July 3, 2017
Showers, saunas, relaxation and sightseeing – all the difficult projects facing our successful Elbrus team now back in Terskol. This is a much better way to spend a couple of contingency days than to be fighting nasty weather trying to summit.
Charlotte sent me a few photos from summit day. Weather was about as good as you can get!
Phil Ershler
July 3, 2017
Congrats to the Kilimanjaro Team on being 100% successful on reaching Uhuru, the highest point of Kilimanjaro. Also, congrats to IMG guide Craig John, for his 25th  Kili summit. That is quite a milestone! The Team had perfect weather and conditions for their climb up to the summit and then back down to Mweka Camp (~10,000 feet). Everyone did well—their training and hard work paid off as they stood on the Roof of Africa this morning!
They will sleep soundly tonight down in the (relatively) thick air of Mweka Camp. The trees and humidity of the forest are welcome after many days spent above tree line. There will be no difficulty falling asleep tonight for the Team. It’ll be a quick, 3-hour walk out to the Mweka Gate tomorrow morning where our shuttle bus will be waiting to take the Team down to our hotel. Lunch and then showers – or maybe the reverse – and then they will turn their attention to the next prize – the safari! Conversation during the celebratory dinner tonight will be equal parts talking about the extraordinary climb they just had and the anticipation of the upcoming safari. It’s all good over in Tanzania. Congrats again to the Team on a successful summit of Kilimanjaro and enjoy the safari! You’ve earned it!
Dustin Balderach
July 2, 2017
Elbrus, West Summit is on the left
100% on the summit of Elbrus is the report today from Charlotte and Igor. Conditions were pretty much perfect. What else can you say. Team is back to the hut and will be in the valley tomorrow. Sweet way to start the Elbrus season.
Mike Hamill leads Trip 2 and he just flew off Denali 4 days ago. A shower, do a load of laundry, a steak or two and he’ll be ready to go.
Charlotte and team now have our two planned weather contingency days to play in the valley before heading to Moscow to experience another piece of Russia.
Phil Ershler
July 2, 2017
IMG senior guide, Craig John, just gave us a ring from Barafu High Camp over on Kili. This strong team is super excited now. They are resting at High Camp at around 15,200 feet and are preparing for their summit attempt tonight! They made short work of the hike today and pulled into camp around noon. A hot lunch was waiting for them and then they started packing for the summit bid. An early dinner and then an early bedtime! Its going to be difficult to sleep for the crew. When they lay down it will be around 6pm, it will still be light, and they’ll be too excited to sleep. Doesn’t matter if they sleep or not, though, as long as they get some time on their backs and off their feet! About the time they are finally able to drift off to sleep, it’ll be 11 pm and time to wake up. The plan is to have a quick breakfast, some hot drinks, and then be walking by midnight. After about 7 hours of walking they’ll touch Stella Point at the crater rim. Then its another hour or so over to Uhuru Peak, the highest point on the crater rim and the true summit of Kilimanjaro. This is what the team has been preparing and waiting for – summit day! We wish them good luck and look forward to hearing from CJ on the summit later today!
Dustin Balderach
July 1, 2017
We heard from IMG senior guide, CJ, via sat phone just now. CJ and the Kili team had a fantastic day hiking up the Barranco Wall and they are now safely at Karanga Camp (13,300 feet) about to enjoy a hot lunch. Today was a much shorter day for the team and they made good time up the Barranco Wall from where they enjoyed continued terrific views. It took them about 4 hours to get from Barranco camp, up the Wall, and over to Karanga Camp. Karanga Camp sits on a broad ridge and enjoys fantastic views over to Mt Meru. During the evening and night, the lights of Moshi shine below. Another afternoon spent drinking, eating, resting, and therefore, acclimating! A lot of groups skip this camp and head straight up to Barafu High Camp from Barranco. That is a long, tough day. Much better to break it up into 2 days and get that extra acclimatization and time to enjoy the mountain scenery. After all, you came all the way to Africa, might as well enjoy the sights a bit, right? They will begin to talk about the specifics of the summit climb over lunch and dinner today. Tomorrow is one of the shorter days on the trip. Around 3 or 4 hours and about 2,000 feet of climbing up to Barafu High Camp. As you continue to ascend, the views just keep getting better! The Team is getting close now and I know they are getting excited.
Dustin Balderach
June 30, 2017
IMG senior guide, Craig John, just called in on the sat phone from Barranco Camp on Kili. All team members are doing great and they had a fun hike today. They were relaxing after the long day and were just about to sit down for dinner. They started at Shira Camp around 12,600 feet this morning and hiked up to Lava Tower at 15,100 feet. Then they had to descend a ways down to Barranco Camp which sits in a valley at 13,000 feet. This is simply a great day for acclimatization. Its also a darn good day for views! The hike from Shira to Barranco is one of the longer days on the trail – second only behind summit day – so they team will rest well tonight. Tomorrow they will tackle the Barranco Wall. Its steep, 1.5 to 2 hour hike to the top of the wall, but after that it eases up for the remainder of the day to Karanga Camp. And its a short day and they’ll enjoy a hot lunch at camp after hiking for about 4 hours. They have enjoyed 2 days of beautiful weather resulting in 2 days of amazing views. Hopefully tomorrow will bring more of the same.
Dustin Balderach
June 30, 2017
All continues to go well in Russia. Charlotte, Igor and team just seem to be having a ton of fun, with everyone getting along well. They put in a good training/refresher day on the lower slopes of Elbrus and are now ready to get a bit more serious.
They’re heading up now to the hut we use up on Elbrus for at least the next 3 nights. Each night increases their acclimatization and now is not the time to rush. They’ll put in another acclimatization hike above the hut before thinking about their summit attempt. So, first things first – get settled in at the hut and log another workout and a couple of nights at that new altitude of just over 13,000 ft.
Phil Ershler
June 29, 2017
We heard from IMG Senior guide, Craig John, overnight who is over in Tanzania leading up his 25th climb of Kilimanjaro. The team had a great first night on the mountain at Machame Camp and they were getting ready to hit the trail. Today they will head up to Shira Camp on the Shira Plateau. This is simply a super day on the trail. They will break out of the forest and get their first good view of Kili. They also will get to see some interesting plants are are unique to Kilimanjaro. Its about a 5 hour day and they’ll pull into camp in the early afternoon and enjoy some rest and relaxation while staring right at the mountain. Probably have some tea and popcorn and generally just work on drinking and resting, an important part of the acclimatization process. This is always an interesting place to camp as you are finally out of the forest and Kili is staring right at you. Right behind you is Mt. Meru and Shira Ridge. Its pretty neat. Tomorrow they will head to Barranco Camp.
Dustin Balderach
June 28, 2017
Eric Simonson
June 28, 2017
After a needed nights rest, the first full day was filled with touring in St. Petersburg. After breakfast at the hotel, the team meets up with an English speaking tour guide and fills the day with everything possible. Hermitage, St. Isaacs, Fortress of Peter and Paul, an afternoon boat tour on the Neva – all the good stuff. Next day’s flight to Mineralnye Vody went and scheduled and we actually met up with one of our team members there. It actually worked! 4 hours later by van and the team was having a late supper in Terskol.
Yesterday was their first scheduled acclimatization hike. Done. Always good to stretch the legs and start letting the body know there’s some work ahead. Training tomorrow up on the glacier with more acclimatization.
Bottom line, with Charlotte Austin and Igor Tsaruk at the helm, the group is bound to have a good time.
Phil Ershler
