September 16, 2013
Kilimanjaro (Ken Maclaurin)
Received a call from Chris late last evening. He was standing on the top of Kilimanjaro. Conditions for the climb were great and the team did well. NICE!
This morning our time, evening his time, Chris called back from Mweka Camp at 10,000’. Everyone’s down, fed and in bed. A very successful day. Maybe 4 hrs. of walking tomorrow and it’ll be time to start thinking about safari. Congratulations to everyone on the team.
Phil Ershler
September 16, 2013
Ang Jangbu reports from Kathmandu: “I talked to Phunuru this evening (Nepal time). Mike and team went up towards the ice cliff on practice/acclimatization run and everyone did well. The fixing sherpas fixed the ice cliff with two lines. Sherpas going up tomorrow will finish fixing to camp 2.  Sounds like from IMG team we had Mingma Tenzing go for fixing today and Karma Rita will go tomorrow.  Rest of the sherpas are carrying to camp 1 tomorrow.  Phunuru said Mike reported it was windy night last night at camp 1. Trekkers are in Tingri this evening.  We will talk to Nawang tomorrow and get an update on their trip up to Rongbuk.â€
Ang Jangbu Sherpa
September 15, 2013
Phunuru reports from ABC that Mike, Peter, Mingma Dorje, and the climbers and trekkers made it up to Camp 1 today at about 20,500 feet. The weather was good, and they are all set to start the climbing tomorrow. The trekkers returned back down to ABC with Phunuru. Tomorrow Phunuru will hike with them down to Intermediate Camp, for the handoff to Nawang (from CMA) and their jeep driver who will take them down to Tingri tomorrow night. Then, the next day, they head for Rongbuk (Everest Base Camp).
Eric Simonson
September 15, 2013
From: Chris Meder
Date: September 15, 2013, 4:25:06 AM PDT
To: Phil
Subject: Kili team at high camp
We had a good walk today to Barafu camp. The team is prepping for the summit climb tonight and everyone is doing well. Weather continues to be pretty clear with afternoon clouds – perfect conditions. We’ll be leaving high camp at midnight and the team is excited for the light of an almost full moon which should make things fun. We’ll try to check in from the summit!
Chris
September15, 2013
From: Chris Meder
Date: September 14, 2013, 7:50:39 AM PDT
To: Phil
Subject: Kili climbers tackle Barranco wall
Phil,
The group had a great day today. We tackled the Barranco wall first thing after breakfast, and everyone put in a great effort. The most heard comment at the top was “Is that it? We want to do more!” Always good to hear that people are having fun. Then we took a well deserved break and loads of photos at the high point under the southern glaciers with clear weather. We arrived Karanga early afternoon to a big lunch – fried chicken, French fries and watermelon. The Chagga cooks are putting on a great show with the meals. This afternoon everyone is relaxing in the sun. Tomorrow we turn our minds toward the summit as we head to high camp. Everyone is excited and doing well. We”ll check in from Barafu tomorrow.
Chris
September 14, 2013
The Dolpo Gang
Adam Angel and his crew sent a photo from SeaTac as they departed for Nepal. Adam says they are feeling strong and excited for the big adventure ahead of them. They have 31 days in Nepal coming up… with a remote trekking trip ahead of them.
The Dolpo area is tucked right up againist the Tibet border in western Nepal and is an incredible trekking destination for strong hikers. But, first they have to get there! Today they fly to Seoul, where they spend the night. Then, a direct flight the next day to Kathmandu. Doesn’t get much better than that in terms of travel to Nepal (12 time zones for us on the west coast). After a couple nights in Kathmandu they will fly to Nepalgunj in western Nepal, where they overnight before flying the next moring by small plane to Masinchaur airport. From there they start walking in an easterly direction towards the destination, Jomsom. It is going to be a heck of an adventure and we will look forward to following along!
Eric Simonson
September 14, 2013
The Cho Oyu team went for a short acclimatization hike today on the glacier above ABC and spent the afternoon relaxing, packing, and organizing for their first rotation to Camp 1 tomorrow. IMG guide Mike Hamill reports that their plan is to move tomorrow up to the Camp 1 at about 20,500 ft. They will spend a night there, then climb above C1 the following day up toward the ice cliff, before descending to spend another night at C1. Then they will descend to ABC the following day.
Eric Simonson
September 13, 2013
Mike Hamill reports: “ We had an eventful day here at ABC! Despite persistent snowfall since we arrived, we had our Puja to bless the climb in the morning, and got in a great hike towards Lake Camp and C1 in the afternoon. Chuldim, a Tibetan Lama from a local village, led the Puja. The Sherpa said it was one of the best Pujas they had been a part of. After a hot lunch the team headed up the mountain in good weather and were able to reach just below Lake Camp before the weather turned and the blizzard resumed on the descent. Overall it was a great day and one the climbers will not soon forget. We plan to go for another short hike tomorrow as a team if the weather is good and the Sherpa plan to carry supplies to Camp 1. ABC is starting to fill up and the route to C1 is getting kicked in.â€
Eric Simonson
A beautiful view of Kilimanjaro
September 12, 2013
Another leg of the trip is in the bag. Chris called to let us know that everyone got to Shira Camp in good form. A bit of light rain but no issues. Works for us.
Tomorrow’s a longer day with the team reaching an altitude of around 14,500’ before dropping some of that altitude as they reach Baranco Camp – 13,000’. Think of the old climber’s adage of “climb high, sleep lowâ€. 13,000’ isn’t super low but it’s certainly lower than 14,500’.
Phil Ershler
September 12, 2013
IMG partner Eric Simonson and I took a break from the office the past couple of days and climbed Mt. Rainier to review the new summit route.
Conditions couldn’t have been better on the mountain. I have rarely seen a better September route to the summit and my hat goes off to IMG guides Justin Merle, Dallas Glass and Ian Delaney for establishing the new route.
The trail now heads hard left from the top of the Disappointment Cleaver, traversing the Ingraham Glacier over to Gibraltar Rock. To gain the top of Gibraltar, there is a 15 foot vertical ladder anchored up against a rock outcrop to make surmounting this obstacle easy. Above the ladder, there is a great trail chopped into the steep slope protected by a fixed hand line that traverses easily to the top of Gibraltar. From here, the rest of the route goes very smoothly, zig-zagging up the smooth upper mountain slopes to the summit. Other than the one vertical ladder, there are no ladder bridges or other difficult crevasse crossings on the route. This is about as good a route as I have seen in September.
A couple of words about the route difficulties over the past two weeks… The old route heading up above Disappointment Cleaver required some steep climbing and at least one 10-20 foot ladder crossing. This was not an easy route to maintain, but was significantly hampered by the bad weather we experienced during this time. On several occasions, our parties were able to climb through the breakup, but were turned back by poor weather and windy conditions on the upper mountain. When the weather is good, like it is now, everything becomes easier. This new route variation will greatly add to our success on the mountain this coming month.
My thanks to all three guide services, IMG, RMI and AAI for working together and spending some considerable time and effort to create and maintain the route to the summit.
George Dunn
