August 17, 2012
IMG guide Matt Farmer sent these photos from the summit of Mont Blanc early this morning (France time). He is one of the guides on a private Mont Blanc trip training and climbing out of Chamonix this week. The weather looks awesome. They will spend the night at the Gouter Hut this evening then back down to Chamonix to reunite with the entire team.
George Dunn
August 16, 2012
Lunch after a hard training day (Phil Ershler)
What better way to end a long day of training than to sit down to a relaxing meal with your comrades.
After another night spent in Terskol, the crew will kick off the climb with a tram and ski lift to the Barrels Hut on Elbrus followed by a hike to their private hut at 13,500′ where they’ll acclimatize for a day before their summit attempt.
Becky Kjorvestad
Here kitty, kitty... (Eric Simonson)
August 16, 2012
IMG guide Max Bunce reports that the Kili team wrapped up their safari today at Ngorongoro and managed to have some excellent lion viewing “up close and personal”. Everyone seems to have survived, so I’m figuring that they stayed in the vehicle and the lion stayed on the ground. Now they are on their way back to Arusha and will be catching homeward bound flights tonight. Well done, team!
Eric Simonson
August 15, 2012
Machu Picchu
Peter Anderson just checked in from the Lima Airport. That’s a wrap!
Last night the team had a wonderful celebration dinner and a couple extra celebration Pisco Sours to bring their Machu Picchu Trek to a close. The team is now at the airport making sure their bags get checked all the way home. Once through security they’ll officially start the post-vacation depression, er…uh, I mean decompression.
As we all know, the trick now is to get home in one piece and to get the laundry started right away, only then is the vacation over!
Tye Chapman
August 15, 2012
Waterfall on the hike to the observatory.
Phil called in this morning to report that the team arrived safely in Terskol. Today they got their hearts & lungs working with a hike up to the observatory which sits at roughly 10,000ft. The rest of the day was spent tweaking gear, fitting crampons, going over some knots and all the other pre-climb odds and ends. Tomorrow they’ll head out onto the glacier for some additional training.
The weather continues to cooperate!
Tye Chapman
August 15, 2012
Giraffes munching on Acacia trees.
IMG guide Max Bunce reports that reports another good day of game viewing on the Serengeti, with lots of lions, cheetahs, hippo, and also a black rhino, which are getting pretty rare, and are normally confined to certain areas where they are protected by rangers from poachers.
Today the team will hit Olduvai Gorge, the site of famous discoveries of pre-humans, and then climb up the slopes of Ngorongoro Crater and make camp on the rim.  Ngorongoro is a self-contained ecosystem, with many resident populations of animals, and also some that migrate in and out of the crater. Great wildlife viewing!
Eric Simonson
August 15, 2012
Huayna Potosi from Charquini, Bolivia
IMG guide Greg Vernovage reports that yesterday the team headed up to Zongo Pass with the jeeps, then hired some porters, and then hiked up to the Huayna Potosi Base Camp. Today they will do another day of training, and then tomorrow the plan is to head up to high camp and then to the (almost) 20,000 foot summit the next day!
Eric Simonson
August 14, 2012
Elephants in the bush (Eric Simonson)
IMG guide Max Bunce reports from the Serengeti that the team is having a fun safari. Yesterday they saw two leopards, which are the most elusive of the “Big Five”. The others on the list are elephant, cape buffalo, lion, and rhino and they are all more predictably seen vs. the leopard which you have to go looking for!  Around the campfire last night, in their luxury tented camp, they had a hyena come visit.
Today, they continue their search for more animals as they head for Ngorongoro Crater. From their camp on the Crater rim they will have a great primordial view…it is like going back in time.
Eric Simonson
August 14, 2012
Machu Picchu (Peter Anderson)
IMG Guide Peter Anderson called in at  7:30 a.m. PDT today from the summit of Huayna Picchu Peak. All but two members of the team joined him in the steep hike up this peak overlooking Machu Picchu.
Peter says he was unable to reach us on the satellite phone yesterday, but they hiked in to Machu Picchu in the morning and had an excellent tour of the area. Peter reports some drizzle and fog at Machu Picchu which made for a “mystical†day. They’ll do one final tour of the area after descending Huayna Picchu before heading back to town.
Other news from Peter:
Congratulations team!
George Dunn
Door in St. Isaac's Cathedral (Phil Ershler)
August 14, 2012
Phil Ershler checked in late last night our time, which was early Tuesday morning in St. Petersburg.
“Our day of playing tourist ended with a great visit to St. Isaac’s Cathedral, a boat ride through the canals of St. Petersburg and dinner together in town. It’s now Tuesday morning and we’re checked in for our flight to Mineralnye Vody. We start our acclimatization process tomorrow.”
Phil Ershler
