How To Prepare For The Knife

August 12, 2012

: Summit of Iliniza Sur.

: Steepest pitch of the climb via our variation of the normal route (Jenni Fogle)

: Iliniza Norte from the climb to Iliniza Sur. (Jenni Fogle)

IMG Guide Jenni Fogle will be having some surgery in a couple weeks…In anticipation of the surgery she and fellow IMG Guide Luke Reilly split the country for some climbing in Ecuador.

How To Prepare For The Knife
By Jenni Fogle

Step One:Â Â Grab your favorite climbing partner
Step Two:Â Â Determine how many days you can both take off from work without being fired
Step Three:Â Â Buy plane tickets
Step Four:Â Â Choose maximum possible objectives for time available
Step Five:Â Â Pack
Step Six:Â Â Climb
Step Seven:Â Â Repeat Step Six as many times as possible.

We arrived in Ecuador Thursday night and were on the trail to the Iliniza hut by Friday mid-day. **Got up at 3 a.m. to climb Iliniza Sur (see photos) and did a variation of the normal route (different start and lower part of the climb). We descended the normal route, headed back to Uyumbicho for the night and are heading toward Antisana this evening or tomorrow.

Jenni and Luke

[**Note: it’s nice to be acclimatized after a summer on Rainier!]

See also: How To Make A Mean Chicken Salad

Weekend Updates From Around The World

August 12, 2012

Bolivia – Vernovage checked in. All continues to go well for these guys. They’re set to ascend their first objective: PequeÃ±o Alpamayo.

On the trail to Machu Picchu.

Peru (Machu Picchu) – Peter Anderson called in and was in a great mood! The team enjoyed another perfect day yesterday on the trail. ‘T-shirt weather” he called it. Today they’ve crossed over their 3rd big pass of the trek and are preparing their knees for the 2000ft descent down some big stone steps. Tomorrow they’ll wake up early and head to Machu Picchu.

Russia (Elbrus) – Phil called in to report that all is well. Everybody showed up in St. Petersburg with all their luggage. The forecastÂ calls for some good weather for their tour of St. Petersburg where they will visit the Fortress of Peter and Paul, St. Isaacs Cathedral and take a boat ride through the canals in the afternoon.

Celebration dance.

Tanzania (Kilimanjaro) – Max Bunce reports that the team had a smooth descent from the summit.Â Last night they were at Mweka Camp, which is at timberline (about 11000 ft).Â Today they came down through theÂ forest to the Mweka Gate, where they met the land rovers for the drive down to Moshi (at theÂ foot of the mountain).Â Tonight they have a celebration barbecue dinner at the hotel.Â Congrats, team.Â Great job!

Dead Woman’s Pass

August 11, 2012

On the trail.

Peter Anderson called in again today to report that all continues to got well!

They crossed Dead Womanâ€™s Pass today (~13,700ft) and despite the name of the pass, it was a perfect day on the trail. All are healthy and looking forward to â€˜more of the same!â€™.

Weâ€™ll hear from Peter again in the next few days â€“ it can be hard to get a satellite phone call out in the trees, but as always, no news is good news.

Tye Chapman

Bolivia Crew At Condoriri Base Camp

August 10, 2012

Alpamayo on the hike out. (Viki Tracey)

IMG guide Greg Vernovage reports that today the climbers successfully made the move up to Condoriri Base Camp at about 15,000 feet.Â This stunning area is marked by a number or gorgeous alpine lakes, surrounded by several 16,000 to 19,000 ft peaks.Â The plan will be to spend several night in this area.Â Tomorrow the team will climb Pico Austria, a nice practice climb for more acclimatization.Â After that, they will do a full day of technical training, followed by the ascent of Pequeno Alpamayo (17,482 ft).Â Â After that, it is off to Huayna Potosi (nearly 20,000 ft)!

Eric Simonson

Another Perfect Peruvian Day

August 10, 2012

Group learning about the ancient cave site of Quenco overlooking Cusco. (Peter Anderson)

Peter checked in yesterday after another perfect Peruvian day! They spend the day touring the Sacred Valley and stayed at an old church hotel.

They’re ready for the trek to officially begin. Today they’ll log 6-7 miles. The weather is good and the team looks strong.

Tye Chapman

Bolivia Team Heading For The Hills

August 9, 2012

: The team hearing about the Aztec ruins. (Greg Vernovage)

: The team at our high point of the day..(Greg Vernovage)

: Illiampu over Lake Titicaca. (Greg Vernovage)

It was another great day here in Bolivia. Â The morning boat ride on Lake Titicaca and dropped us off on Sun Island for our acclimatization hike. Â No wind and not a cloud in the sky forced us to short sleeve shirts and an extended rest on top. Â The views were great. Â We were able to see Illiampu, Huayna Potosi and even Illimani off in the distance. Â Walking back down hill, we ate an excellent local lunch of different potatoes, corn with big kernels, chicken, fresh trout â€¦all with a great view across the Lake.

We are all acclimatizing well and will now focus on the next goal, Pequeno Alpamayo. Â Conditions on the mountain sound excellent and we are hoping for continued nice weather. Â Tomorrow we move to Condoriri National Park, where we will spend one night in Tambo Condoriri hut.Â The team looking forward to seeing more llamas, and I am sure they will not be disappointed.

Greg Vernovage

Another Great Day On Kilimanjaro

August 9, 2012

Climbing past the Lava Tower on the way to Baranco Camp. ( Kathy Harshbarger)

Heard more from Max about the day to Baranco.Â Just another great hike.Â Trip to Baranco took about 6 hours with a little side trip to the top of the Lava Tower.Â Karanga next, then Barafu.

Max reports the team is still moving quite well.

Phil Ershler

Getting Acclimatized In Cusco

August 9, 2012

—–Original Message—–

From: Peter Anderson
Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2012 2:21 PM
To: George Dunn
Subject: Machu Picchu Update

Machu Picchu Team at Plaza de Armas. (Peter Anderson)

Hey Geo,

Just checking in from Cusco! Our second group of Trekkers all arrived safely today and are settling into Cusco (which primarily means breathing hard and drinking plenty of coca tea to help our bodies adjust to nearly 11,000 ft). All of the luggage arrived, and everyone is excited to start our adventure. This photo is taken in Plaza de Armas where Walter, our Peruvian guide filled us in on some of the city’s history on our walk to lunch. Tonight we will have our trip briefing, some fine Peruvian food, and turn in early.

Talk to you soon,

Peter

All In A Day’s Work

August 8, 2012

Good looking crew

When we hear from the Kilimanjaro teams, theyâ€™re about 12 hours ahead so theyâ€™ve already put in a dayâ€™s worth of work and our day is just getting started.Â Baranco Camp was the last call in and allâ€™s well.Â Karanga is next on the schedule.Â Itâ€™s nice to break up the long day which would be required if you tried to skip Karanga and head straight from Baranco to high camp at Barafu.Â A stop at Karanga makes the day to high camp short and the arrival time early.Â Both help when it comes to the summit day.

Phil Ershler

Acclimatizing On The Beach

August 8, 2012

: Panorama of the Altiplano with Illimani, Huayna Potosi and Condoriri

: Panorama of Lake Titicaca with Sun Island on the right and Peru in the distance

Today we drove from La Paz up onto the Altiplano to the resort town of Copacabana on the shore of Lake Titicaca (12,507 feet / 3,812 m). Â Along the way we had the chance to visit the famous Tiahuanaco ruins (dated 1600 BC).Â This afternoon the team took a nice (slow!) walk around Copacabanaâ€¦we are now over 12,000 feet. Â When we saw the sun beginning to go down we headed up a nearby hill for a little more acclimatization and a chance to see the sunset.

All in all, it was a gorgeous day, with not a cloud in the sky.Â Tomorrow, we will take a short boat trip to Sun Island to continue acclimatization and have lunch on the shore with some local food. Â All is well here in Bolivia. Â Acclimatizing on the beach!

Greg Vernovage