It’s Almost ‘Go Time’ In Kathmandu

March 29, 2011

We received a quick note from Greg Vernovage late last night who’s with our Everest team in Kathmandu getting ready to make the hop from KTM to Lukla in the next few days.

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Hey All,

People are streaming in all day today. Our welcome dinner tonight at 6:30 will bring it all together. We’re doing a lot of gear checks and some last minute purchases – standard protocol in these parts.

The team is showing up looking great. All of the guides here are pretty fired up and excited to keep the trip moving. ThereÂ is a great energy here and I can’t wait to get things rolling.

Greg
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**Remember you can follow all the Everest action on the Everest Expedition Coverage Homepage,

Stormed Off Mt. Whitney

March 28th, 2011

Inyo National Forest is home to Mt. Whitney.

Over the weekend the deep snow, bad weather and a poor forecast forced our first Whitney team off the mountain and back to Lone Pine.Â All made it back in good form, thus the mantra of ” Safety First” won again!

Team number two was scheduled to be on the mountain early this week but avalanche conditions prevented them from going above C1. Instead, they opted to go rock climbing today and will do some training tomorrow.

Tye

Deep Snow On Whitney

March 25, 2011

Great views all around.

George called in from Upper Boy Scout Lake on Mt. Whitney today to report that the deep snow made for some difficult trail-breaking this afternoon.Â As a result, they pulled up short of the typical high camp location and will instead make up that time with lighter packs in the morning.

All is well!

Tye Chapman

Lots Of Moving Parts These Days

March 24, 2011

We’ve got a lot of moving parts these days with several programs getting started over the next couple weeks.

Next up are: Everest, Lhotse, Lobuche, Everest Base Camp Treks, Whitney, Denali Prep Seminars and Machu Picchu. That covers 2 U.S. States, 3 countries on 3 continents. Not too bad.

: Machu Picchu. (Photo by Trent Carey)

: Some less than ideal conditions on Mt. Rainier. Fun nonetheless! (Photo by John Short)

: Mt. Whitney from Upper Boy Scout (High Camp).

: Everest. (Photo by Larry Alleva)

Keep these programs in mind next year if you’re sitting at your desk right now thinking “this is a good time of year for me to take a vacation!” Or just follow along here on the blog.

But right now it’s time for all of us to get back to work!

Tye Chapman

Whitney Season Kicks Off This Weekend

March 23, 2011

The last pitch before the summit. (Photo by Trent Carey)

George Dunn is finishing up his last minute checklist here in Washington before he jumps on a plane tomorrow to head down to Lone Pine, CA to kick-off the IMG climbing season on Mt. Whitney.

Most people climb Whitney in the summer but we schedule our trips in the spring to maximize the alpine environment that Whitney provides this time of year.Â In the summer, the Mountaineers Route is typically a loose scramble up a rock gully but in the spring it becomes a snow climb on terrain up to 45-degrees, a great challenge for all climbers.

We’re running more trips than ever this year, 7 in total, so we’ll have plenty to post here on the blog.

Have fun guys!

Tye Chapman

Winter Reigns Supreme On Mt. Rainier

March 19, 2011

Mt. Rainier under a fresh blanket of snow. (Photo by Dave Coon)

Greg radioed in this morning to report that they had another excellent trainingÂ day yesterday and that they are wrapping things up at Camp Muir.

Today is Day 6 on the mountain for these guys yet Day 1 of sun! They’ve been hammered with high winds and heavy snowfall throughout the week, but kept after it, trained hard and are now prepared for bigger mountains – or another crack at Mt. Rainier down the road.

Winter will always reign supreme on Mt. Rainier, that said, these guys took what the mountain gave them and can walk away safe with their heads held high.Â Nice job guys!

Tye

Wicked Cold On Mt. Rainier

March 17, 2011

Camp Muir in the winter.

Greg called in from Camp Muir this afternoon to report that it’s pretty darn cold and windy at Camp Muir these days…but that didn’t stop these guys from having a great day!

7:30am – Pancakes, bacon and hashbrowns! Wait, what? Yeah, the good stuff!
8:00am– Out the door for a Mountain Day School Refresher (ice axe arrest, crampon skills, rope travel, etc.)
12:00pm – Lunch break and warm-up time. Soup anyone?
1:00pm – Fixed-line travel and rope travel practice up the ridge. Too windy on the ridge so they went back to Muir to work on a snowcave.
4:00pm – Still working on the snowcave.
5:00pm – Hot drinks and an early dinner (burritos) and a good night’s rest – in the snowcave.Â Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Tomorrow they’ll take another shot at getting up the ridge to take a look at things then get back to work with some Crevasse Rescue Training in the afternoon.

All is well on Mt. Rainier!

Tye Chapman

Everest 2011 Expedition Coverage Has Begun

March 16, 2011

Led by Eric Simonson, Greg Vernovage, Justin Merle, Mike Hamill, Ang Jangbu Sherpa, Eben Reckord, Adam Angel, and Max Bunce.

Our third shipment of food and gear has now reached Kathmandu, and everything is moving forward on schedule. With the conclusion of the Losar Festival (Tibetan New Year), ten more IMG sherpas and two cooks are heading to Base Camp today to continue work on the tent platforms.

(Full Everest Expedition Coverage Here)

Denali Prep Team Moving To Camp Muir

March 16, 2011

Winter livin' on Mt. Rainier.

Greg called in this morning to report that the winds have died down a little bit, and after scouting the route and snow conditions yesterday, they’ve decided to pull camp and head to Camp Muir today.

If all goes as planned they’ll get to Camp Muir this afternoon and if they’re feeling good they might sneak in a little training or an evening lecture after dinner.

Step 1 is getting to Camp Muir, which is never a given on Mt. Rainier in the winter.

Tye Chapman

Denali Prep Seminar Underway

March 15, 2010

Digging in and buileding a good camp is an important part of any Denali Prep Course.

Digging in and building a good camp is an important part of any Denali Prep Course.

The Seminar called to check in at 8:00 a.m. All is well. They spent a good night, with a snug camp established,Â at the base of Panorama Point at about 6,200 feet. They reported the weather as â€œnice, but not greatâ€.Â What that means in guide speak is snowing and windy with gusts up to 20mph. It was deemed too windy higher up to attempt to move to Muir today. Instead, the team will check out their route up the Muir snowfield in advance, do some snow stability tests, train with avalanche transceivers, and continue on with seminar training skills.

The current camp is in the best possible location for protection from the weather, so they will continue to train from this point until a move to Camp Muir looks favorable. Right now it appears that tomorrow will be good for the move with a clearing trend in store. The weather the rest of the week should be milder and provide for some good training opportunities.

George Dunn