New Years Weekend in New Hampshire

January 3, 2017

: Busy Day at Champney Falls (Craig John)

: Champney Falls Ice Climbing (Craig John)

: One of the Best Playgrounds Around (Craig John)

: Getting that Technique Dialed (Craig John)

Climbing is busy on Mt. Washington and in the White Mountains! The ice is in and there is plenty of snow in the mountains for training and climbing.

Lead guide Craig John sent in some photos from the New Yearâ€™s weekend. The weather was stormy so the crew spent some time top roping ice pitches at a couple of areas including Champney Falls.

George Dunn

Emmons and DC Climbs Sell Out in Record Time

December 29, 2016

: Mt. Rainier from White River (Robert Jantzen)

: Sunrise High on Rainier (Robert Jantzen)

: Descending Mt. Rainier With Little T in the Background (Mike Hamill)

Wow! Weâ€™ve had a great end to 2016 here at IMG with all of our Rainier Emmons and Disappointment Cleaver (DC) climbs sold out at the start of the New Year. We would like to thank all of our future climbers for choosing IMG and look forward to a fantastic summer in 2017.

Still looking to climb Rainier, but not signed up yet? There are still options available. We have a few openings on our August 19-25 Glacier Skills Seminar. This 6.5 day climb focuses on building key mountaineering skills for 4 days before taking off for a full on summit attempt.

If youâ€™ve got a bit of mountaineering experience and are comfortable on steep snow and a bit of ice, our Kautz climbs have openings throughout the summer. This is an amazing intermediate route, and a guide favorite.

Our Little Tahoma Seminar, July 2-7, is also looking for climbers. While not on Mt. Rainier proper, Little Tahoma provides a true mountaineering challenge involving both glacier travel and a significant rock scramble on summit day, all with breathtaking views of Rainier and the surrounding area.

For those winter warriors out there, check out the Denali Seminars. This program is focused on skills training, teaching the critical techniques necessary to climb in the greater ranges. Learning proper camp set up and maintenance, introduction to avalanche assessment, navigation and sled hauling make this a â€˜must doâ€™ seminar Â for the aspiring mountaineer.

Finally, if your schedule is flexible and youâ€™re able to jump on some last minute openings we recommend joining our waitlist. Just send an email to office@mountainguides.com with your name, email, phone number, and the dates you would like to be alerted about.

We are getting excited for a fantastic 2017 season on Rainier and hope you are too!!!

Robert Jantzen

IMG Aconcagua Teams Making Progress

January 2, 2017

Mountain Shadows

And down on Aconcagua… Jonathan Schrock and team are hiking out.Â Long day but packs are super light and terrain is very straightforward.Â Cold drinks and the old â€˜duffel shuffleâ€™ in Penitentes and then a couple of hours on the road to get back to Mendoza.Â Quick shower, clean clothes and a late evening dinner at a sidewalk cafÃ©.Â Just a guess but steak, red wine and cerveza will be likely be on the menu.

Back on the mountain, Josh called in from C1, about 16,000â€™.Â They moved up today to this new camp and altitude.Â All went well.Â Theyâ€™ll keep plugging away now, as the winds permit.Â No precip shows up in the forecast for the next week.Â They still have two more camps prior to taking their summit shot.Â A bit too early to start making predictions.Â Itâ€™s simply one day at a time for now.

Phil Ershler

A Day In The Bader Valley

January 2, 2017

: Leaving the Bader Valley all smiles. (Chris Meder)

: Back down to the main trail back to the hut. (Chris Meder)

: Lunch at the ‘big boulder’. (Chris Meder)

: Dinnertime at Los Cuernos. (Chris Meder)

Today our Patagonia Trekkers enjoyed another day on the trail, this time up in the Bader Valley.Â The weather wasn’t perfect but that didn’t stop them from having a nice lunch at the “big boulder”, a great vantage point even in less than ideal weather.

After lunch it was back to Refugio Los Cuernos for some bootleg sangria. That’s right, bootleg sangria. The team has taken to combining the fruit from their lunches with the wine served in the refugios to make their own sangria. It’s rough livin’ on this trek.

Tomorrow they’ll load-up and head over to Refugio Paine Grande, stopping in the French Valley for another postcard moment, weather permitting of course. Tomorrow is a bit longer of a day but a very enjoyable hike!

Tye Chapman

IMG Vinson Team Waiting on Weather in Antarctica

January 2, 2017

Just off the sat phone with Greg Vernovage from C1 on Vinson Massif.Â They snuck in a carry yesterday, just the fixed ropes and cached just short of high camp.Â Forecast was calling for higher winds yesterday and today that donâ€™t seem to be developing.Â Greg and crew are taking a day off today at C1 and will be ready to move to high camp tomorrow, winds permitting.Â Theyâ€™re feeling quite strong and ready to push to the summit as soon as â€˜signs say yesâ€™.

Antarctic scenery near C1 (photo: Phil Ershler)

Indication is for milder temps (by Antarctica standards) for the next couple of days, so weâ€™re crossing fingers.Â Bottom line: allâ€™s good with the crew and they now just need two reasonable weather days to take a shot at the summit.Â Canâ€™t ask for a lot more than that.

Phil Ershler

Another IMG Team Summits Aconcagua

January 1, 2017

Always happy to report on a summit but even happier to report that a team has returned to high camp and made their safe descent down to base camp the following day.

Some of our summit crew

Thatâ€™s exactly where Jonathan, Martin and team are after their successful climb.Â And they are VERY happy to be off that upper mountain.Â Cold and nasty at high camp while everything is better at Plaza Mulas.Â We traverse the mountain, returning to Plaza Mulas, as it gives us an easier/quicker descent from high camp, and it also cuts off one day of the walk out.Â Plus, itâ€™s just kind of cool to do a traverse.Â Jonathanâ€™s team will be eating steak in Mendoza by late Monday evening.

Cold climbing on summit day

Josh McDowell also checked in.Â Team made a carry today to C1 and anticipate moving up to that camp in the morning.Â Itâ€™s one step at a time for those guys.Â Donâ€™t rush but just keep plugging away.

Phil Ershler

Patagonia Trekkers Move To Los Cuernos

January 1, 2017

Los Cuernos Panorama. (Photo by Tye Chapman)

Chris Meder checked in from Refugio Los Cuernos this evening after a nice leisurely trek from Refugio Chileno. They took their time stopping at all the viewpoints – just enjoying where they were in the world. Chris said they rang in the new year in style last night. “The folks in the kitchen grilled up some meat & even put out a chocolate fountain for dessert. I can safely say nobody was expecting that.Â In the end, it was a great celebration full of people from a lot of different backgrounds which made for a good time. We counted down from 10 in Spanish and rang in the new year with all of our new friends. Perfect ”

Tomorrow is an out and back day for the team, no huge rush. They’ll head up into the Bader Valley, another special permit valley where they’ll have the trail all to themselves. A couple might opt to stay along the lake for the day, while others might cut the day a little short, perfectly reasonable decisions if you ask me!

Tye Chapman

Patagonia Trekkers Enjoy Some Silence

December 31, 2016

A panorama of the Silence Valley with La Fortaleza and El Escudo in the in the middle (L to R). (Tye Chapman)

A panorama of the Silence Valley featuring La Fortaleza and El Escudo. (L to R). (Tye Chapman)

Our Patagonia trekkers enjoyed a great day up in the Silence Valley. Where the trail ends, our team kept going. The trail quickly turns from a wide trail full of trekkers into a ‘choose your own adventure’ through a boulder field, followed by a narrow foot path that meanders next to a swift stream. After a quick break they turned it uphill through a dry creek bed to the treeline. Once they caught their breath they pushed above the treeline and traversed onto the lateral moraine of the Silence Glacier. From there they enjoyed views of the massive granite peaks La Fortaleza (fortress) and El Escudo (shield). After lunch they made their way back down to Refugio Chileno where they will ring in the new year. According to Chris, the cooks were grilling up something special tonight!

Tomorrow is a relatively low key day (nice timing after NYE!).Â Their one and only goal is to make their way to Refugio Los Cuernos, a manageable goal even with a hangover.

Let the countdown begin!

Tye Chapman

IMG Team Summits Aconcagua

Summit cross atop Aconcagua

December 31, 2016

Pleased to announce that Jonathan, Martin and their crew summited Aconcagua today.Â Winds werenâ€™t perfect but things were good enough.Â Everyoneâ€™s back at high camp and tucked in for the night.

Winds should continue to increase for the next few days so the team will try to get out of high camp early and make their descent to Plaza Mulas.Â This is great news.Â We proud of them all and happy for their success.

Great way to end 2016.

Phil Ershler

Updates From The Southern Hemisphere

December 30, 2016

One of many postcard moments in Torres del Paine National Park. (Photo by Tye Chapman)

It was a busy day for IMG Teams in the Southern Hemisphere…

In Chilean Patagonia, IMG Senior Guide Chris Meder reports that all is well on day 1 of their trek in Torres del Paine National Park. “The highlight of the day was when the clouds broke just as we pulled into the towers. It was perfect!” Tomorrow they’ll head up into the Silence Valley where, due to a special permit we’re able to obtain, where they will likely be the only trekkers on the trail.

3000km north of our Patagonia team we have our Aconcagua teams who also reported in this afternoon.Â Up at high camp is Jonathan Schrock’s team who is in position to take a shot at the summit in the morning. Back down at Base Camp is Josh McDowell’s team who pulled into Plaza Argentina in good form earlier today. They’ll likely take a rest day tomorrow.

And roughly (and i mean roughly) 8000km south of our Aconcagua teams is our Vinson Team. These guys flew from Punta Arenas, Chile to Union Glacier, Antarctica and then from UG to Vinson Base Camp yesterday. Today they made to move to Camp 1. That’s covering some ground!

Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve…these teams will ring in the new year in style!

Tye Chapman