Bolivia Team Arrives to La Paz

July 22, 2019

Old Town La Paz (Luke Reilly)

IMG Senior Guide Harry Hamlin just checked in from La Paz.Â The team has arrived and they have been taking it relatively easy today.Â One of the first things we realize when arriving to La Paz is the altitude.Â Landing at El Alto the altitude is 13,000ft and we drop down to about 11,900ft for the first couple days.Â In order to help adjust to the altitude, we stay in town and do some touring.

La Paz is a beautiful city nestled in the valley of the Cordillera Real Mount Range.Â During the city tour, the team will hike through old town La Paz and take the new gondola up to El Alto to take in some great views and get their first look at Illimani.

: Bolivia Team in La Paz (Harry Hamlin)

: Looking at Illimani from La Paz (Giorgio Zannini)

The weather is fantastic this time of year in Bolivia and today was as good as it gets.Â Tomorrow, the team will be up early to beat rush hour and head out to Copacabana on the shores of beautiful Lake Titicaca.

All is well in Bolivia!

Greg Vernovage

Mongolia Update

July 22, 2019

Mount Khuiten, Peak Nairandal and Mount Malchin with the Potaniin Glacier (Eric Simonson)

The Team in Mongolia has returned to base camp after successful climbs of Mount Khuiten and Peak Nairandal.Â We have a built in contingency/rest day after returning to base camp that we can use in the event of bad weather up high or in this case, to simply relax and enjoy the beautiful landscape around base camp. For climbers with a little more gas in the tank, we can also climb nearby peak Malchin which is a non-technical peak.

The team will be up early tomorrow morning to break down camp and start trekking down the White River to our pick up location at the other Park Entrance.

All is well in Mongolia!

Greg Vernovage

Trekking to Emstrur in Iceland

July 22, 2019

Wildflowers, stream crossing and mountains (Craig John)

If the coffee doesn’t wake you up the stream crossing to start the day will. The team finally saw some rain today which is not terrible since there are two stream crossings on the itinerary. The day takes us past Storasula Volcano and into the Maelifellssandur Desert. We’ll take pictures of the strange, flat-topped Hattafell Volcano (Hat Peak). After this, the team walked through the black glacial desert into the lush and green Emstrur area. Just before the hut the team took a slight detour to have a look at the 650ft. deep Markarfljotsfljufur Canyon. Once at the Botnar hut the team settled in, dried off and prepared Salmon for dinner.

: Hattafell Volcano (Craig John)

: Iceland Team crossing the stream (Craig John)

: Markarfljotsfljufur Canyon (Craig John)

Another great day on the trail in Iceland!

Greg Vernovage

Elbrus Team Summits Under Challenging Conditions

July 21, 2019

Challenging conditions? No problem. Windy and poor visibility? No problem. The team put their training, conditioning and acclimatization to good use this morning. Up early and out of the hut around 3am. Mountain was determined to make the group ‘earn it’. Cold and windy isn’t unusual for Elbrus, but when you couple those with limited visibility, things get tough and safety margins get smaller.

: Working for it on the Elbrus summit climb (Jonathan Schrock)

: IMG Elbrus climber getting it done (Jonathan Schrock)

: Views from the Elbrus summit climb (Jonathan Schrock)

Everyone has to be on their game — climbers and guides, alike. They all did what they’d trained to do, and they did it well. Team reached the summit before 9am. All are back safely now at the hut. This is a seriously sweet victory, as the forecast is a bit iffy for the next couple of days.

IMG Team on the Summit of Elbrus (Jonathan Schrock)

Check out the short video Jonathan shot with the East Summit in the background. 18,000′ and fighting the weather ain’t easy.

Watching the video, you can just feel the team pushing for that summit!

Phil Ershler

Iceland Team Enjoying Good Weather and Big Views

July 21, 2019

IMG Senior Guide Craig John checked in again overnight with more incredible photos and to let us know the weather has been quite nice. Iceland is known for being a bit on the damp side, and the team has been prepared for rain during the trek on occasion. Not quite the case for our Iceland trek so far, and as a result, the views have been stunning! The team also had a view of EyjafjallajÃ¶kull Volcano which is the famous volcano that erupted in 2010 disrupting all the air travel into northern Europe.

: Trekking from Hraftinnusker to Ãlftavatan (Craig John)

: EyjafjallajÃ¶kull Volcano (Craig John)

: Myrdals JÃ¶kull Mountain in the distance (Craig John)

: A bit of the beautiful Icelandic scenery (Craig John)

“Today we trekked from Hraftinnusker to Ãlftavatan. Ãlftavatan means swan lake. We had views of Myrdals JÃ¶kull and EyjafiallajÃ¶kull. Huge glaciers. We hiked past steam vents most of the day. Lamb stew is on the menu for tonight. Had one short river crossing today. Two crossings on the agenda for tomorrow.”

Greg Vernovage

Triple Point Summit for IMG’s Mongolia Team

July 21, 2019

Ang Jangbu called late last night to let us know the Team reached the “Triple Point” Summit of Peak Nairandal! Jangbu made the sat phone call just as the team was leaving the summit to let us know that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the winds were never more than 5km the entire morning. What a perfect day to stand on top of a mountain where Mongolia, China and Russia meet.

: Climbing towards Peak Nairandal (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

: Summit of Peak Nairandal (2018 Team) (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

: Looking down the Potaniin Glacier (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

The team then dropped down to high camp for some food before packing up and heading to base camp. Tomorrow is a contingency day where some members will elect to sleep in while other climbers may decide to get in a bonus climb of Mount Malchin.

All is well in Mongolia, and congratulations to all climbers!

Greg Vernovage

IMG Guide Training

July 20, 2019

IMG Guide Training (Harry Hamlin)

Crevasses are one of the greatest hazards mountaineers encounter while climbing glaciated peaks.Â Maintaining adequate rope rescue technique is a very important skill that IMG guides are trained on.Â Practicing regularly keeps our guides proficient and well-educated on a procedure that can be very important if needed.

IMG guide Zack Weinberg

Fine Conditions On Elbrus

July 20, 2019

: Cramponing amongst the rock ( Jonathan Schrock)

: Elbrus rest break (Jonathan Schrock)

Blue skies and nice snow for cramponing greeted the team on their final acclimatization day on Elbrus. Theyâ€™ll spend their second night in the hut on the mountain (albeit a short one) and then likely take a summit shot tonight. Long day ahead but no issues with health or altitude so far so weâ€™ll be keeping fingers crossed, hoping that nothing changes for them.Â Hope to have good news to report tomorrow. For now, all is quite well in Russia.

Phil Ershler

Iceland Update

July 20, 2019

: The Hrafntinnusker Hut (Craig John)

: Trekking through the Laugahraun Lava Field (Craig John)

IMG Senior Guide Craig John checked in from the Hrafntinnusker Hut with more incredible photos.Â After breakfast the team took a nice hike through the Laugahraun Lava Field passing by the colorful Brennisteinsalda Mountain and enjoying our geothermal surroundings. The team then crossed an obsidian desert and right by the Storihver hot springs. The day ended by trekking to one of the most remote huts in Iceland.

: Amazing colors in Iceland (Craig John)

: Trekking to Hrafntinnusker (Craig John)

: A view of Iceland (Craig John)

CJâ€™s photos and sound bite sum up another great day in Iceland:Â â€œAmazing colors and some of the most amazing scenery Iâ€™ve ever seen.â€\

Greg Vernovage

100% on top of Mount Khuiten!

July 20, 2019

Climbing the steep section on Mount Khuiten (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

Ang Jangbu called with great news from Mount Khuiten (14,350ft) in Mongolia.Â The entire team had a great climb and are now back at High Camp resting. The team left high camp at 3am and climbed through some fog and clouds to reach the summit.Â They will rest this afternoon and get a later start in the morning for Peak Nairandal (13,714ft) before returning to base camp.

: Climbers heading up Mount Khuiten (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

: Mount Khuiten Summit (2018 Team) (Eric Simonson)

Mount Khuiten is the tallest mountain in Mongolia while Peak Nairandal is the â€œTriple Pointâ€ where China, Mongolia and Russia all meet.

Congratulations to the entire Team!

Greg Vernovage