, our head cook Kaji departed early this morning for Taksindu at the end of the road with a truck load of fresh food and duffel bags, heading for Everest Base Camp. A couple hours later Phunuru Sherpa and the Team 2 flew to Lukla by helicopter and had a nice hike to Phakding. Team 2 is doing well and everything is on track!

: The lodge in Phakding (Ang Jangbu)

: Team 1 at Khunde community house with local Sherpani group (Ang Jangbu)

: The Lukla airport (Eric Simonson)

: Team 1 at viewpoint (Ang Jangbu)

IMG Everest Team 2 Ready to Go

March 29th, 2024–

Everest Team 2 is ready to go (Phunuru Sherpa)

Phunuru Sherpa reports from Kathmandu that the Team 2 had a good day today. They did the gear checks and got packed up, with the climber’s base camp duffels getting sent on ahead direct to Base Camp. This evening they had a nice welcome dinner at the Hotel, and are all set for a 6am departure tomorrow morning. Like Team 1, they will head to the Kathmandu airport for a helicopter ride direct to Lukla.

Looking down on Namche Bazaar (Eric Simonson)

Higher up the valley Ang Jangbu and Team 1 had a good acclimatization day in Namche, seeing the town and preparing for their hike up to Khunde in the morning. The weather in Khumbu was cloudy today, so they did not get the big Everest view yet. It will just be that much more impressive when the clouds finally part to reveal the Goddess Mother of the World (the Tibetan translation of Chomolungma)!

Team 1 reaches Namche; Team 2 arriving in Kathmandu

March 28th, 2024–

Rhododendrons in bloom on the way to Namche (Ang Jangbu)

Ang Jangbu reports from Namche that Team 1 had a nice hike today, with fine weather and rhododendrons blooming along the trail. The team departed Phakding and hiked for a couple hours up to Monjo, which is the official Sagarmatha Park entrance. After going through the formalities associated with entering the Park, the team headed on to the big Namche Hill, crossing several spectacular foot bridges along the way. Ang Jangbu says that everyone did well, and the team were all in Namche Bazaar (11,300 ft) by 3pm.

Back in Kathmandu Phunuru and Pasang report that most of the Team 2 have now arrived and they will be packing tomorrow in preparation for an early departure for Lukla the following morning.

Team 1 at the Sagarmatha Park gate in Monjo (Ang Jangbu)

On the way to Namche (Ang Jangbu)

Everest Team 1 Hits the Trail

March 27th, 2024–

Loading up the helicopters in Kathmandu (Ang Jangbu)

Ang Jangbu reports that Team 1 flew by helicopters this morning to Lukla (about 9300 ft), then had a nice hike today to Phakding (about 8500 ft) which is located down in the valley on the bank of the Dudh Kosi River. It’s always great to get to Phakding, after traveling halfway around the world, you are finally on the trail and on the way to Everest! Their timing was perfect, as they arrived just before some afternoon rain showers did. Tomorrow the team will head to Namche. All’s well in Nepal!

Team 1 in Lukla ready to hike (Ang Jangbu)

On the way to Phakding with the Dudh Kosi river below (Eric Simonson)

Everest Team 1 members are Ready to Trek!

March 26th, 2024–

Great news, Ang Jangbu and Phunuru report from Kathmandu that Everest Team 1 have all arrived with their luggage and are doing well. This morning they all got together at the hotel for their pre-trek briefing. They will spend the remainder of the day doing some sightseeing and getting packed up. This evening they will have the Team Welcome Dinner and then tomorrow morning they are heading for Lukla by helicopter for the start of the Trek. All’s well in Nepal!

IMG Everest Team 1 does their briefing (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

Mt. Rainier Season Begins!

March 19th, 2024–

IMG DEPS Team during sunset (Porter McMichael)

IMG Guide Porter McMichael and team kicked off our Mt. Rainier 2024 season by returning today from a fantastic 4-day Denali Expedition Prep Seminar. The team enjoyed sunny and clear days reviewing skills such as knot typing, fixed line ascension, sled-rigging and expedition camp set-ups in preparation for their Denali expedition. Climbers came back from their experience with wide smiles and excited for their journey to Alaska. IMG is looking forward to another fantastic season on Mt. Rainier!

More Everest gear on the move

March 14th, 2024–

Loading the big truck heading to Taksindu (Ang Jangbu)

Our second load of food and equipment is heading for Khumbu! Today the Kathmandu team shuttled gear to the outskirts of Kathmandu, where they loaded up a big truck (only smaller trucks are allowed inside the city). This gear is heading for Taksindu, the town at the end of the road, and only about a days hike below Lukla. From Taksindu it will get flow by helicopter sling loads up into the Khumbu. So far so good!

Eric Simonson

Everest preparations are underway!

March 11, 2024

Food packing in Kathmandu for Everest (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

Ang Jangbu Sherpa reports that we got our big food order delivered in Kathmandu and our cooks, Kaji and Nima, with help of other trek Sherpas, started packing. The plan is to send the loads by truck to Thaksindu (the end of the road, down the valley from Lukla), and then from there by helicopter sling loads up to Khumbu. Higher up the valley, the “Icefall Doctors” from the SPCC team are on their way to Base Camp to start building the route in the Icefall.

On March 14 Ang Pasang and Ang Karma, accompanied by yaks and porters, will be heading to EBC with gear loads, and to start laying out the Base Camp tent platforms. The rest of the Sherpa team will be coming in a few days later to continue the EBC construction. All’s well in Nepal!