First Day Of Trekking In Iceland

July 17, 2019

: Team on Day 1 (Craig John)

: LjÃ³tipollur, a red crater, filled with amazing blue water (Craig John)

IMG Senior Guide Craig John just checked in after a great first day of trekking in Iceland to LjÃ³tipollur, a red crater, filled with amazing blue water. It was a leisurely day of hiking to the first hut in the Landmannalaugar area.Â Once the team arrived at the hut and were settled in, they decided to hike up one of the surrounding peaks to get more of a birds eye view.Â For dinner, the team ate salmon, rice and salad outside since it was not raining!

: Dinner at the Landmannalaugar Hut (Craig John)

: Trekking to Landmannalaugar (Craig John)

Another day of trekking tomorrow morning after a few cups of strong Icelandic coffee!

Greg Vernovage

Elbrus Acclimatization Hike

July 17, 2019

The Elbrus team has been busy on their acclimatization hikes around Terskol and above the Cheget ski area (Jonathan Schrock)

Always nice to have everyone in one spot with all their luggage and actually starting a climb.Â We love sightseeing in St. Petersburg but it feels right to put on the hiking shoes and start prepping oneself for the actually climbing.Â For now, that means acclimatizating.Â The terrain around Terskol is perfect for just that.Â Weatherâ€™s been a little â€˜iffyâ€™ but not bad for the teamâ€™s hikes.Â Plus, weatherâ€™s often a big â€˜iffyâ€™ in the Caucasus.Â All that really matters is that summit day.

Team will push higher tomorrow and get up onto the glaciers at the mountainâ€™s base and do a bit of review and just plain further enhancing of their adjustment to the altitude.Â Canâ€™t shortcut the acclimatization process.

All is quite good on Mt. Elbrus!!

Phil Ershler

2019 Carstensz Pyramid Expedition – Sign Up Now!

July 17, 2019

2018 IMG Carstensz Team on the Summit! (Jonathan_Schrock)

There is still some space available on the 2019 Carstensz Pyramid Expedition. If it is time to check off another one of the Seven Summits or you love a real adventure, this is the trip for you!Â We are working on logistics now for the adventure to Indonesia. For more information, contact Greg Vernovage.

See you on the summit!

Elbrus Update

July 17, 2019

: Boat ride on the Neva River (Jonathan Schrock)

: Dinner in St. Petersburg (Jonathan Schrock)

: Ready for the drive to Terskol (Jonathan Schrock)

Jonathan Schrock, Sasha Sak and Igor Tsaruk have greeted our first Elbrus expedition of the season, shown them a bit of St. Petersburg and got them all on their flight to Mineralnye Vody and the bus ride up to the town of Terskol.Â The trip is off and running and all is good.Â Acclimatization is the order of business now while in Terskol.Â Thereâ€™s an observatory above town which provides a great objective for that first hike.Â A couple of thousand feet of elevation gain and some great views of Elbrus.Â Good way to start the program.

Stay tuned as the team works their way up Elbrus and ends the trip in the city of Moscow.Â Not a bad way to spend two weeks.

Phil Ershler

Mongolia Team Arrives At Mt Khuiten Base Camp

July 17, 2019

Eagle Hunter (Carol Masheter)

The Mongolia Team has arrived at Mt Khuiten Base Camp with a beautiful day of weather.Â After driving to the Park Entrance from Bayan Olgii in the Russian vans, the team loaded up the Bactrian camels and horses and started trekking.Â On the way to Base Camp the team were able to see golden eagles, camels, yaks, sheep, goats and horses.Â After a few hours, the team arrived at top of a hill with a great view of the Altai Mountains, before dropping down to the Potaniin Glacier and the Base Camp site.

: The Potaniin Glacier, Mt Khuiten and the Altai Mountains on the way to Base Camp (Eric Simonson)

: Bactrian Camels being led by the locals on horseback (Eric Simonson)

: Trekking to Base Camp (Eric Simonson)

Ang Jangbu reports that the team are all doing well, and it sounds like the climbing route on Mt Khuiten is in great shape. Â Tomorrow, the team will continue to familiarize themselves with Base Camp and do some training on the lower end of the Potaniin Glacier.Â Allâ€™s well in Mongolia!

Greg Vernovage

Iceland Trekkers Tour Reykjavik

July 16, 2019

IMG guide Craig John reports that the Iceland Trek team made it to Reykjavik and are doing well. Today they had a tour around the city, including a visit to the statue of Leifur Eiriksson on the plaza in front of Hallgrimskirka, the huge church visible from most of Reykjavik. This statue was a gift from the USA to Iceland to commemorate the first European to reach North America, on the 1000 year anniversary of the Albingi which is the parliament of Iceland and oldest in the world, first convened in 930 AD.

: Lief Eriksson hotel (Craig John)

: IMG Iceland Trekkers with the statue of Lief Eriksson in Reykjavik (Craig John)

: Lief Eriksson Statue inscription (Craig John)

After the city tour they returned to their hotel (the Lief Eriksson, of course) to prepare for their departure tomorrow morning for Landmannalaugar to begin the classic Laugavegur Trek.

Greg Vernovage

Mongolia Team Reaches Bayan Olgii

July 16, 2019

Ang Jangbu checked in overnight to let us know the team had a good flight to Bayan Olgii and drove for about three hours to their first camp. The team had taken an afternoon flight and were welcomed by the van drivers, cook staff and climbing guides at the airport. Tonight, they are camping in the meadow by a beautiful river.

: 2019 Mongolia Team arrive in Bayan Olgii (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

: The road to the Altai Mountains (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

: Russian Van at a pit stop (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

Tomorrow, the plan is to wake at 6am and head for the Park Entrance. Once at the park entrance, they will load up the camels and trek to Base Camp.

All is well in Mongolia!

Greg Vernovage

Touring Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

July 15, 2019

Ang Jangbu checked in with more great photos of the city tour in Ulaanbaatar. All climbers and gear have now arrived, gear checks complete and another beautiful day for touring the city. The team visited the main square of the city before going to the impressive cultural museum. They also visited the Winter Palace and the Gandantegchinlen Monastery. The day finished up with the team taking in the Tamen Ehk Singing and dancing cultural event.

: Gandantegchinlen Monastery (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

: National Museum Tour (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

: The Winter Palace (Viki Tracey)

: Tumen Ehk Festival (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

Another busy day of sightseeing in Ulaanbaatar! Tomorrow, the team will head to the airport to take their flight to Bayan Olgii and head to the mountains!

Greg Vernovage

Siula Pass and Huayhuash Camp

July 14, 2019

: En route from Siula Pass to Huayhuash Camp (Betsy Dain-Owens)

: Views from Siula Pass (Betsy Dain-Owens)

IMG Lead Guide, Betsy Dain-Owens, checked in today from from the camp known as “Huayhuash,” which is a pleasant grassy camp 1t 14,100′ with stunning views. It was a long day on the trail, which took the team over Siula Pass located at 15,740′. The weather was a mixed bag with clear skies in the morning, making for a beautiful hike as they departed camp for the pass. Later in the afternoon the clouds moved in to greet the team as they arrived at camp. Tomorrow is a shorter hike and they will be rewarded with some natural hot springs for their hard efforts.

The team is doing well and making good progress!

Jason Edwards

Mongolia Team Update

July 13, 2019

Gheghis Khan Statue (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

: Team at Turtle Rock (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

: Aryval Monastery (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

: Team at Ghengis Khan Statue (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

We heard from Ang Jangbu overnight with more great photos of the team in Mongolia:

â€œWe had a great day today. We had a leisurely breakfast this morning left 9 am to the Genghis Khan statue. The direct road was under construction and had to take a longer route. It was about 110 kilometers from Ulaanbaatar.

After the statue, we drove to Terelj National Park and stopped at one of the many yurt resorts for a great lunch. We then drove further into the park to see the Turtle rock and the Aryaval Monastery. Beautiful area. We then drove back to UB and went straight to the Mongolian buffet dinner just got back to the hotel. â€œ

Greg Vernovage

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