December 21, 2016

Approaching Lava Tower (Dustin Balderach)

IMG senior guide, Max Bunce, called in from the sat phone at Barranco Camp on Kili just now. All is well and they enjoyed another great day of hiking. After leaving Shira Camp this morning, they climbed to over 15,000 feet to enjoy a lunch break at Lava Tower. The views from here are as good as they get! Then they dropped back down a couple thousand feet to their camp for the night at Barranco Camp (~13,000 feet). This is a great acclimation day – climb high, sleep slow – and a long one at that. In fact, its usually the second longest day of the climb. But the trail is good, not too steep, the pace is slow and the views are hard to beat! The group will sleep well tonight after a filling dinner. Barranco Camp is really scenic. Tucked into a steep sided valley, the sun sets early and rises late here. Tomorrow is another great day on Kili, and a shorter one than today’s. The Team will tackle Barranco Wall in the morning! Stay tuned.

Dustin Balderach

December 20, 2016

IMG Senior Guide, Max Bunce, just checked in from Shira Camp on Kili at about 12,600 feet. I love this day of the hike. After a couple hours of steep hiking leaving Machame Camp you break out of the forest and get your first real good view of the mountain. You see super interesting flora. And the hiking is a ton of fun too. A little steep in places, but a good, fun hike. An all-around terrific day by any standard. This afternoon (Tanzanian time) the group got to relax at camp and gaze at the gorgeous views. Kili is staring you right in the face on one side and Mt. Meru (Kili’s little sister and the second highest peak in Tanzania) is looking at you from the other side. I love it at Shira Camp. Tomorrow they head to Barranco Camp. They will spend the morning staring right at Kili as they hike up to Lava Tower before dropping back down to Barranco Camp. A great day for acclimatizing and one of my favorites!

Dustin Balderach

December 19, 2016

IMG guide Max Bunce called on the sat phone to report that everyone is doing well, all the luggage is accounted for, and the team is ready to depart for the Machame Gate after breakfast this morning.  After checking in with the National Park at the entrance station, they climb to Machame Camp at about 10,000 feet.  It’s always fun to start walking and stretch out those legs!  The hike to Machame Camp ascends through lush forest, eventually breaking out of the trees at the Camp.  With any luck they’ll get some close up views of the mountain today.

Eric Simonson

December 18, 2016

IMG senior guide Max Bunce reports from Moshi Tanzania that the IMG holiday
Kili team have made it to Africa and are preparing to begin their climb.

IMG Holiday Kilimanjaro team in Moshi Tanzania (photo: Max Bunce)

Today they had a morning meeting, visited Moshi, and finished packing and
weighing their duffel bags.  Tomorrow morning the climb begins with a 4×4
ride up to the Machame Gate (about 6000 ft), and then they will trek  up
through the forest to the treeline (about 10,000 ft at Machame Camp).  The
weather is good and the team are excited to begin.  We’ll enjoy following
along!

Eric Simonson