Round Three On Elbrus

August 5, 2014

Cloud over the east summit of Elbrus

Trip 3 has begun.Â Jonathan Schrock and Igor Tsaruk met Team 3 in St. Petersburg Sunday evening.Â Everyoneâ€™s accounted for and all their luggage arrived.Â Nice.Â Weatherâ€™s been quite nice in St. Petersburg so the team had a great day of sightseeing Monday, capped off with a boat ride through the rivers/canals of St. Petersburg.Â Theyâ€™re flying now to Mineralnye Vody.Â About a 4 hour drive up to the Baksan Valley and the village of Terskol.Â Thatâ€™s where theyâ€™ll meet their third guide, Sasha Sak.Â Acclimatization/training will be on the agenda for the next several days.Â Allâ€™s good.

Phil Ershler

Illimani Climbers En Route To Base Camp

August 4, 2014

: Illimani BC (Viki Tracey)

: Illimani from La Paz (Greg Vernovage)

Now that the team is well acclimatized from their climbs of PequeÃ±o Alpamayo and Huayna Potosi they are ready to try the higher and more difficult Illimani.Â IMG guides Greg, Luke, and their team have now departed LaPaz and are moving today up to Base Camp (about 15,750ft) with some help from the local porters and their mules.Â Then, tomorrow, they move to the high camp.Â Weather report and conditions are looking good.

Eric Simonson

Elbrus…One to Go!

August 2, 2014

Kremlin Wall

Mike and team are almost home while Jonathan Schrock and his team are currently flying to St. Petersburg.Â Jonathanâ€™s trip will be the final expedition on Elbrus for this season.Â Hereâ€™s hoping they, too, can have a safe, successful trip.Â Both July and August are the height of the season so weâ€™re hopeful theyâ€™ll find the weather window which will allow them to summit.

And, a final congratulations to Mike, Igor, Sasha and their team.Â 100% on top ainâ€™t bad.

Phil Ershler

Heading Home

August 2, 2014

Heading Home

Final check in (or check out) from Sheldon and the Kili group.Â Itâ€™s a wrap, theyâ€™re done.Â Everyoneâ€™s on flights home.Â The end of one trip just means that weâ€™ll be beginning the next soon.Â Stay tuned for September dispatches by our team led by Andy Politz.Â And, there are still a couple of slots remaining with Max Bunce on the Christmas trip.Â Your Kilimanjaro experience awaits.

Phil Ershler

Bolivia Team Summits Huayna Potosi

August 1, 2014

From: Greg Vernovage
Sent: Friday, August 01, 2014 1:06 PM
To: Eric Simonson
Subject: Bolivia Update

Summit of PequeÃ±o Alpamayo (Steve Neill)

Eric,

All is well here in Bolivia. Â We have had two great climbs of PequeÃ±o Alpamayoa and Huayna Potosi!Â Perfect weather as usual for the mountains down here. Â The temperatures have been on the cooler side but not unbearable.

Our PequeÃ±o Alpamayo ascent began with an acclimatization hike up Pico Austria from Condoriri Base Camp. Â PequeÃ±o Alpamayo (17,482′) gave us everything we were looking for. Â A couple hours up the glacier and onto the “first” summit of Tarija Peak. Â From here, we can see our full objective. Â Then, down the rock and across the saddle, we climb up one of the most scenic ridges to the summit! Â We spent a good 45 minutes on top, looking at the jungle to our east and the Altiplano to our west.

How do we “top” that? Â Huayna Potosi is nearly 6,000 meters (19,974′) and has a summit ridge that can leave you nearly breathless. Â What a day! Â We started climbing at 3 am and saw the city lights of El Alto. Â Climbing the challenging bergschrund through the dark, we cross the mountain and are rewarded with the sun rise over the jungle. Â The summit ridge needs our full attention, but we just can’t help looking at Lake Titicaca in the distance after we clip each of the running belays. Check out the summit video!

So far so good. Â We are back in La Paz for a little rest and then the team is off to Illimani. Â The reports are that the mountain is once again in fantastic condition. Â It is a big mountain, but we are ready for the challenge!

Greg Vernovage

Join Max Bunce For A Kili Christmas

July 31, 2014

Sunrise from Shira Plateau Camp (Eben Reckord)

There are a few spots left for the Kilimanjaro Holiday climb and Safari, Dec. 20 – Jan 1st. Come join lead guide Max Bunce for an exciting climb up Kilimanjaro followed by a spectacular safari in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater. One of the famed 7 summits, Kilimanjaro is non-technical but it is high! 19,341′ to be precise. This is a great way to experience high altitude for those who are looking to do more technical high altitude climbs in the future and for those who want to experience a world class summit without the added pressures of technical climbing. Max is an experienced high altitude guide with many summits around the world including 4 summits of Kilimanjaro. Safety and fun are Max’s priorities so get ready for a once in a lifetime trip!

Clarissa Hughes

Elbrus Taking In All Moscow Has To Offer

July 31, 2014

The GUM (Glavnyi Universalnyi Magazin)

Mike and team are now all in Moscow.Â Time to be play tourist and see as much of Moscow as possible before flights home tomorrow evening.Â Tours this afternoon and tomorrow morning.Â The Kremlin, Red Square, the GUM, Sparrow Hill and Moscow University, Old Arbot Street â€“ you get the idea.Â Weather, if anything, is too nice.Â Warm in Moscow right now.

Phil Ershler

Bolivia Climbers At Huayna Potosi High Camp

July 30, 2014

Huayna Potosi from Charquini, Bolivia

IMG guide Greg Vernovage reports from High Camp (â€œCampamento Argentinoâ€ at 16,380ft ) on Huayna Potosi that the team is feeling the altitude but doing well.Â They made the move up from Zongo Pass without issue.Â He says they are expecting a bit of snow in the morning, but planning to climb to the summit. Weâ€™ll be looking forward to hear how it goes for them!

Eric Simonson

Here Kitty Kitty

July 30, 2014

Here kitty kitty.

Shopping in Arusha and a nice buffet lunch at the Arusha Hotel today for the Kili team.

Theyâ€™re now heading to the airport and their private flight to the Serengeti.

Itâ€™s safari time!

Phil Ershler

Elbrus Team Off To Moscow

July 30, 2014

Another note from Mike Hamill over on Elbrus:

Phil,

: ElbrusTeam. (Mike Hamill)

: Elbrus Glacier Hike. (Mike Hamill)

We had a great day in the Valley and the team is psyched. A few of the team went on a hike in the valley with Igor and the rest went higher with Sasha and me across the glacier to a lake from above the tram. Great hike and good option for when our extra contingency isnâ€™t required for the mountain.Â Just cool glacier walking.Â Â Heading on to Moscow in the morning.

Mike