January 12, 2016

Luke’s team on the top of Imbabura.

Let’s catch up with our teams in the Southern Hemisphere.  Luke, Romulo and team are ‘barely’ in the Southern Hemisphere right now and part of the day will be in the Northern Hemisphere, actually.  They are up at the climber’s hut on Cayambe and taking the day to do more acclimatization and training.  At around 15,000 ft., it’s a good place to do both.  Luke called in late yesterday, 11 Jan, and said it was a spectacular night at the hut.  Stars a bunch.  If weather holds, they’ll make a summit attempt this evening/early tomorrow.  At 19,000 ft, Cayambe will be their first big test.

Josh, Robert, Martin and crew finish their hike out today from Pampas Lenas on Aconcagua and will be in Mendoza this evening.  Short hike and I’m sure they’re looking forward to showers and a hotel bed.  Mountain said no this time but it will be waiting when they’re ready for a rematch.

And furthest south is our team on Vinson with Austin Shannon.  Camp 1 right now, around 10,000 ft.  Austin said they got a couple of inches of snow, which is a lot for Antarctica and that temps are actually ‘reasonably warm’.  Remember, this is Antarctica so everything’s relative.  They’re likely to use today to consolidate camp and get a bit more acclimatization before they try to make their big carry to C2, high camp.  One step at a time.

Next up – Jonathan Schrock heads to Aconcagua with our third team of the season.  They all arrive Mendoza on the 17^th and we’ll follow their progress once they hit the trail.

Phil Ershler

January 10, 2016

Here’s a quick summary of Sunday’s ‘movements’ for IMG teams down south. Quick call came in from Austin Shannon and team on the Ice. They moved quickly to C1 today. Couldn’t be going smoother, so far.

Josh McDowell and team retrieved gear and supplies at C2 and headed down the mountain to base camp at Plaza Argentina. They’ll need 2 more days to hike out and expect to be in Mendoza late the evening of the 12th. They are bummed not to have gotten a good shot at the summit but all are smart mountaineers and understand that you can’t control the weather. There will be another time.

Hiking on Fuya Fuya, Ecuador

And then there’s Luke Reilly and Romulo Cardenas down in Ecuador. After hiking up Fuya Fuya yesterday, they finished off with a visit to an Otavalan weaver friend of ours in the town of Peguche and dinner at the Hacienda Pinsaqui. Today was another acclimatization hike, this time on Imbabura. They spend tonight at a new hacienda called Papa Gayo. All’s good in Ecuador.

Phil Ershler

January 9, 2016

BUSY season for IMG teams in South America and Antarctica.  Let’s starts with our Vinson teams first.

Vinson Team 3 in Punta Arenas

As you know, Greg Vernovage, Austin Shannon and their team all stood together on the summit of Vinson a couple of days ago.  They flew off the Ice this morning, exactly on schedule.  One night in Punta Arenas and they’ll be saying good-bye to one another.  Great team, great success.  Austin Shannon remained on the Ice and met the 4 climbers on our third and final team this morning.  They are standing by for their flight to Vinson base camp now.  China, Korea, Canada and the USA.  They should have fun.  We will be posting dates for the 2016/17 Vinson expeditions soon.  Hope you don’t miss out.

On Aconcagua, Josh McDowell, Robert Jantzen, Martin Lucero and team decided discretion was the better part of valor and are retreating from the mountain.  Snow and wind was making their potential summit attempt simply too much this time around.  That’s OK, they’re healthy and unhurt and hoping there’ll be a rematch with Aconcagua in their future.  Team will be back in Mendoza late on the 12^th.  Great effort and solid, consensus decision-making.  Jonathan Schrock will be teaming up with Martin and the next IMG Aconcagua group in just over a week.  We’re wishing them much better luck with the weather.

Ecuador team touring Old Town Quito

And, we need to report in on our final Ecuador trip of the season.  Led by Luke Reilly, the crew is in Otavalo today.  The famous Indian market there was on the agenda early this morning.  They’ll be taking in the sights/sounds/smells and getting in a couple of acclimatization hikes in the surrounding mountains prior to heading towards their first objective – the summit of Cayambe.  Luke Reilly and Romulo Cardenas “do” an Ecuador climbing trip unlike anyone else.  The group is in for a treat.

Phil Ershler