July 29, 2014
This email in overnight from Sheldon and the Kilimanjaro team:
Phil,
Our team made it to Mweka camp at 4:30 last night and had a well-deserved dinner and night of rest.
We departed camp at 6:30 this morning and were at the Mweka gate by 10:00am. Â The entire team re-united for lunch at the Keys Hotel.
The team is strong, happy and healthy. We’re anxious now to get on safari!
Everybody loves the safari!
July 29, 2014
IMG lead guide Peter Anderson called last night to report that the group had safely returned back to Cusco and was settling in at the hotel, soon to be followed by showers and a celebration dinner.
Peter reports that four members of the party elected to climb up Huayna Picchu early in the morning for a final birds-eye view of Machu Picchu. The rest of the team elected to shop and relax in the town of Agua Calientes before the train ride and private bus trip back to Cusco. All are tired and happy. Tomorrow the team will depart for Lima and the long flight back home.
Congratulations to the team for an excellent adventure and great effort in Peru!
George Dunn
July 28, 2014
Pequeño Alpamayo (Photo by Greg Vernovage)
IMG guides Greg Vernovage and Luke Reilly called to report that the team had a nice climb today of Pequeño Alpamayo (17,482′). Conditions and weather were good. Everyone is back now to the Condoriri Base Camp, and tomorrow they will head for Huayna Potosi Base Camp. Well done, team!
Eric Simonson
July 28, 2014
Day 7 on the Alps Classics Program…
IMG lead guides Miles and Liz Smart report that the weather has been less than perfect so far during their program, but all in all things are progressing very well.
After initial training and climbing a couple of 4,000 meter peaks in Zermatt, they traveled on to Wengen for a go at the Jungfrau. Now the team is journeying to Chamonix today, to prepare for a final climb, Mont Blanc.
Good luck team!
George Dunn
July 28, 2014
A nice shot down looking at Machu Picchu.
IMG lead guide Peter Anderson called in to report that the team had safely arrived in the town of Aguas Calientes after successful completing the trek portion of their program. The weather has been less than ideal for the team, with periods of rain each day during the trek, but they were able to make the best of it and complete the trek in good form. Rain this time of year is unusual, but in the mountains, it is always best to be prepared for all conditions and it sounds like the group was well prepared.
They’ll spend one more half day at Machu Picchu today, then ride the train and then private bus back to Cusco for their final dinner together as a team.
Nice job, everyone!
George Dunn
July 28, 2014
Mike’s back in the land of wi-fi and sent this quick note –
“We made it back to Cheget this morning and just had a celebration lunch in town and are about to hit the old sauna. The team did well.  We’ll see what the weather does tomorrow but the plan is to head up Cheget ski area.  Attached are a few photos from the climb and lunch.â€
Pretty much a white out on top. The ‘on top’ part is the important piece.
Phil Ershler
July 28, 2014
19340ft. (Ken Maclaurin)
Sheldon called in from the summit of Kilimanjaro at midnight, Pacific Time, last night. Lots of hooting and hollering going on in the background.  All climbers were standing with her on the summit of Uhuru. She also called back later to let me know that everyone had made a safe and successful descent to high camp, Barafu. Repacking had been done and they were all sitting down to a hot lunch prior to making the last few hours hike down to Mweka Camp (10,000’). Long, rewarding day. Super nice to be back to the land of thick air. They will sleep like logs tonight.
Safari’s next.
Phil Ershler
July 27, 2014
100% on the summit this morning. Good weather going up, not so nice coming down. No matter – team’s back at high camp, snug in our hut. Congratulations to Mike, Igor, Sasha and the entire team. They simply can’t do better than that.
Season’s off to a really good start. 19 for 19 ain’t bad. More important, everyone coming home without a scratch. Nice.
Phil Ershler
July 27, 2014
Sunrise over Mwenzi (Photo: Ken Maclaurin)
It’s game day. The team reported in from high camp at Barafu. Team had a quick, reasonably easy day going to high camp. They’ve eaten, drunk a bunch, are packed and now trying to get a few hours of sleep prior to leaving for the summit about midnight. They have a challenging day ahead of them. But then again, nothing worthwhile was ever easy. Wish them all luck.
Phil Ershler
July 26, 2014
Kili in a lazy cloud
Sheldon and team are happily ensconced at the Karanga Camp, altitude approx. 13,500’ Using this camp adds an extra day to the climb but that’s a good thing, all the way around. More time for acclimatization, shorter day going into this camp and also a shorter day to high camp. Also, they’ll get to high camp tomorrow quite early. Plenty of time to prep, eat, drink and rest prior to a VERY early start for the summit. Fried chicken and French fries was the reported dinner menu with clear skies all around.
 Our members who went down from Baranco Camp are down, were picked up by Keys Hotel drivers and are relaxing at the hotel, waiting for their friends to return after the climb.
Phil Ershler
