July 1, 2019

Phunuru and team did it – 100% on top! That’s great news and the even better news is that they’re already all the way down to Millennium Camp.  That’s the land of the thick air! A few hours on the trail tomorrow and they’re out. They’ll be eating barbeque and sleeping in a bed tomorrow night.

Great news from Africa and a big congrats to Phunuru, our Chagga crew, and all the members of the expedition.

Phil Ershler

June 30, 2019

It’s time for our weekend “Kili catch up”. This team hasn’t missed a beat. Everyone is kicking…..tail. First, it was up the Baranco Wall and the traverse over to the Karanga Camp. Great thing with a 6 night, 7 day itinerary is that we have time to spend a night at Karanga before going to high camp at Barafu. Means more acclimatization and two shorter days rather than a long day to high camp. PLUS, we get to high camp early, meaning more time to rest and prep before the summit attempt. And that’s exactly where the team is now. We’ll let you know when we hear from the team but all is exactly on schedule and we’re pretty happy with the way this team has performed. Let’s see how summit day goes.

Phil Ershler

June 28, 2019

Another fun phone call from Phunuru and our Kilimanjaro team Friday morning.

They said the weather was even better for their hike to Baranco today. Not sure how that’s even possible.

Right now they’re starring up at the Baranco Wall. Looks intimidating but the reality is that it’s just plain fun. A little exposure, here and there, and a little scrambling, here and there. Nothing that’s too difficult or too scary. After the wall, they’ll keep traversing in front of the mountain as they make their way to the Karanga Valley. Camp will be about 1000′ higher than where they’re camped now.

Here’s hoping Phunuru keeps the good news coming!

Phil Ershler

June 28, 2019

Always fun to field phone calls from Phunuru when he’s guiding Kilimanjaro. “All’s well, team’s great, everything’s good” is the typical message and that was certainly the case when he called in Thursday morning, Seattle time. Of course, their day was already over as it’s 10 hours later on Kilimanjaro.  Bottom line is that the team did well getting to Shira Camp, at around 12,500’. They’re well above the tree line now with unobstructed views of the mountain. Longer day tomorrow. Up past a place called the Lava Tower and then back down to camp at 13,000’. Climb high, sleep low is the climber’s adage. Why? Because it works great for acclimatization.

All remains well in East Africa.

Phil Ershler

June 27, 2019

One happy group (Phunuru Sherpa)

First day of the Kili approach is ‘in the bag’. Machame Camp is at 10,000’, right at the upper edge of the rain forest. All’s well and the team is looking forward to Day Two, with camp at the Shira Plateau as their objective. Check out the photos Phunuru sent of the team!

As always, we’ll keep you updated as the team progresses.

Phil Ershler

June 26, 2019

Can it be Kilimanjaro season, again? The answer is YES. I think Kilimanjaro lead guide, Phunuru Sherpa, is spending as much time on Kilimanjaro as he does on Everest. Imagine summiting Kili with a multiple (and I mean multiple) Everest summiter? He’s not only a great climber but a great guide – and an ever better companion. Folks come back from climbing Kili with Phunuru can’t stop talking about the experience.

He reported in on the 25^th and let the office know that everyone was present and accounted for and that gear was checked/packed and they still had time to explore the town of Moshi. The approach hike starts tomorrow morning. They’re looking forward to 7 days and 6 nights of team effort and then it’s safari time. Stay tuned. Phunuru’s great at getting photos out and we’ll want to keep everyone updated as to progress. No news is always good news but hopefully we’ll be able to post most days.

It’s Kili time!!

Phil Ershler