January 10, 2012
Peter & Josh's team a couple days ago in Mendoza. (Photo by waiter)
Let’s do a head count on who is where in South America…
IMG Guides Ty Gimenez, Peter Adams and Martin Lucero and their team are relaxing at Camp 2 on Aconcagua enjoying a rest day, a bit of an audible from their original plan, but well within bounds. They’ll forgo a carry to High Camp (Peter and Martin carried some gear up there today) and instead move on up tomorrow. Their summit day right now is slated for Saturday.
Lower on the mountain is Peter Anderson and Josh McDowell and their crew. I didn’t hear from Pete today, but they’re likely enjoying some fire-grilled steak at the first trekking camp after a nice walk in.
Back in Mendoza is Mike Hamill and his private Aconcagua crew. All gear arrived on schedule, permits are in hand, now it’s time for one more meal in Mendoza. They’ll head to Penitentes tomorrow.
And somewhere in, near or around Mendoza, is IMG Guide Emily Johnston. Emily is on a personal climb of Aconcagua with some friends. She’s a stealthy one, so we don’t know exactly where she is, but she’s got a radio with her so I imagine she’ll pop her head up at some point and say hi to the other guides on the mountain.
Way up north is Luke Reilly. Luke is on a bus in Arica, Chile at the moment (if you know Luke you know this is normal) en route to Santiago. We may need to call him out of the bullpen to assist with Greg Vernovage’s Aconcagua program. We’ll know soon.
Quoting Luke:
“I´m ready to go. I´m in Arica right now and will be in Santiago by Saturday or Sunday. I´ll check my email, just let me know as I will have to rearrange a flight. I’m ready.”
Even further north in Ecuador, is Phil Ershler. Phil is awaiting his Ecuador Volcanoes team which is schedule to arrive later tonight. He makes a point to go down a couple days ahead of schedule to spend some time with long time friend and guide, Romulo Cardenas and his family.
And not officially in South America, though they wish they were, is our Vinson team. The flight didn’t leave Punta Arenas, Chile this morning due to some windy conditions so they’ll continue to hang tight.
There you have it, IMG is well represented in Chile and Argentina at the moment.
Tye Chapman