January 29, 2013
Kili coming out of the clouds at Shira Camp.
Jenni called from Shira camp after a rainy hike today. In spite of the dampness, the team is doing well and in great spirits. When Jenni called, they were enjoying a beautiful sunset, which is a great way to end any day. The plan for tomorrow is for much drier weather and we hope that is certainly the case!
Clarissa Morford
January 29, 2013
The Team Welcome Dinner.
Mike, Josh, Leandro and team checked in from Mendoza yesterday. They’re all there, their gear is there and they’re ready to go. Penitentes today for final packing/prep and they’ll hit the trail tomorrow. All good.
Phil Ershler
January 28, 2013
Camp 1 (Tye Chapman)
Greg called in from C1. Everyone did a good job on the move today and everyone’s at C1, at about 16,000 ft. Greg’s climbing with our Argentine guide, Martin Lucero. This is trip #3 this season for Martin. Super guide and a work horse. Great to have partners like Martin climbing with us.
Weather looks dry through the rest of the week. Winds maybe picking up a bit into the weekend but hoping that doesn’t last for long. Bottom line, for now, is that all is good with Greg, Martin and the crew.
Phil Ershler
January 28, 2013
Rainier Summit Crater (Photo by Andriy Strogan)
It’s that time of year again – time to talk Rainier! Join IMG Guides at local REI’s to glean some good information on what you need to know to climb the Northwest Icon. Training tips, route information, gear and more.
Mark your calendars now, space is limited.
| Date | Time | REI | Presenter |
| Wednesday, February 06, 2013 | 7:00pm | Redmond | Dallas Glass |
| Monday, February 25, 2013 | 7:00pm | Olympia | Josh McDowell |
| Tuesday, March 05, 2013 | 7:00pm | Southcenter | Tye Chapman |
| Thursday, March 14, 2013 | 7:00pm | Seattle | George Dunn |
| Tuesday, March 26, 2013 | 7:00pm | Issaquah | George Dunn |
| Wednesday, March 27, 2013 | 7:00pm | Alderwood | Tye Chapman |
| Tuesday, April 16, 2013 | 7:00pm | Olympia | Ty Gimenez |
| Wednesday, April 17, 2013 | 7:00pm | Redmond | Dallas Glass |
January 28, 2013
IMG guide Jenni Fogle reports that everything has gone smoothly for the late January Kili team. After a free day in Moshi to do some packing and get the lay of the land, today the team started the climb at the Machame Gate (about 6000 feet) and ascended to timberline at the Machame Camp (about 10,000 feet).  The route is in the forest the whole way. They reported a little light rain in the afternoon, but Jenni says that it is now clear and dry up at camp and everyone is doing well. So far so good!
Eric Simonson
January 25, 2013
Maasai boys at Ngorongoro. (Eric Simonson)
George and Jenni checked in to report that their safari has been going extremely well, and that they had now seen “every animal in Africaâ€!  Today the team visited the Maasai Village on the way to Ngorongoro Crater.
Tomorrow they finish it all up with the trip back to Arusha and their connecting flights home.
Eric Simonson
January 25, 2013
Plaza Argentina is just around the corner.
IMG Senior Guide, Greg Vernovage, called in from Plaza Argentina today. Lots of new snow on the upper mountain and the weather’s good. Forecast looks reasonable, too. All members are in camp and a hot drink is on the stoves. Tomorrow’s a rest day and a check in with the Park officials. Then, the work begins. Aconcagua is one of the more underrated peaks in the world. Not technical but quite physical. Time for the guys to put on their game faces, but not until day after tomorrow. Tomorrow is all about relaxing, eating and drinking.
Phil Ershler
January 24, 2013
Elephants on safari (Eric Simonson)
The first day of our safari was so amazing I wondered how day two would measure up. It did not disappoint. More lions (including 3 sleeping in a tree), hundreds of thousands of wildebeest, hundreds of zebras, gazelles and impalas, hyenas, mongoose, jackals, ostriches, flamingos and a rare black rhino. There is currently a herd of elephants just outside our camp!!
Jenni Fogle
Below is an article published in the New York Times featuring Jason van Dalen, one of our Everest climbers from 2010, and his wife Alejandra. We don’t do too many love stories on the IMG blog, but this one is pretty cool.
When I asked Jason if it was alright for us to use this on our blog his response was: absolutely, if you can, please slip in that I am still very grateful to Eben, Hamill, and the rest of the 2010 Hybrid Team for getting my ass to the top. I could not have done it with out those two guys.
There you go Jason, while not so subtle, I did slip it into the blog post.
Enjoy the read.
Tye Chapman
——————–
By Margaux Laskey
Published: January 17, 2013
Jason and Alejandra (Photo by Tina Fineberg for New York Times)
Among mountaineers it’s known as the E-bomb, letting it drop that you have climbed Mount Everest — an accomplishment with an unassailable mystique, occupying a higher plane than, say, running with the bulls in Pamplona or scuba diving off the Great Barrier Reef.
Eventually, Jason van Dalen did use the E-bomb to impress women. Yet after reaching the summit of Everest on May 23, 2010, he returned home and descended into gloom. He had climbed some of the world’s tallest and most dangerous peaks and by conquering the highest of them fulfilled a goal that he set for himself years earlier.
Now what? Mr. van Dalen, an architect who lives in East Hampton, N.Y., and New York, plunged headfirst into two other harrowing pursuits: riding motorcycles and online dating. (Read more…)
January 23, 2013
Wildebeest.
George just called from the bush to let us know that the team’s first day on safari has been hugely successful. The weather is fantastic and the team is getting ready to sit down to dinner at their private camp. George said the team had seen practically every kind of animal in just the few short hours since they touched down in Serengeti National Park.
Tonight they’ll listen to distant animal calls as they rest in their deluxe tents and in the morning they’ll head out for a full day of game viewing. We look forward to hearing more about the “action†soon!
Clarissa Morford
