May 19, 2018
IMG climbers are on a roll here at Mt. Rainier. With successful summits on the last three trips and more good weather coming our way we’re having a heck of a May climbing season. IMG senior guide Austin Shannon snapped a few photos early this morning during their successful summit bid. The mountain is in good shape!
Robert Jantzen
May 18, 2018
IMG Senior Guide Mike Haft checked in from The Flats this afternoon reporting calm conditions and fluctuating cloud layers. The winds are calm, and are forecasted to stay that way, so it looks like they’ll get chance to climb tonight/tomorrow…only one way to know for sure though, get up at midnight and take a look.
Tye Chapman
May 17, 2018
Yesterday IMG Guide Peter Stone along with RMI Guides Ben Ammon and Grayson Swingle set the logos aside and took full advantage of a day off & good spring skiing conditions on Mt. Rainier. Their agenda was a climb of the DC route (currently the Ingraham Direct) and then a ski of the Kautz, but conditions & time pushed their objective over to the Fuhrer Finger. The skiing wasn’t optimal, but still a great ski nonetheless. Roundtrip clocked in at just under 12 hours.
While we’re talking Mt. Rainier – if you’re looking for a climb on an intermediate route on Mt. Rainier, we do still have some availability on our Kautz & Fuhrer Finger programs. Drop us a line and get signed up!
Tye Chapman
May 14, 2018
The team on the upper mountain on Sunday (Nickel Wood)
After a couple bumps in the road, our third team of the Mt. Rainier season summited via the Ingraham Direct in good form yesterday morning with IMG Guides Rikki Dunn, Willie Webster, Nickel Wood and Peter Stone leading the way. The reports are that it’s a steep, but direct route to the top, taking the team about 5 hours to get to the summit from the Ingraham Flats.
In addition to our scheduled climb, we had 5 of our new guides up on the mountain on a personal climb. Forrest Baldwin, Leanne Sebren, Keith Rumburg, Nicole Sims and Porter McMichael all summited and are looking forward to a busy summer on the mountain.
On the mountain today is our DC team. After some training at Camp Muir they’ll move up to the Ingraham Flats to get in position for their summit attempt tomorrow morning.
Down lower on the mountain are IMG Guides Justin Merle and Dallas Glass along with several of our new guides. Justin and Dallas are taking them out for some continued training. On the agenda today will be a refresher course on short-roping techniques and some advanced crevasse rescue work.
Never a dull moment on Mt. Rainier!
Tye Chapman
May 11, 2018
Little Tahoma (Luke Reilly)
Things looked promising for our first two climbs of the Rainier season, but as she always does, Mt. Rainier had the final say, which meant no summits for our teams. High winds and low visibility being two of the deciding factors. The good news is that both teams got a good dose of Mt. Rainier, and will surly be back!
Our third climb of the season is heading uphill to Camp Muir now, and if the weather forecast holds, they’ll likely get a fair chance at a summit attempt on Sunday. Only time, and Mt. Rainier, will tell!
Tye Chapman
May 10, 2018
By IMG Guide Anna Hicks
I’ve personally experienced the constraints a person can face on their journey to becoming a mountaineer. Now that I’m a mountain guide, I’m passionate about helping other people achieve their goals in the mountains. Currently women are very underrepresented in mountaineering, and being the only woman on a climb can be challenging. Therefore, myself and the other female guides at IMG have developed programs to help women build competence and confidence in the mountains.
This year we are offering 3 all-women’s programs during the 2018 summer season! Whether you’re a first-time mountaineer who wants an introduction to climbing or a seasoned adventurer looking for a refresher course with in-depth hands-on training and practice, we have a program that will suit your needs. You can sign up for a summit climb of Rainier via the Disappointment Cleaver route, or a 6-day mountaineering skills seminar on Mount Baker or Mount Shuksan. Check out our website for program details and dates.
During last year’s women’s programs I asked every participant why they signed up and I heard a wide range of reasons. A couple of women said it happened to be the only spot left on a Disappointment Cleaver climb of Rainier. A few said that they didn’t necessarily care if it was an all-women’s climb, but that they can relate better to female guides. Others said they wanted an all-women’s climb because they believe it can be a more supportive learning environment, that they want to focus on the strengths we share as women, or that they wanted to meet future female climbing partners.
Our different reasons for choosing one of IMG’s all-women’s programs is a big part of what we individually have to contribute to the whole: a wide variety of perspectives, opinions, skillsets, and backgrounds.  We at IMG look forward to speaking with you about our women’s programs and helping you pick the right program for your goals. We look forward to you becoming part of our community of women in the mountains who are working together to become more competent and confident mountaineers.
I hope you can join us on one of our women’s climbs this summer!
Anna Hicks
May 8, 2018
IMG Guides Mike Haft and Peter Dale On the summit of Denali
It is with great excitement and pride that IMG Denali, LLC  announces having been awarded a 10 year contract by the National Park Service to guide on Denali. IMG Denali, LLC is a new company formed in 2014 by International Mountain Guides, LLC  and our long-time friend, past climbing partner and guide, Dr. Daniel Mann. International Mountain Guides, LLC partners Paul Baugher, George Dunn, Phil Ershler and Eric Simonson look forward to working with Dan Mann and bringing our combined skills and experience to the challenge of guiding on Denali and in Denali National Park beginning in May 2019.
We will be bringing a fresh approach to guiding The Great One. While the National Park Service requires a 3:1 climber to guide ratio, we will employ a 2:1 climber to guide ratio, with groups of 8 climbers and 4 guides. This approach gives us more strength and more options on summit day. Most people don’t get a chance to climb Denali twice, which is why we want to do everything we can to set ourselves up for success the first time.
We are still finalizing our dates and rates for 2019. If you are interested in climbing with one of our IMG Denali teams, please get in touch with our office, and we’ll put your name on the list to receive further information:
office@mountainguides.com
360-569-2609
We’ll see you in Alaska in 2019!
IMG Denali
May 8, 2018
I trekked the Cordillera Huayhuash for the first time last summer and quickly fell in love with the region. The mountains are tucked away in the Peruvian Andes, and are home to some of Peru’s most remote peaks and most beautiful landscapes (in my opinion!).
Trekking through the range, you get to know these mountains by climbing up high passes and skirting their glacially fed rivers and lakes. With our itinerary, the pace is such that you can feel accomplished at the end of a day of hiking, but not so wiped out that you can’t enjoy the great views and take the time to look around and appreciate where you are. You get the luxury of burro support and a cook team, which means our camps and meals are taken care of, and you only need to carry a day’s worth of layers and food for the trail. The route itself is unique – you’ll be on very remote trails, yet you’ll pass through farming villages, seasonal grazing lands, and abandoned ruins. You get to see a full spectrum of ecology and plant and animal life as we pass through multiple elevations and ecosystems. You also get to see the highest peaks of the Cordillera Huayhuash from various angles, as we circumnavigate the large peaks of the zone. A highlight is getting to one of our highest passes, San Antonio, and walking out the long valley towards the mountain town of Huayllapa, a beautiful meander along river beds, lush farmlands, waterfalls and wildflowers. And finally, you get to know the culture of Peru more intimately than just a passerby with our local Peruvian guide and support staff telling stories and providing context as we go along.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Huayhuash Trek is a great trip to see how your body handles higher altitudes. We have the benefit of getting two full days to acclimatize in Huaraz, at 10,000feet, with day hikes to higher elevations, and then begin our trek at around 12,000feet, with gradual altitude gains and losses for the next 12 days.
So, whether you’re looking to build your high altitude trekking repertoire, or just want to get lost in the mountains for a while, I’d highly recommend this trip. It’s one of my favorites!
Betsy Dain-Owens
May 7, 2018
Over the weekend several IMG Guides made their way up to Camp Muir to put the final piece of the preseason puzzle together…the weatherport. The weatherport is a temporary 12ft. x 15ft. structure that we use for team meals, guide sleeping and the storage of some of the needed climbing equipment for the season. For anybody who had climbed with us via the DC Route, they can attest to the weatherport as a great place to enjoy some of our famous burritos or pancakes & bacon. The guides knocked it out of the park and got it set-up in pretty good time… or at least very good timing as they pulled into the parking lot just as the forecasted thunderstorms arrived.
While they were making their way down from Paradise, our first climbers of the season were getting their orientation & gear check from IMG Chief Guide Justin Merle. Everyone was well prepared, and after a few rentals, were ready to go! This morning the team came together again, this time to load up and head up to Paradise to start our first Mt. Rainier climb of the 2019 season. Luke Reilly is in the lead and is assisted by Anna Hicks, Willie Webster and Rikki Dunn.
It’s going to be another great summer on Mt. Rainier!
Tye Chapman
May 2, 2018
The first IMG climb of the Mt. Rainier season is just a few days away and we’re not letting those days go to waste. This morning our newly hired guides gathered at IMG for our annual new guide training. The goal for these three days is to get them up to speed and comfortable with how we run our programs on Mt. Rainier, and also for them to get to know Mt. Rainier a little (lot) better. The morning coffee was spent going over the weather, making a route plan and discussing the goals of the next three days.
Route plans in hand they loaded up the van and went up to Paradise. The afternoon will be spent going over some of the guide specific geography between Paradise and Camp Muir. They’ll also go over when and where we take breaks and teach specific techniques (i.e. the rest step and pressure breathing). Once at Camp Muir they’ll get the lay of the land and learn our protocols, along with some additional technical training over the next couple days.
They’re in good hands with IMG Senior Guides Luke Reilly, Mike Haft leading the way, along with Jay Lyons assisting.
Tye Chapman
