Kili Climbers Leaving Tonight For The Summit

September 27, 2013

: IMG climbers in the dining tent (Chris Meder)

: Barafu Camp (15,000 feet) and the route heading up to the summit (Eric Simonson)

IMG guide Chris Meder sent this message:Â “The group made good progress today arriving at Barafu just after noon.Â The weather continues to be unsettled, with sleet turning to snow by the time we reached high camp.Â Short clearings showed no accumulation on the upper mountain so we should be in pretty good shape for the summit climb.Â We had a big lunch/dinner this afternoon, and after final preparations everyone is in bed.Â The alarm goes off at 11 pm and we’ll start climbing around midnight after a quick breakfast. Everyone is doing well with the altitude and continues to maintain a great attitude despite less than ideal weather.Â This group is ready.Â We’ll try to check in from the summit!”

Eric Simonson

Carstensz Climbers: Next Stop Base Camp

September 26, 2013

IMG guide Dan Zokaites reports that the team had a good night at Camp 5 and are heading today up and over the 14,600 foot New Zealand Pass.Â This will mark the end of the sloppy hiking of the plateau; from here on they are on the rock of the Sudirman Range.Â Ahead are the four highest peaks of Papua: Sumantri, Carstensz Pyramid, Ngga Pulu and East Carstensz.

From the NZ Pass, they will drop down to the Carstensz Base Camp at 13,700 feet.Â If the weather is decent, the plan is to try for the summit tomorrow.

Eric Simonson

Kili Climbers Reach Karanga

September 26, 2013

Karanga Camp at 13,000 feet on Kilimanjaro (Eric Simonson)

IMG guide Chris Meder reports by sat phone that the Kili team had a nice day of hiking today, first climbing the Barranco wall, then traversing below the southern glaciers.Â Now they have reached Karanga which is their camp for tonight.Â This camp (like Barranco where they stayed last night) is at 13,000 feet and these two nights in a row at 13K are great for acclimatization.Â Tomorrow the team will head up to the 15,000 foot high camp at Barafu, getting there early in the day so they have plenty of time for food, hydration, and rest.Â Chris said they had some rain this afternoon, and that there is some fresh snow up high.Â The members are doing well and are getting excited for the summit bid.

Eric Simonson

Dolpo Trekkers Reach Shey Gompa

September 26, 2013

Adam called on the sat phone to report they made it over the 17,400 foot pass and have now descended to 14,200 feet at Shey Gompa, built in the 11th century.Â Along the way they saw Himalayan blue sheep and have clearly now entered a more arid (Tibet like) geographical area.Â Some people may recall that Shey Gompa was visited by Peter Matthiessen and biologist George Schaller in the 1970â€™s and written about in Matthiessen’s famous book The Snow Leopard.Â Adam says that they have only seen one other trek group, from France.Â Otherwise, they have encountered zero other trekkers in the area.Â Tomorrow they will take a rest day and explore the â€œCrystal Mountainâ€ area around the Gompa.

Eric Simonson

Carstensz Team Reaches Camp 4

September 25, 2013

Climbers crossing the Plateau (Jason Edwards)

IMG leader Dan Zokaites reports that the team reached Camp 4 up on the Plateau and are continuing towards Base Camp. Â It continues to be very challenging hiking for the team. Â Â Now they have reached 12,000 feet in this limestone karst terrain, with lots of water, sinkholes, waterfalls, and swampy areas.Â Thoughts turn to the famous Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer and his team who pioneered this overland route and made the first ascent of Carstensz back in 1962,Â If you want to read a real adventure story, track down his classic book â€œI Come from the Stone Ageâ€.

Eric Simonson

Acclimatization Day

September 25, 2013

From: Chris Meder
Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2013 7:17 AM
To: Eric Simonson
Subject: Acclimatization day to Lava Tower

Eric,

The team had another great day hiking from Shira camp up to Lava Tower, at almost 15,000 ft, and then back down to Barranco camp.Â The weather was cool and windy and clouds cleared out for nice views as we approached Lava Tower.

The descent into the Zone of Weird Plants as we descended to Barranco was stunning as always.Â Tomorrow’s challenge is the Barranco wall, which is always fun scrambling for a short bit.Â Then it’s scenic walking all the way to the next camp.

Chris

: Kili team on the way to Lava Tower (Chris Meder)

: Descending to Barranco Camp with a “forest” of giant groundsel plants. These “trees” produce a natural antifreeze which allow them to flourish at high altitudes (Eric Simonson)

Dolpo Trekkers Ready For 17,500 Foot Nagdala Pass

September 25, 2013

View looking north of the Himalayan Crest (Adam Angel)

IMG guide Adam Angel reports that the Dolpo team have had a couple spectacular days of trekking since leaving the juniper forests down by Phoksumdo Lake.Â Yesterday they continued up the Phoksumdo Khola river valley until it became a steep canyon with hanging glaciers high above.Â Then, today, they left the river, climbing high up into side valley, with blue sheep roaming the hills.Â Over the past week they have only seen a handful of other westerners.Â Now, they are at the high camp at about 14,800 feet, below the Nagdala Pass.Â Tomorrow they will climb to the pass and get their first views to the north into Tibet, before they drop down the other side to the Shey Gompa.

Eric Simonson

Cho Oyu Climbers Doing Well At ABC

September 25, 2013

: Team descending from C2 (Mike Hamill)

: Brenda Climbing the Ice Cliff (Mike Hamill)

: Lisete Rapelling the Ice Cliff (Mike Hamill)

Mike Hamill reports that â€œwith the C2 rotation complete, the team is enjoying a few days of R+R at ABC doing laundry, taking hot showers, and eating great food. Yesterday we had burgers, fries, and salad for lunch with warm cinnamon rolls for desert. Thanks Kaji! Â The team is doing really well. Over the next few days we’ll pack for the summit rotation, review the oxygen system and make sure the team is ready to roll. Attached are a few photos from the C2 rotationâ€.

The weather forecast is still a bit â€œiffyâ€.Â While the big picture remains good with the jet stream Â well to the north, and no major storms lurking in the Bay of Bengal, there remains a weak southerly flow with some of the models showing more moisture coming in over the next few days.

Eric Simonson

Cho Oyu Climbers Back To ABC

September 24, 2013

Cho Oyu from Advanced Base Camp (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

IMG leaders Mike Hamill, Peter Anderson, and Phunuru Sherpa report that everyone is now back down to Advanced Base Camp after the Camp 2 rotation.Â They had good weather for their trip up high, but unfortunately we now have snow in the weather forecast for the next few days.Â That will coincide with the planned rest days of the team, so if it is going to snow, now is a good time.Â Meanwhile, the team will have chance to do some serious eating and resting, in preparation for the summit bids.

Eric Simonson

Kili Climbers Reach Shira Camp

September 24, 2013

: View of Kili on the way to Shira Plateau (Eben Reckord)

: Shira Plateau Camp with view of Mt. Meru to the west (Eric Simonson)

: Hiking up through the forest (Chris Meder)

The Shira Plateau extends west from “Kibo” (the actual volcano) and is our team’s goal for their second day on the trail.Â Along the way the trees get smaller, then turn to the rocky shrubbry of the Plateau.Â Today the weather was good and Chris reports that the team did well.Â Now they are over 12,000 feet, with expansive views to the south and west (including Mt. Meru which is near Arusha).Â Tomorrow they head for Barranco camp at 13,000 feet.

Eric Simonson