May 28, 2015, 11:30am PDT

Summit of Mt. Bona. (Photo Jeff Pickhotlz)

IMG Lead Guide Erica Engle called in just minutes ago from the small outpost town of McCarthy. The entire team has been flown off the mountain and will soon be on their way back to Anchorage. The team slowly made their way down the mountain in sloppy snow conditions over the last few days, then waited out all day yesterday before the clouds cleared and ace bush pilot Paul Claus was able to fly in and pick them up this morning.

My congratulations to the entire team for an auspicious climb. According to the best information available, this IMG team achieved the first complete ascent of a new route via the East Fork of the Russell Glacier and up the west ridge of Mt. Bona. The route was first visited and skied from 12,000 feet a number of years ago. The next visit was last year’s IMG expedition which almost summited but turned back in bad weather above 14,000 feet. Our April climb of this year turned back at their high camp, due to unsafe snow conditions.  Finally, this team was finally able to pull off the complete ascent!

Again, my hat goes off to everyone for an excellent effort on a beautiful new line up Mt. Bona. Well done, team and we look forward to welcoming you home soon.

Note to family and friends: it will be some time yet before the team has cell coverage and will be able to call to check in. They will take 6 plus hours on their journey to Anchorage, hopefully stopping for showers along the way!

George Dunn

May 25, 2015

High Camp on Bona (Photo Tom Allred)

The Mount Bona team has been busy the past few days. They moved camp up to 12,300 feet on May 23 after a carry of gear to the site on May 22. They had planned a rest day for May 24, but with a good forecast and snow likely in the future, the team opted to go for the summit yesterday. All made it to the summit of Mt. Bona, 16,421’, and safely back down to high camp, arriving late in the day. The team will have a late wakeup today, but will push to break down camp and get lower down on the mountain in anticipation of some snow expected to fall tomorrow evening. The team still has plenty of time on their schedule, they aren’t planning to be flown off the mountain until May 28, at which time it looks like the weather will be clear skies again.

My congratulations to the entire team!

George Dunn

May 21, 2015

The view (photo: Tom Allred)

IMG lead guide Erica Engle has been checking in at IMG headquarters to keep us updated.  Here’s the low-down:

May 19: The team had a big first day on the mountain. The entire team carried from the landing site to 9,500 and made a cache of gear there. The day was long and arduous due to the snow conditions, a surface crust that broke through occasionally to knee depth even with snowshoes on.  This is mostly due to warmer than expected conditions, with a daily freeze/thaw cycle down low on the mountain. It should be better up above the freezing level (hovering currently at 9,000 feet).

May 20: Better day today! The team got an early start for better snow conditions and moved up to a camp site at 10,300 feet. They established a good camp and are all set at the new location. Tomorrow they will descend to the cache at 9,500 feet and pick up the rest of the gear left there. The remainder of the day will be a rest day for all.

The weather remains clear and warm. Good conditions are predicted to last through Friday, with no major storms expected. All systems are go.

George Dunn

May 19, 2015

Photo taken inside the plane on the flight in to Bona (Dallas Glass)

Our second Mt. Bona team of the year landed safely yesterday on the Russell Glacier.  They arrived relatively early in the day so had plenty of time to train and get camp set up.  The plan was to make a carry today.

All is well!

George Dunn