May 24, 2014
Camp on Mt. Bona
IMG Guide Erica Engle called in from their high camp at 12,600ft. The team will likely go for the summit on Sunday. The weather forecast is in their favor.
That’s all for now.
George Dunn
Bona Team At High Camp
Mt. Bona Team Making Good Progress
May 22, 2014
A stylish camp on Mt. Bona. (Photo by George Dunn)
IMG Lead Guide Erica Engle called this morning to check in. The group has been very busy the past two days, moving up the mountain. Their landing site was at 7,000 feet on the lower glacier, so they have some additional altitude to climb on this route.
The good news is they have been making progress steadily and all is progressing according to plan. On the 19th the team moved up to 8,000 feet in one carry to get up some of the flatter portion of the glacier. On the 20th they carried group gear up to 10,000 feet. On the 21st the team all moved up to camp at 10,000 feet. They now are looking to scout the next section of the glacier today to find a camp location near 12,500’. Erica will call in next when they have made new progress. The extended forecast for the next five days looks good, so now it is just up to the team. We wish them good success!
George Dunn
Mt. Bona Team Kicks Off Climb
What’s going on in Alaska? Our Mt. Bona team just kicked off the solitary climb of the season – here’s the latest:
May 17, 2014: Mt. Bona Team Arrives In Anchorage
Question: How many duffels does it take to climb Mt. Bona, Alaska?
Team baggage arrives at the Anchorage airport (Dallas Glass)
Seven 50 lb. duffels of group gear! That equals 350 total pounds or around 32 pounds person. The bags include all of the food, tents, ropes and climbing gear the group will need for their 10 day ascent of Mt. Bona. They don’t have to carry all of the gear at once, down low on the mountain they will carry the bulk of the group gear up to the next higher camp, cache it, drop back down to the lower camp, then move up to the cache the next day. This is known as expedition style climbing.
Sunday, May 18, 2014: Mt. Bona Team Right On Schedule
The Mt. Bona team departed Anchorage bright and early this Sunday and flew on to Mt. Bona right on schedule Sunday afternoon. They had to make a quick choice with their bush pilot, the planned glacier landing on the Klutlan Glacier was clouded over, so instead they chose the north side of the mountain and were landed on the Russell Glacier. This saved a potential delay of one or more days, not being able to be flown onto the mountain. The Russell Glacier is on the north side of the mountain. It is a less often climbed route, and was the route for the original ascent in 1930. IMG partner George Dunn has led parties up the Russell twice before and recommends it as a great option. The team will have the entire route to themselves. Lead guide Erica Engle will check in as the group makes progress up the mountain, and we’ll keep you posted.
Looking up the Russell Glacier. The route sneaks above the broken area on a ramp to the low saddle on the right of the highest point in the photo. The summit of Bona is actually behind the high point in the picture (Mt. Churchill), an edge of Bona is just visible on the right skyline of Churchill. (George Dunn)
George Dunn
Rainier Season Off To A Great Start
May 18, 2014
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- The view from The Flats (photo by Cecilia Govrik)
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- Guides Jess Culver (left), Jonathan Schrock (center) and Cedric Gamble (right) celebrating their first summit of 2014.
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- A few of the first signatures on the 2014 Summit Board.
Well we couldn’t have asked for a better start to the 2014 Summer Rainier Season. We kicked things off last week with our first climb of the season and our first summits as well. Our second climb followed suit and I’m happy to report that our third climb tagged the top this morning.
Tye Chapman
Ready. Set. Go!
May 11, 2014
IMG Guide Training: Last week we had 25 IMG Guides here for our annual guide training. It’s always nice to catch up with folks you haven’t seen in a few months. We’re a family around here so while a lot of folks might not have seen each other in quite some time – we pick right back up where we left off without skipping a beat. We wrapped up the training with the annual BBQ in the rain.
IMG HQ: The lawn is mowed. The tents are up. New ropes are here. We’re stocked up on bacon, pancake mix, cocoa and coffee. The guide schedule is locked in and the vans have been fueled up. Lastly the 2014 Summit Board is up.
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- 2013 & 2014 Summit Boards
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- Eureka! tents ready to go.
Camp Muir: IMG Guides Josh McDowell, Jonathan Schrock, Josh Smith, Dallas Glass, Cedric Gamble and new guides Nickel Wood and Betsy Dain-Owen are working hard up at Camp Muir getting the weatherport set-up, and the Gombu bunkhouse cleaned out.
The Flats: Three of the guides on Muir set-up took a load up to the flats to start the set-up of our camp up there.
The First Climb:Â IMG Guide Josh Tapp rolled in from Montana last night. Tapp is leading the first climb of the season which gets started today with the orientation & gear check.
And finally, it looks like the weather is going to cooperate for the start of the season!
We’re off and running!
Tye Chapman
Annapurna Trekkers Heading For The Barn
May 4, 2014
Annapurna Trekkers at the Jhinu Danda hot springs on the Modi Khola river (Jenni Pfafman)
IMG guide Jenni Pfafman reports that her team started the day in Chomrong and finished up in Landruk. Â She says they “had a great day of trekking, with hot springs in the morning, lunch and a nice walk”.
Tomorrow they will trek a short distance, then hit the road that is now pushing into the south side of the Annapurna area. Â Â Then, they will continue by jeep back to Pohkara and catch the afternoon flight to Kathmandu. Â Before they know it, they will be back to the busy world after a short journey to some spectacular mountains. Â I am sure they will have some great memories.
Eric Simonson
Trekkers Reach Annapurna Base Camp
May 2, 2014
The South Face of Annapurna 1
IMG guide Jenni Pfafman reports that her team successfully reached Annapurna Base Camp this morning. They had rain overnight, but the weather cleared for them and they were able to get the big views that they were hoping for.
Annapurna is the world’s tenth highest mountain and was the first 8000m peak climbed. The South Face of Annapurna represents an important chapter of Himalayan history, as one of the first big technical walls on an 8000m peak climbed in Nepal back in 1970, by the famous British climber Don Whillans and Scottish climber Dougal Haston, on an expedition led by Chris Bonnington.
After their visit to Base Camp, Jenni and the team descended back to Machapuchare BC and then continued down to the settlement of Himalaya, deep in the bamboo and rhododendron jungle of the Modi Khola gorge. Tomorrow they head back to Chomrung. Well done, team!
Eric Simonson
Annapurna Trekkers Getting Close
May 1, 2014
Annapurna Sanctuary map
IMG guide Jenni Fogle reports that today the team trekked up the narrowing valley past Hinku Cave and Deurali (where the climbing route for Hiunchuli starts). Now, for the night, they are at the “Machapuchare Base Camp†site at over 12,000 feet, ensconced in a small lodge.  This is the point where the valley splits, with the left fork continuing to Annapurna Base Camp and the right fork going up towards Annapurna 3 and Gangapurna. Tomorrow early in the morning they are planning to hike up to Annapurna Base Camp, to get the morning views and good light for photos. From the ABC site the whole amphitheater of the Annapurna peaks surround you, with the immense South Face of Annapurna 1 front and center. It is a remarkable mountain vista.
Eric Simonson
Denali Prep Seminar Having A Look At It
May 1, 2014
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- En route to C1 near Panorama Point. (Photo by Peter Adams)
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- Camp Muir. April 30. (Photo by Peter Adams)
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- Erica Engle and Dallas Glass crossing the Cowlitz Glacier. (Photo by Peter Adams)
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- Closing in on The Flats. (Photo by Dallas Glass)
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- A slide on the Ingraham Glacier. (Photo by Dallas Glass)
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- The team leaving Camp Muir. (Photo by Dallas Glass)
Given the good forecast, our final Denali Prep course of the year started out with reasonable hopes of climbing Mt. Rainier this week, but even with a good forecast things are never a given in the mountains. They spent two days down low on the mountain but popped up to Camp Muir on Tuesday and have been enjoying this high pressure ever since.
Yesterday, IMG Guides Erica Engle and Dallas Glass went up to the Ingraham Flats to have a look at the conditions on the upper mountain. Given the recent warm-up and high freezing levels the obvious signs of a ‘spring shed cycle’ were apparent, which is a nice way of saying there had been a recent avalanche on the Ingraham Glacier.
Today, the guides took the team up to the same area to show them why they won’t be climbing Mt. Rainier this week. It’s hard not to climb when the weather cooperates, but given the snow conditions, the team is happy to let Mt. Rainier do its thing.
The team is safely back at Camp Muir. They’ll finish the day with some training and make their way downhill tomorrow.
Tye Chapman
Annapurna Trekkers Reach Dovan
April 30, 2014
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- Annapurna team ready to hit the trail in Chomrong (Jenni Pfafman)
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- Morning stretching in Chomrong (Jenni Pfafman)
IMG guide Jenni Pfafman was able to send some team pictures from Chomrong before they entered the deep Modi Khola valley leading to Annapurna Base Camp. It is unlikely that they will be able to send more photos after this, as the cell phone/internet service ends (they have the sat phone for emergency).
Today the team continued the trek, ascending through dense bamboo and rhododendron forests to the small settlement of Dovan (about 8500 ft). They are now deep in the valley, with walls rising over 12,000 feet above them on either side (compare that to El Capitan in Yosemite, which only rises about
3000 feet!). Far above, they can hear avalanches from Hiunchuli and Machapuchare, echoing off the walls. Wild!!
Eric Simonson