Bolivia Team Heads to Copacabana

July 23, 2019

Copacabana (Harry Hamlin)

IMG Senor Guide Harry Hamlin checked in from the shores of Lake Titicaca to let us know the team had a nice day traveling to Copacabana. Departing La Paz, the drive goes back up hill to El Alto where they negotiate a little traffic before everything opens up on the Altiplano. To the left is the beautiful Cordillera Real Mountain Range. This range is the home of all the mountains the team will climb during the trip. A little further down the road, the team begins to see the beginning of Lake Titicaca and the many acres of reeds that line the shore. These reeds are famous for boats that are used by the Indians that inhabit the area. At a small village named Tiquina, the team gets out of the vehicle and takes a small boat to the other side of the water passage. The van takes a vehicle ferry. Once on the other side, it is a short drive up and over the hill to Copacabana.

: Cordillera Real on the way to Copacabana (Greg Vernovage)

: Ferry Crossing Bolivian â€œstyleâ€ (Harry Hamlin)

The afternoon is spent visiting the beautiful church as well as hiking to the Indian ruins on the hill and then up to Cerro Calvario to take in the sunset.Â Tomorrow, the team will be up early to catch the boat over to Sun Island for an acclimatization hike and picnic on the shore.

: Cerro Calvario (Greg Vernovage)

: 2019 Bolivia Team with Lake Titicaca (Harry Hamlin)

Donâ€™t fall in Lake Titicaca!

Greg Vernovage

On the Trail to the BÃ¡sar Hut

July 23, 2019

On the trail to the BÃ¡sar Hut (Craig John)

Craig John sent some photos and a quick note to let us know the team is doing great and the trek to the BÃ¡sar hut is beautiful.Â The team spent time trekking near a very beautiful but interesting looking Mount Einhurningur. After admiring the mountain, the team headed towards a birch forest in the Thorsmork Valley which sits right near the MÃ½rdalsjÃ¶kull and EyjafjallajÃ¶kull glaciers.Â After stopping in at the hut, CJ and the team hustled back out the door to get better views on a nearby hill of the EyjafjallajÃ¶kull glacier.

: Mount Einhurningur (Craig John)

: Dropping into the Thorsmork Valley (Craig John)

: EyjafjallajÃ¶kull Glacier (Craig John)

All is well in Iceland!

Greg Vernovage

Mongolia Team Heads to the White River Park Entrance

July 23, 2019

Charlotte with Camels and drivers (Charlotte Austin)

Ang Jangbu called in a report just after the team departed base camp heading downhill to the White River Park Entrance. When the weather holds, teams need to find something to do during the contingency day.Â Jangbu and the team took advantage of the contingency day by trekking to the Russian border and then climbing Mount Malchin.Â The team then returned to base camp where the cook staff prepared an incredible dinner and celebration cake.Â We have a great cook staff in Mongolia.

: White River with the Altai Mountains (Charlotte Austin)

: Looking down Malchin Peak with Potaniin Glacier (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

Up early, the team said goodbye to the Mongolian guide team and began the trek down White River. This is a beautiful trek spent following the river downhill, occasionally meeting a nomadic family grazing their animals and working around the Ger (yurt). Our local guide will often talk to the families and inevitably, the team will find themselves inside a Ger, enjoying the wonderful hospitality of the family. Once at the Park Entrance, it is time to set up tents for one more night, say goodbye to the Bactrian Camels who help transport the gear and meet up with transportation back to Bayan Olgii.

Bactrian camel and Russian Van (Charlotte Austin)

All is well in Mongolia!

Greg Vernovage

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