2014 Rainier Dates Released

September 5, 2013

Little Tahoma from The Flats on Mt. Rainier. (Jason Liburdi)

The headline says it all. Our much anticipated 2014 Rainier dates are now available.Â Any further attempts at bribery are futile! (Note: all previous attempts at bribery were also futile.)

Let’s cut to the chase:

Winter & Denali Prep Seminars: Literally a prerequisite for Denali. 4 experienced guides, 8 climbers, 6.5 days of learning/training/climbing and generally getting your butt kicked by the winter weather. This program is for you if your eyes are on Denali or you’re just looking for a winter challenge. Included in the price of the program is lodging for your first night in Ashford and all breakfasts and dinners on the mountain. What a deal!

Kautz Route: Sweet climbs for the climber with a little (or a lot) of climbing experience. This is the best option for those who’d like to return to Rainier to attempt a different, slightly more challenging route.Â 1 day traversing the south side of Mt. Rainier, 1 day climbing the Turtle Snowfield, Summit day up the Kautz Ice Chute and 1 day down to the parking lot.

3.5 Day Disappointment Cleaver Route: A great introduction to Mt. Rainier and mountaineering in general. Half-day orientation and gear check. 1 day to Camp Muir (10,000ft), 1 day training at Camp Muir and moving to High Camp at the Ingraham Flats (11,000ft) and 1 summit & back down day. Heck we’ll throw in some pancakes and bacon at Camp Muir!

4.5 Day Emmons Route: Another great introduction to Mt. Rainier and mountaineering in general. Maybe just a little tougher than the 3.5 day climb but the extra day on the mountain makes up for it. 2 days to Camp Schurman (9500ft), 1 summit day and 1 day back to the trailhead. A perfect climb for the fit individual looking for a little more adventure.

For the more experienced climbers we have more technical programs like the Fuhrer Finger Route and Liberty Ridge.

Additional programs include: Little Tahoma Seminar, Glacier Skills Seminars, Mountain Day Schools, Advanced Mountain Day Schools and Crevasse Rescue schools are popular programs for climbers looking to get a grasp of the basic skills needed to pursue climbs on their own.

**Please click here to see our registration forms and process. And don’t miss our Â Rainier FAQ section to answer a lot of your initial question. Note: “Holds” will not be placed on any Rainier climbs.

Cho Oyu Climbers and Trekkers Reach Tingri

September 4, 2013

The ancient village of Tingri is at the north end of the trade route between Tibet and the Khumbu area of Nepal, and even today, long strings of yaks carry trading goods over the Nangpa La pass to the market in Namche.Â IMG leader Mike Hamill reports that the Sherpas are now up at Base Camp getting camp set up. The IMG climbers and trekkers reached Tingri yesterday from Nyalam, and took another nice acclimatization hike in the Tingri area.

: Tingri (Mike Hamill)

: The gang. (Mike Hamill)

Mike says â€œoverall the weather was good and we had a brief view of Cho Oyu. The team is acclimatizing well with only a few slight headaches last night. Assuming everyone is feeling good tomorrow we will head in to base campâ€.

Eric Simonson

Cho Oyu Team Reaches Nyalam

September 2, 2013

IMG leader Mike Hamill reports that the team moved up the steep winding road along the Bhote Kosi canyon from Zhangmu to Nyalam yesterday, reaching this key town (a little over 12,000 feet) on the way to Cho Oyu. Today they took an acclimatization hike, climbing the grassy hillsides above the town.Â Mike says that the team is doing well. A few small headaches but other than that, no sickness orÂ issues.

: Road to Nyalam

: Nyalam

: Team Above Nyalam

Many of the IMG Sherpas and Mr. Li (the liaison officer) went ahead today to set up the base camp, while Nawang the interpreter and Mingma stayed back to spend another night with the team inÂ Nyalam.

: Tsong la Pass

: Tingri

: Tingri Plains

Tomorrow the plan is to move up higher, past Milarepa’s Cave (11th century Buddhist) and over the Tsong La Pass (over 17,000 ft) before dropping down to the famous old trading town of Tingri (aÂ little overÂ 14,000Â ft).

-Eric Simonson

Cho Oyu Team Heading for Tibet

August 30, 2013

IMG 2013 Cho Oyu Team

Ang Jangbu reports that the IMG Cho Oyu team departed Kathmandu at 6am. They have about 4 hours of driving to Kodari, where they depart Nepal. Then, they walk across the Friendship Bridge (over the Bhote Kosi River) where they meet their CMA Chinese Liaison Officer, Li Chengxian.Â After clearing the Chinese immigration and transferring to Chinese vehicles, it’s time to head up the big hill to Zhangmu.Â Once they get checked into the hotel, it’s time for a big Chinese lunch in one of the local restaurants.

Zhangmu, Tibet

Then, this afternoon, they can walk it off around Zhangmu and get their first taste of altitude (about 7500 ft).Â So far so good!

-Eric Simonson

Cho Oyu Team Ready To Go

August 30, 2013

From: Ang Jangbu Sherpa
Sent: Friday, August 30, 2013
To: Eric Simonson
Subject: Cho Oyu Update

Eric,

It’s all good news.

Everyone is here will all their bags. Hamill and Peter finished doing the gear check yesterday. We have collected base camp duffels from hotel this morning and sherpas have loaded the gear truck. 3 Sherpas: Chhewang Lendu, Nima Karma and Ang Karma left Kathmandu on the gear truck this afternoon. They should reach Kodari this evening.

: Getting ready.

: Loading up.

We got the visa issued this afternoon.Â We will distribute passports to members at group dinner tonight.Â Â I will try to take a team photo tonight and tomorrow morning and send it off.

Group will depart early tomorrow for Kodari.

Jangbu

And They’re Off

August 27, 2013

: Mohan with yak loads all packed up ready to put on the truck to Tibet.

: Mingma Dorjee and head cook Kaji weighing loads on the scale in Kathmandu.

IMG guides Mike Hamill, Peter Anderson, and our team of Cho Oyu climbers and trekkers are on their way to Kathmandu for the start of IMGâ€™s 25th expedition to the worldâ€™s sixth highest mountain.

In Nepal Ang Jangbu, Phunuru, and our Sherpa team have been busy packing food and gear into yak loads and getting ready for the expedition to begin.

Itâ€™s all coming together now and we are looking forward to another good season on Cho Oyu!

Eric Simonson

Climb Kili With Max This Christmas

August 23, 2013

Max on the summit of Kilimanjaro.

After an exciting Spring on Mt. Everest where he and Aaron Mainer completed the worldâ€™s highest rappel around the Hillary Step, Max successfully summited Everest for the 3^rd time. We thought a few of you might like to know what Max has been up to this summer.

After returning from Everest, we kept him busy here in the Pacific Northwest on Mt. Rainier and in The North Cascades.Â Right now Max is up in the Bugaboos for a couple weeks and from there he’ll likely keep things low-key through the Fall with some personal climbing (mostly rock).Â Weâ€™ll have Max back on the schedule this December to lead our most popular holiday trek, Kilimanjaro.

We asked Max to write a little about his feelings on the upcoming December Kilimanjaro trek and here’s what he said:

Kilimanjaro for Christmas, what could be better? And a Safari for New Year’s Eve? Pretty sweet if you ask me. Join me if you can, it’s a great time to see the migrations on the Serengeti;Â Iâ€™ve always visited during the summer, so this winter trip is going to be a real treat for me.Â Bring the family, bring a friend or fly solo – either way we will celebrate the holidays, work hard and relax, though not all at the same time!â€ â€“ Max Bunce

We still have a few spaces left on Maxâ€™s trip (Dec. 20-Jan. 1, 2014)!Â This is a very popular time in Tanzania and all reservations must be confirmed well in advance.

Make 2013 your Kilimanjaro Christmas to remember.

Clarissa Hughes

Bolivia Team Summits Illimani

August 21, 2013

The view from the summit of Illimani (Greg Vernovage)

IMG guide Greg Vernovage called on the sat phone to report that they reached the top and are now all safely back to High Camp. The team are now packing up and heading to Base Camp this afternoonâ€¦and back to LaPaz tomorrow.Â Way to go!

Illimani Climbers At High Camp, Ready To Go!

August, 20, 2013

High Camp on Illimani (photo: Greg Vernovage)

IMG guide Greg Vernovage reports that the Bolivia team are doing well at the 18,000 foot high camp on Illimani.Â The weather is clear and it will be cold and crispy tonight when they head out for the summit.Â The goal for tomorrow is to make the top and then descend back down to the Base Camp.Â It should be a great day of climbing.

Eric Simonson

Bolivia Climbers At Illimani Base Camp

August 19, 2013

Illimani Base Camp (Viki Tracey)

IMG guide Greg Vernovage reports from Illimani that the team has successfully made the journey to Base Camp (about 15,750 ft).Â The team got some help from mules and porters to get their gear up to the camp and now they are all set to move up to high camp tomorrow.Â The weather report is decent and the snow conditions on the mountain are reported to be excellent this year.Â So far so good!

Eric Simonson