December 26. 2011

Mike Hamill just called from the summit, Uhuru Point, at 8:25 AM Kili time.  Congratulations Team!  They are beginning their descent, and should be back at high camp in about 4 hours.  From there, they’ll continue to descend into the thick air of their forest camp at 10,000′.  Nice work everyone!

Adam Angel

Kilimanjaro's Crater Rim. Uhuru Point in the upper right hand corner. (Photo by Adam Angel)

December 26, 2011

Mike Hamill just called in with an update from Barafu.  Everyone is content and bedded down for a few hours of rest before the big effort.  If they time it just right (which we usually do) they’ll step onto the crater rim as the sun peeks over the horizon tomorrow morning.  We’ll keep you up to date here on the blog when we get our next report from Mike.  Have a great climb team!

Adam Angel

IMG Kili Team high on the mountain. (Photo by Adam Angel)

Decmeber 25, 2011

The view of Kili after dinner at Karanga Camp. Good climbing weather! (Photo by Adam Angel)

In between handing out presents and making coffee this morning we got a sat phone call from Mike and the team at Karanga Camp.  They finished up another rewarding day, had a huge dinner, and are getting ready for one more full night’s sleep before heading up to Barafu High Camp. The weather is still holding well and they expect nice dry weather for summit day.  Mike said the team wanted to wish everyone at home a Happy Holiday.  I told them that all of us at home following the team wish them the same and that we also wish them success over the next couple of days.  There’s a lot of good hard work ahead!

Adam Angel

December 24, 2011

Approaching the southern slopes above Shira Camp. (Photo by Adam Angel)

After the steep climb to Shira Camp, the entire team tackled the long and rewarding day to Baranco Camp at 13,000′.  This was the team’s first foray over 14,500′.  As the old mantra goes, “climb high, sleep low.”  Mike called in on the sat phone this morning to give us an update and everyone is strong and healthy.  The weather is good and everything is ticking along like clockwork.  Sleep, eat, climb, repeat!  They KNOW they’re on Kilimanjaro now after hiking around the famous Lava Tower and getting a close up look at the flanks of the upper mountain.  They’ll get a good night’s sleep, before tackling one of the most spectacular days of the climb tomorrow (other than summit day).  The Baranco Wall is steep and sporty.  Keep up the strong work team!

Adam Angel