July 30, 2018

I received two phone calls from Phunuru overnight, the first call came from the summit of Kilimanjaro, and the second call came in when they all had arrived safely back at camp. Today’s climb wasn’t without it’s obstacles. The weather was, how should I put it, ‘less than ideal’. As you can see from the photos, rain, snow, and ice were with them throughout the climb. While the weather wasn’t great, they pushed hard and made it safely to the summit. No small accomplishment! On their descent Phunuru noted that a lot of teams turned around, so the early start to the climb played in our favor.

Also on the way down our team also noticed another (not IMG) climber that was in a pretty bad way. Needless to say Phunuru and our team jumped into help. In the end, our team was able to get the climber the help they needed and eventually the evacuation they needed to get to more definitive care. This certainly isn’t the summit day they imagined, but I’m positive they’re happy to have summited, and more importantly, pleased to have been some help.

The team is safely down at Mweka Camp and looking forward to an early start tomorrow morning…which means an early arrival to the hotel…which means hot showers!

Tye Chapman

July 29, 2018

Short and sweet message from Phunuru today… “All is well here at Barafu Camp. We’re leaving at midnight for the summit. I’ll call you in the morning.”

I think Phunuru’s photos paint a little better picture.

Tye Chapman

July 28, 2018

Moving from Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp is a relatively short day, but there’s one big objective that needs to be tackled right out of camp, the Barranco Wall. When Phunuru checked in, he said that his team cruised up and over the Barranco Wall in good form and really enjoyed the scrambling. For a lot of our Kili climbers this one of the highlights of the climb.

Once at the top of Barranco Wall (after a nice break) the trail then crosses three little valleys before arriving at Karanga Camp where the team enjoyed a hot lunch.

Tomorrow is another shorter day. They’ll make their way up to Barafu Camp (aka High Camp) and get ready for summit day.

All is well in Tanzania!

Tye Chapman

July 27, 2018

Phunuru called in this morning (his evening) to report that all is well with his Kili Team! The team had a great climb from Shira Camp up to the Lava Tower (14,500ft). After lunch at the Lava Tower they dropped down do Barranco Camp which sits right at the base of tomorrow’s objective, the Barranco Wall.

The Barranco Wall looks like a vertical wall, but as you get closer and closer to the wall you start to see a slight trail that’s cut into the wall that meanders & switches back up the wall. It is certainly steep, but truthfully the trail is good and the rock around the trail gives good hand holds making the climb up the wall one of the most enjoyable parts of the program.

The team had a great dinner this evening and are all looking forward a good night’s sleep and to climbing the Barranco Wall tomorrow.

Tye Chapman