Cho Oyu Climbers Heading for Camp 2

September 28, 2013

Weather Map for Sept 28th

We talked to Kaji this morning, who is holding down the fort at ABC.Â Â Mike, Peter and their team are doing well and they left Camp 1 for Camp 2 this morning.Â Weather continues to be good.Â The Sherpas carried to Camp 2 yesterday and they got set up 5 tents.Â Phunuru, Ang Karma and Mingma Dorje stayed at Camp 1 last night with the members.Â Nima Karma, Mingma Tenzing and Chhewang dropped down to ABC yesterday afternoon and went back up this morning to go to Camp 2.Â Â Ang Karma and Phunuru are climbing with members today to Camp 2 and the other Sherpas are going ahead to set up more tents.Â We are keeping a close eye on the weather.Â There is still some moisture in the vicinity, but it is supposed to keep moving to the north and east.

Eric Simonson

Kilimanjaro Summits!

September 28, 2013

Chris Meder called on the sat phone to say that the whole team was together on the summit.Â Way to go!Â The weather was great and they had a perfect summit morning.Â After their descent to Mweka Camp (about 11,000 feet), the team members are now enjoying some good food and thick air tonight. Tomorrow they finish the descent to Moshi and then get ready for four days on safari.

This will be our final autumn 2013 Kili trip.Â Next up will be the December holiday trip (with guide Max Bunce), and then we kick off 2014 with our January and February Kili tripsÂ (with guide Jenni Fogle).Â January/February is a great time to go to Kili, and the air tickets are attractively priced this time of the year (we’ve seen flights running as low as $1900 from west coast and $1300 east coast).Â Now’s the time to get on board!

Eric Simonson

Carstensz Summits!

September 27, 2013

Dan Zokaites called from the summit of Carstensz to report that the team had an nice climb today.Â The weather was excellent and they had great views of the surrounding peaks.Â We heard from Dan again later when he called to say they are all back on the ground after rappelling the descent route.Â Good news.

: Tyrolean Traverse

: Carstensz Pyramid

: Summit Ridge

Now they just have to reverse their trek back to Sugapa over the next four or five days.Â The adventure is not over yet!

Eric Simonson

Cho Oyu Climbers Ready for the Summit Push

September 27, 2013

Climbing Route and Camps

IMG leader Mike Hamill reports: “The team is rested and getting ready for their summit rotation. Today we reviewed the oxygen system again, had a summit meeting to discuss the summit push, and packed food for the next few days on the mountain. We had half an inch of snow last night but the weather has been clear and sunny today with a slight breeze from the North. Our plan is to head up tomorrow the 28th to Camp 1 with October 1 as a tentative summit day, depending on the weather.”

EricÂ Simonson

Kili Climbers Leaving Tonight For The Summit

September 27, 2013

: IMG climbers in the dining tent (Chris Meder)

: Barafu Camp (15,000 feet) and the route heading up to the summit (Eric Simonson)

IMG guide Chris Meder sent this message:Â “The group made good progress today arriving at Barafu just after noon.Â The weather continues to be unsettled, with sleet turning to snow by the time we reached high camp.Â Short clearings showed no accumulation on the upper mountain so we should be in pretty good shape for the summit climb.Â We had a big lunch/dinner this afternoon, and after final preparations everyone is in bed.Â The alarm goes off at 11 pm and we’ll start climbing around midnight after a quick breakfast. Everyone is doing well with the altitude and continues to maintain a great attitude despite less than ideal weather.Â This group is ready.Â We’ll try to check in from the summit!”

Eric Simonson

Carstensz Climbers: Next Stop Base Camp

September 26, 2013

IMG guide Dan Zokaites reports that the team had a good night at Camp 5 and are heading today up and over the 14,600 foot New Zealand Pass.Â This will mark the end of the sloppy hiking of the plateau; from here on they are on the rock of the Sudirman Range.Â Ahead are the four highest peaks of Papua: Sumantri, Carstensz Pyramid, Ngga Pulu and East Carstensz.

From the NZ Pass, they will drop down to the Carstensz Base Camp at 13,700 feet.Â If the weather is decent, the plan is to try for the summit tomorrow.

Eric Simonson

Kili Climbers Reach Karanga

September 26, 2013

Karanga Camp at 13,000 feet on Kilimanjaro (Eric Simonson)

IMG guide Chris Meder reports by sat phone that the Kili team had a nice day of hiking today, first climbing the Barranco wall, then traversing below the southern glaciers.Â Now they have reached Karanga which is their camp for tonight.Â This camp (like Barranco where they stayed last night) is at 13,000 feet and these two nights in a row at 13K are great for acclimatization.Â Tomorrow the team will head up to the 15,000 foot high camp at Barafu, getting there early in the day so they have plenty of time for food, hydration, and rest.Â Chris said they had some rain this afternoon, and that there is some fresh snow up high.Â The members are doing well and are getting excited for the summit bid.

Eric Simonson

Dolpo Trekkers Reach Shey Gompa

September 26, 2013

Adam called on the sat phone to report they made it over the 17,400 foot pass and have now descended to 14,200 feet at Shey Gompa, built in the 11th century.Â Along the way they saw Himalayan blue sheep and have clearly now entered a more arid (Tibet like) geographical area.Â Some people may recall that Shey Gompa was visited by Peter Matthiessen and biologist George Schaller in the 1970â€™s and written about in Matthiessen’s famous book The Snow Leopard.Â Adam says that they have only seen one other trek group, from France.Â Otherwise, they have encountered zero other trekkers in the area.Â Tomorrow they will take a rest day and explore the â€œCrystal Mountainâ€ area around the Gompa.

Eric Simonson

Carstensz Team Reaches Camp 4

September 25, 2013

Climbers crossing the Plateau (Jason Edwards)

IMG leader Dan Zokaites reports that the team reached Camp 4 up on the Plateau and are continuing towards Base Camp. Â It continues to be very challenging hiking for the team. Â Â Now they have reached 12,000 feet in this limestone karst terrain, with lots of water, sinkholes, waterfalls, and swampy areas.Â Thoughts turn to the famous Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer and his team who pioneered this overland route and made the first ascent of Carstensz back in 1962,Â If you want to read a real adventure story, track down his classic book â€œI Come from the Stone Ageâ€.

Eric Simonson

Acclimatization Day

September 25, 2013

From: Chris Meder
Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2013 7:17 AM
To: Eric Simonson
Subject: Acclimatization day to Lava Tower

Eric,

The team had another great day hiking from Shira camp up to Lava Tower, at almost 15,000 ft, and then back down to Barranco camp.Â The weather was cool and windy and clouds cleared out for nice views as we approached Lava Tower.

The descent into the Zone of Weird Plants as we descended to Barranco was stunning as always.Â Tomorrow’s challenge is the Barranco wall, which is always fun scrambling for a short bit.Â Then it’s scenic walking all the way to the next camp.

Chris

: Kili team on the way to Lava Tower (Chris Meder)

: Descending to Barranco Camp with a “forest” of giant groundsel plants. These “trees” produce a natural antifreeze which allow them to flourish at high altitudes (Eric Simonson)