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IMG Guide Mike Hamill Releases New Book

May 23, 2012

Climbing the Seven Summits:
A Comprehensive Guide to the Continents’ Highest Peaks

By Mike Hamill, Foreword by Phil Ershler

Available soon on Amazon.com

A lot of people have climbed with IMG Guide Mike Hamill over the years, so naturally most people see him as a guide, climber and mountaineer, but he’s got one more title to add to his growing list, author. Mike has spent the last couple years compiling notes, photos, tips, and gps waypoints;  the result is a stunning 320pg. full-color book published by The Mountaineers Books.

“The amount of research, attention to detail and effort required to write this book is tough for even me to imagine.  And that’s in addition to the years of training, climbing and guiding that gave Mike the experience, knowledge and skill to write informatively and intelligently about the Seven Summits, all of which put Mike in a category all his own.  It’s been a pleasure to share experiences on many of the Seven with Mike and to know that we are in for a treat when Mike’s leading an expedition. ” -Phil Ershler, IMG Partner.

“Since our first trip together in 2003 (to the North Col) I have watched Mike travel the world and develop into a terrific high altitude mountain guide.  It is great to see someone continue to push their limits, and writing a book certainly fits that category. This is just one more step on the journey for Mike!” -Eric Simonson, IMG Partner.

“Mike is my kind of lead guide. He guides the world’s highest peaks year after year with skill and determination and somehow always manages to place his teams in the best possible situation come summit day. Underneath his calm and easygoing demeanor is a wealth of knowledge related to high mountains. Mike shares some of what he has learned in this new book, and I for one, am looking forward to reading it cover to cover.” -George Dunn, IMG Partner.

“Mike Hamill’s consummate coverage of the Seven Summits is far more studied and detailed than anything I could have ever written. I feel deeply indebted to him for enabling me to vividly recall, roughly three decades later, each climb and to relive the insightful incidents and many magical moments which Frank Wells and I experienced and shared. Mike’s extraordinary guide will definitely encourage more left-brained, objective realists than usual to participate in the Seven Summits—along with the many right-brained, dreamer adventurers who are naturally attracted to taking such giant leaps into the unknown.” —Dick Bass, first person to climb the Seven Summits.

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Mt. Logan Team Is Making Steady Progress

May 22, 2012

Mt. Logan

Mark Allen, Mt. Logan Expedition Leader called in with a status report today.

The team is healthy and doing well. They just finished a heavy schedule of work the last two days. And are now enjoying a well deserved rest.

On Sunday, May 20 the team carried to Camp 3 (13,400’) and spent one more night at Camp 2 (10,800’). Yesterday they moved to Camp 3 at King’s Col. The weather went from very warm to windy and cold at the Col and made for some extreme clothing adjustments during the day, but Mark says it is a beautiful camp with incredible views.

To this point the team is on a relatively slow schedule compared to others on the mountain, but the group feels good about this and it is good for their general acclimatization.

Tomorrow the team will make a carry to Camp 4 (15,500+) and drop back down to Camp 3 for another night at the Col.

George Dunn

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May Mt. Bona Team Is On The Ice!

May 22, 2012

Hauling sleds up to Camp 1 (photo: James Tichenor)

Expedition Leader Sheldon Kerr called in at 10am PDT today to report on the team’s progress.

All is going well with the entire team. The weather is beautiful.  The team flew in on schedule, landing on the Klutlan Glacier Sunday afternoon, May 20.  The guides conducted team training and the team carried to Camp 1 at 11,600 feet on Monday, May 21.

The entire team will move to Camp 1 today. All are in great spirits and the team is on the earliest possible schedule, so kudos to them!

George Dunn

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Classic Climbers Heading Up!

May 21, 2012

IMG Classic climbers with Bunce, Remza, and the Liaison Officer (Photo: Eric Remza)

IMG guides Max Bunce, Eric Remza, 13 Classic climbers, and their sherpas are heading up the Khumbu Icefall in the cold early morning hours tonight, shooting for the summit of Mt Everest on May 26.  We are hoping that the weather forecasters are correct – they have predicted a weather window coming in a few days.  Right now, though, it is blowing hard again up high, after the short window of lower winds that allowed our Hybrid and Guided teams to sneak up on May 19th.   The Classic climbers are all super psyched to finally be moving up.  They have done their preparations, and demonstrated the patience and persistance to put themselves in position to take their shot.  We’ll keep you posted on their progress!

Eric Simonson

 

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Logan Team Going Strong

May 19, 2012

King Peak

Mark called in late this afternoon to report that all continues to go well on Logan. They’re at C2 now “right in the middle of King’s Trench” with great views of their objective (Logan) and King Peak. Tomorrow they’ll carry to C3 and double back to sleep at C2. Climb high, sleep low works as well in Alaska as it does in the Himalayas.

If the weather holds they’ll move into C3 on Monday.

No scheduled check in for a couple days so as always: “no news is good news”.

Tye Chapman

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Logan Team Heading To Camp 2

May 17, 2012

King Peak near Mt. Logan

Mark Allen called in today to report that all is well on Mt. Logan.  They enjoyed the night at C1 and are en route to C2.  It’s a big day even after dropping a cache about halfway. They’ll pull into camp tonight around 10pm, not a big deal in the great white north this time of year.

Tomorrow they’ll sleep in and have a big breakfast before heading down to retrieve their cache.  An ‘active rest day’ we’ll call it.

All is well. Next scheduled call time is Saturday. Remember no news is good news in the mountains.

Tye Chapman

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Logan Team Lands Safely On Glacier

May 16, 2012

Mt. Logan

IMG Guide Mark Allen called in this afternoon to report that all is well on the US/Canada Border! The team flew in and were dropped off safely on the flanks of Mt. Logan, Canada’s tallest peak. It was a ‘bluebird’ day with views from the St. Elias to the Pacific Ocean.

Once ‘awe factor’ has worn off they plan to carry to Camp 1 (C1) this evening in one push. Then, they’ll head on up to C2 tomorrow, dropping a cache about half-way which they’ll double back and pick-up on their rest-day (Day 3).

That’s about it for now.

Tye Chapman

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Annapurna 4 Climbers Back In Kathmandu

May 16, 2012

On the road to Dana (Emily Johnston)
Emily and the bus (Eben Reckord)

Eben reports that the team survived their drive from Jomsom to Pohkara.  Sounds like a classic Nepal bus ride—bumpy and hairaising at times!  The team had a good dinner in Pohkara and enjoyed a beautiful sunset, but the day was not over. There was a “bandh” (strike) scheduled for tomorrow, which would cause more disruptions to travel, so the team decided to keep pushing on, and continued the drive to Kathmandu (on better roads)  where they have now safely arrived.

Good job, gang.  Sounds like a real adventure!

Eric Simonson

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2012 Rainier Season In Full Swing

May 16, 2012

Another Rainier season is here and already in full swing, but not without a little prep work beforehand.

In advance of our first climb we sent a crew up to Camp Muir to whip it into shape for the season.  On the to-do list was cleaning out the Gombu Hut, setting up the IMG Weatherport, carrying some loads up to The Flats and poking around on the upper mountain exploring the route. It was a busy week but the weather was absolutely making the work a little less painful.

Summit Board 2012
First Climb 2012 Descending From Summit (Photo by Carolyn Erickson)

First climb of 2012 celebrates on the summit. (Photo by Carolyn Erickson)
First Climb 2012

Meanwhile, our first climb met for the first Half-Day Orientation of the season. IMG Guide Erica Engle, fresh off of Mt. Bona, tore through the climbers’ packs during the gear check, hopefully lightening their loads a little bit.  On Sunday, they put their training to the test and made their way up to Camp Muir in some unseasonably hot conditions.  On Monday ,they broke in The Flats camp at 11,000ft. And on Tuesday everybody’s hard work was rewarded when they became the first IMG team to summit…and in perfect conditions!

The seal to the 2012 Summit Board has officially been broken!

Tye Chapman

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Annapurna 4 Climbers Get To Jomsom

May 15, 2012

View from Camp 1 with (L-R) Pisang Peak, Manaslu, A2 (photo: Eben Reckord)
Camp 1 (photo: Jarno Laiho)
Below Camp 2 (photo: Joe Piestrak)

Eben and the team crossed the Thorung La (17769ft / 5416m) today and descended to Muktinath, where they were able to send some nice A4 photos from the climb.  Then, they continued on to Jomsom.   Sounds like the flight schedules are disrupted, as predicted, so it’s going to be Plan B for the team tomorrow.  Phinjo has arranged seats on a bus to Beni and then we have arranged a van to meet them there for the ride on to Pohkara.

It should be a classic Nepal road trip!

Eric Simonson

 

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