November 2, 2012
La Luna - Don't miss the Sopa de Cebollas!!
Greg reports from Punta Arenas, Chile that everything is on track for our next Patagonia Trek. Sounds like they’re short one duffel, but it’s nothing we can’t handle.
Right now they’re out running a couple errands (money exchange & grocery store) before a group dinner tonight at IMG’s favorite spot in Chile, La Luna.
Tomorrow they’ll load up and head to Puerto Natales for their final preparations.
Tye Chapman
November 1, 2012
Rainier Panorama. (Tye Chapman)
We want your photos! And what better way to get our hands on them than to create some competition amongst the IMG faithful? Oh and we’ll give away some free stuff too!
Winners of each category will receive an IMG Prize Pack (IMG Buff, IMG Hat and IMG t-shirt). The winner of the Best Photo Category will also receive an IMG Embroidered Outdoor Research Transfer Jacket!
Photo Categories
1.) All Around Best Photo
2.) Culture
3.) Best Sponsor Shot (Outdoor Research, JanSport, Adventure Medical Kits, Eureka!)
4.) Best Panorama
Official Rules:
– All photos must be from an IMG trip
– All photos must be under 2MB
– All photos must be individually named by location and photographer:
(i.e. Everest_Base_Camp_Trek_2012_Tye_Chapman.jpg)
– All photos must be submitted by November 30, 2012
– Limit 10 photos per person. If sending 10 2MB photos, please be nice, and help us avoid system shutdown by separating your large emails into batches.
**Submit all photos via email to Office@Mountainguides.com.
**All photos are subject to use by IMG on the website, blog, Facebook and newsletters. Photo credit will be given.
November 1, 2012
IMG guide Justin Merle reports that the Chulu team had a nice free day in Muktinath, then they made their way to Jomsom. This morning they flew to Pohkara, about 45 minutes by Twin Otter airplane. Pohkara is the second largest city in Nepal, but is only about 25% the population of Kathmandu. Today they are enjoying a lazy afternoon at their hotel down by Dal Lake.
Now that they are back to reliable internet, Justin was able to send some more photos from the Chulu climb.
Great job, team!
Eric Simonson
November 1, 2012
Last minute shopping. (Mark Ursino)
Wanted everyone to know that we arrived in Thimpu. Great trip which ended with another great day of weather. Only 2.5 hours of hiking on the final day and then several hours driving to get out of the mountains, see the winter palace in Punaka and get to Thimpu.
For great trip photos and details, do check out www.markursino.com. Mark’s a great friend of IMG and has been with us, literally, all over the world. His detailed trip reports are nothing short of amazing. Unless you’ve tried doing what Mark does, it’s hard to imagine the amount of effort involved, documenting all aspects of a trip. Follow his dispatches and you’ll see just how amazing a trip to Bhutan really is. People, culture, terrain, scenery, effort and memories! What are you waiting for?
IMG will be in Bhutan next October with Senior Guide, Emily Johnson, at the helm. She’s volunteering her ER doctor skills in Thimpu this coming month and that experience will make her super qualified to share this amazing country with you. Don’t miss the opportunity to be part of next year’s dispatches and own the memories which this year’s group now have forever.
Phil Ershler
October 31, 2012
Kili (Clarissa Morford)
More Oxygen Please!
By Clarissa Morford
It was about 4:30AM, and I was on the side of a dusty mountain at 17,000 feet with chilled feet and tingling hands, feeling generally miserable. This was my first time above 14,410ft., and I was really starting to feel the altitude. What was I doing here?
For the past five days, Kilimanjaro had been so enjoyable. Trekking up through the lush rainforest, enjoying how our Chagga guides made a point to locate the famous and delicate impatiens kilimanjari flowers, seeing my first glimpse of the snow capped summit on the trail and admiring the strange trees growing on the Shira Plateau (curiously wondering if I had stepped into the pages of a Dr. Seuss book) were just some of the highlights of the days before.
But now I was struggling to keep a smile on my face as my entire body seemed to be frowning under the strain of the thin air. My thoughts weren’t completely clear, but I wondered why I had not decided to take a little bit of the edge off by medicating against the altitude. I was angry at myself for potentially causing unnecessary discomfort and added strain. At Barafu Camp (15,000 feet) I was feeling rather good, but now the story was changing. Negative self-thoughts filled my mind as I began to determine that the next high-alti climb — should I make it through this one — would be significantly improved by the use of altitude medicine and that my prideful thought about how cool it would be to summit without taking Diamox, was in fact one of the most stupid thoughts I’d ever had.
October 29, 2012
Thorung Pass (Jacqueline Brill)
IMG guide Justin Merle reports that the team made a 4AM start from their camp above Phedi and were able to get across the Thorung La (17,769 feet / 5,416 m) in good shape. Weather was good and they enjoyed great views north towards Tibet, south toward the Annapurnas, and east toward Dhaulagiri. After crossing the pass, they descended to the ancient village of Muktinath (about 12,000 feet), which is one of the holiest places for both Hindus and Buddhists with many pilgrims coming here every year. Tomorrow the team will visit the local temple and explore the area.
Eric Simonson
Great Tiger Mountain (Phil Ershler)
October 29, 2012
Phil checked in last Friday evening and again this morning. The team is taking in some spectacular views as they make their way through the last leg of the trek, including the Great Tiger Mountain and surrounding valleys. According to Phil, there has never been better weather, better views, better food or better people in the history of Bhutan Treks!
Tomorrow the group heads to Thimphu. Everyone is healthy, happy, and couldn’t be more satisfied.
Becky K
October 26, 2012
The weather for Thursday was looking promising, so I called up my friend Scott to see if he was game to check out what the recent storm had deposited up on the Mountain (Rainier). After my trip up to Muir last week – and having to carry my skis to/from Pebble Creek due to no snow – we were delighted to skin right from the parking lot. We rose above the clouds around Pebble Creek and the powder kept getting deeper. We knew if the visibility held we’d be in for an epic run down. It was cold, the snow was dry, and there was no wind; pretty rare for late October. We lucked out and the visibility stayed good for a fantastic 2500-ft powder down to Pebble Creek. From there we had to put on the brakes and scoot through the snow-covered rocks, but we managed to ski all the way down to the parking lot with no core shots!
Not bad for October!
Dustin Balderach
October 26, 2012
School Children
Phil reports that all is well in Bhutan. The weather is holding as is the team. They had their toughest day yesterday getting up at over Shingela Pass (16,500ft) but everybody did great. They’ll be descending for the next few days, which sounds easier, but can often be tougher on some folks.
They visited a local primary school and were able to stop in and spend some time with a local family along the way.
It sounds like they’re having a great time!
Tye Chapman
October 25, 2012
Since our wedding/honeymoon was fuel for the IMG blog I find it only fitting that I give everybody some closure to what was surely a white knuckled, edge of the seat read…
—
What a night! We couldn’t have asked for a better evening. Good friends and family, great weather, open bar, and just a hell of a time. Everybody did their all to squeeze every last minute out of the night.
4 hours later…we woke up and grabbed some breakfast and quickly doubled checked the duffel before heading to the airport for the honeymoon in Peru. Machu Picchu should be on everybody’s bucket list, but naturally we thought since we’re in Peru, why don’t we go on an 8 day trek. Seems normal right? Just me, Erika, our friend/guide Maximo, our cook Hacinto and our mule driver Robert (not Roberto!) out trekking for a week between 12,000ft and 16,000ft, on our honeymoon. And who doesn’t take a Sat phone on their honeymoon! Normal, not normal, who cares, everything worked out perfectly – drivers with signs with our names on it at every airport, train station or bus terminal – pretty sweet.
First stop was Cuzco, an amazing little-big town and a nice place to acclimatize for the upcoming trek. After a couple days touring the countryside we made our way to Machu Picchu – amazing and absolutely unforgettable. The next day we climbed Huayna Picchu, which gave us breathtaking views of Machu Picchu, worth ever step. Up was no problem, though the steep stairs down and nearly vertical drop on the side (no handrail) was a little unnerving, nevertheless we made it down in one piece.
Onto Huaraz where we met up with Maximo. He showed us around and then we hit the road… Trekking season was winding down which was great – we didn’t see any other groups on the trail. The weather wasn’t perfect, but it stayed dry when we were walking, saving the occasional downpour for the evenings. We may have missed a few views of the mountains, but we wouldn’t change a thing – except maybe losing two donkeys along the way. We’re still not entirely sure if they ran off or were stolen (it happens) but we left word in the local village and pushed on having to load up the horse (aka our escape vehicle should we have had any medical issues). The trek continued without another problem and we couldn’t be happier.
I’m back at my desk now cranking out emails, blog posts and answering boot questions, oh how I missed the boot questions.
Thanks for all the well wishes and kind words now let’s all get back to work!
Tye Chapman
