Up And Down The Lava Tower

December 23, 2015

: The Lava Tower (Greg Vernovage)

: The team is all smiles! (Max Bunce)

A great day on the trail for the Kilimanjaro Team.Â Max and Phunuru checked in from Barranco Camp after a nice day of trekking.Â Phunuru went to the top of the Lava Tower with some of the Team while Max took the slow and steady route all the way into camp.Â Just about 7 hours on the trail and the entire team moved together.Â They had a good look at their objective for tomorrow, the Barranco Wall!

â€œWe just arrived at Barranco camp and the group is doing well. Still not much rain and the mountain doesn’t look too snowy. Hopefully this stretch of weather keeps up! The group is doing fantastic. Everyone is having fun and looking forward to the Barranco Wall tomorrow!â€ Said Max.

Greg Vernovage

Aconcagua Team #1 Hits The Trail

December 23, 2015

The before photo!

Mike, Betsy, Leo and team began their 3-day approach to Aconcagua base camp today.Â Weatherâ€™s good and the team is anxious to get this show on the road.Â These first 3 days are actually quite valuable to the acclimatization process and for getting into the expedition mind set.Â Climbs of Aconcagua are a marathon, not a sprint.

Phil Ershler

Breaking Out Of The Jungle!

December 22, 2015

The goal looms high in the distance

All is well from Shira Plateau!Â The Kilimanjaro Team is having a great climb.Â They made great time with perfect weather today as they trekked out of the jungle and onto Shira Plateau.Â This is the first up close and personal view of their objective.

They are gaining altitude and tomorrow is a good test with the up and down day past the Lava Tower.Â One of the highlights for the team is the moon starting to become full.Â The Team will have a full moon on Christmas Day!

Greg Vernovage

First Aconcagua Team Of The Season Arrives In Mendoza

December 22, 2015

The Aconcagua Team raising a glass

Mike, Betsy, Leo and team have wrapped up all the “pre-climb details” in Mendoza and sent us this great photo.Â Permits in hand, and with everyoneâ€™s luggage, theyâ€™re heading for Penitentes at the base of the mountain.Â Mule loads get sorted in Penitentes and the team takes advantage of one last hotel night (showers, beds and restaurant meals).Â On the 23rd of December, Â they begin their approach.

Itâ€™s show time!

Phil Ershler

AND…..They’re off!

December 21, 2015

Kili Team getting ready to hit the trail

Max checked in from Machame Camp after dinner. Meatballs and veggies were on the menu tonight.

â€œThis Team is doing great!â€ Everyone has been on time and has stayed together on the trail. This is a great way to win bonus points with the lead guide.

The Team had one stretch with some rain but it didnâ€™t last long and they had their rain gear handy. Tomorrow the Team will climb out of the jungle and see Kilimanjaro up close.

It is great to be back on Kilimanjaro!

Greg Vernovage

Kilimanjaro In December!

December 20, 2015

December 2015 Kili Team

Our December Kilimanjaro Team has arrived in Tanzania and are ready to start climbing tomorrow.Â Max reports that all is well with the team!Â They had a very busy day doing gear checks, visiting Moshi and adding a stop to say hello to the kids at a local Orphanage.

Tomorrow, the team is up early and headed for the Park entrance.Â Reports from our local guides are that the Mountain is looking good!

Greg Vernovage

Winter Training In New Hampshire

December 14, 2015

Paul came to North Conway on December 12 and 13 to work on skills he wanted to brush up on in preparation for his upcoming program which is the Camp 3 option on the Spring 2016 IMG Everest expedition. The weekend started with Paul and I meeting at the Nereledge Inn. The owners, Steve and Laura Hartman were gracious and accommodating and Steve made a great breakfast each morning that fueled us for the day.

Learning the ropes…

Paul’s goals for the weekend were toÂ go over the skillsÂ needed to get to camp three on Everest. These include ascending and descending fixed ropes andÂ crossing ladders.Â We set up a fixed line and PaulÂ ascended the ropes and descended using a variety of techniques and devises includingÂ arm rappels, and using an ATC and figure 8. Having summited Denali, the Grand Teton, Rainier and many other peaks this was just a review for Paul that he aced. The next day we set up a Â ladder and Paul worked on horizontal and vertical ladder crossings with the boots and crampons he’ll use on Everest.

Paul is coming back for a couple of weekends this winter to complete some long alpine ice routes in preparation for his upcoming trip to Everest. With all the training Paul is doingÂ in the gym and in North Conway,Â he is going to arrive at Everest Base Camp ready to take on the challenges the mountain presents.

Craig John, IMG lead guide

Victory On Vinson

December 7, 2015

Vinson Team on the summit

Unbelievable trip! Â Can you believe this summit shot?!Â After their 100% successful summit, the crew descended on Sunday from high camp to Vinson base camp.Â Almost immediately, they flew back to camp at the Union Glacier where the big plane was waiting to get them back to Punta Arenas.Â It does not get any better than that.Â They took off for Punta Arenas late Sunday evening and were back in Punta about 3 am Monday morning, their time.Â Amazing.

Agenda today is to get some sleep, get cleaned up and packed up and gets flights arranged to get home.Â Masha and Neil are staying on the Ice to ski the last degree to the South Pole.Â Everyone else is heading straight home.Â What an amazing Christmas present for all our climbers and their families.

Greg Vernovage, Austin Shannon and their team are next.Â Their scheduled flight to the Ice is 29 December.Â Mike gets home from this trip and heads right back to Argentina to lead our first Aconcagua expedition of the season.Â And, Josh will be making a quick turnaround, too, heading to Argentina at Christmas to lead the second Aconcagua program of the 2015/16 season.

A huge congratulations to all!!!

Phil Ershler

Vinson Team Summits!

December 5, 2015

Heading to the summit

100% on the summit of Vinson Massif on Saturday, 5 December. Everyone is safe and sound and back at high camp. Pretty much perfect conditions. Back to Vinson base camp tomorrow. (Sunday, the 6th).

Whatâ€™s that sayingâ€¦â€¦â€luck is when opportunity meets preparednessâ€. I think itâ€™s true. Congratulations to Mike, Josh, Viki, Marty, Brooks, Alina, Masha, Zac, Neil, and John. Hell of a job!

Phil Ershler

Vinson Team Settled At Camp 2

December 5, 2015

Mt. Shinn â€“ 3rd highest peak on the continent

Mikeâ€™s report from the Ice on Friday was that the team made the big push up to C2 (high camp). Heck of a job by everyone. The route from C1 to C2 involves a couple thousand linear feet of fixed rope. Itâ€™s not an easy day but all made the trip up in good style. Weather remains clear, seriously cold (-40F) but relatively calm. Weâ€™ll wait to hear whether they decided to take a rest day today or tried to make their summit push. Mike, Josh and the team will try to make honest evaluations regarding how theyâ€™re feeling, consider the current weather and forecast and make the best decision possible.

Letâ€™s keep wishing them luck. Theyâ€™re right where they should be and ready to go when the timeâ€™s right.

Phil Ershler