Kili Team Moving To High Camp

December 27, 2009

Mike Hamill called in last night from Karanga Valley camp at about 13,500â€™, about 9 pm Seattle time, which makes it morning of the 27th, their time.Â The crew is fine and heading for high camp.Â High camp is Barafu at just over 15,000â€™.Â Theyâ€™ve had some afternoon rain but weather is dry now and hopes are high for a good summit morning.Â Their hike to Barafu is a short one, no more than 3 hours.Â The beauty of using the Karanga Valley camp is that the day hiking to high camp is a short one which allows the team to get to high camp early and without being tired.Â Then theyâ€™ve got lots of time to pack, eat, drink and rest for their summit attempt.

Theyâ€™ll be up and out of their tents before midnight on the 27th, their time.Â Letâ€™s hope the weather treats them well and we hear news of their success tomorrow.Â Theyâ€™ve got a long summit day ahead of them.â€™

Phil Ershler

Christmas On Kili!

December 25, 2009

IMG Guide Mike Hamill called in from Shira Plateau with Christmas Greetings for the team’s friends and family… Everybody is doing fine. Tomorrow the team will climb to over 14,500â€™ and then drop back to 13,000â€™ and camp at Baranco Hut at 13,000â€™.

What a way to spend the holidays!

Tye Chapman
Operations Manager

Kili Team On The Move – Day 1 @ 10,000ft.

December 23, 2009 – 8:40am (PST)

IMG Guide Mike Hamill reports that everybody on our Christmas Kili team arrived on time and with all of their gear. They spent yesterday enjoying the town of Moshi and re-packing their gear for the climb.

Day one of the climb was a nice hike from the Machame Gate through the Rain Forest to the Machame Hut at about 10,000ft.Â It’s evening in Africa right now as Kili is 11 hours ahead of us here in Ashford (PST) so by now they’ve enjoyed a nice meal and are winding down and getting ready for a well deserved night’s sleep.

Tye Chapman
Operations Manager

Everybody Wants To Keep Their Fingers

December 17, 2009

Nobody likes colds hands in the mountains (or anywhere else for that matter) so we had Phil Ershler explain his glove system… Having been on Denali over 30 times and Vinson (Antarctica) 15 times you might say Phil is a bit of a cold weather expert.Â Check out what he has to say about his glove system.

Tye Chapman
Operations Manager

Everest: Beyond The Limit Dates Announced

December 11, 2009

Air Dates Announced

Now in its third season, the Discovery Channel’s Everest: Beyond The LimitÂ is taking a new approach to filming this year and will feature both International Mountain Guides and Himalayan Experience in a five-part series.The dates and times are below. Be sure to check your local listings for any last minute changes.

Sunday, December 27
8:00pmÂ Â Episode 1
9:00pmÂ Â Episode 2
10:00pm Episode 3

Wednesday, December 30
9:00pm Episode 4
10:00pmÂ Episode 5

IMG 2009 Everest Dispatches

-Eric Simonson

Vinson Wrap-up (Team #1)

December 11, 2009

Phil called in with some promising news for his Vinson Team… It’s looking good for flights off the ice today. A Russian IL-76 (pictured below) is scheduled to land at 5:00pm this afternoon and Phil and Co. will board the plane around 7:00pm for the 4 hour flight to Punta Arenas, Chile.

The Chilean Immigration Office is nice enough to keep the doors open for everybody which will make things a lot easier upon arrival. They’ll begin working on flights home on Saturday morning which should put most everybody home Sunday afternoon-ish.

Next up: George Dunn and his team will head down Vinson a day after un-wrapping their Christmas Presents. We’ll post updates on this climb as well.

Tye Chapman
Operations Manager

Vinson Team Awaits Flight

December 10, 2009

After a successful summit the Vinson team made it back to Patriot Hills yesterday and is taking a well-deserved break to celebrate their summit… They just hope the break isn’t too long and visibility improves so flights off the ice resume to take them back to Punta Arenas, Chile and onto their homes for the holidays…

Tye Chapman
Operations Manager

Vinson Team Summits!

December 7, 2009

Phil called in this afternoon with great news – 100% on top ofÂ Vinson Massif (16,067ft)! The weather finally cooperated and gave them a “great summit day”.

The view from the summit. Photo Ted Fairhurst January 2009

They’ll pull back into Vinson Base Camp tomorrow where they’ll catch a flight back to Patriot Hills and hopefully connect soon thereafter to Punta Arenas, Chile.

All is well in Antarctica… Great job everybody!

Tye Chapman
Operations Manager

Vinson Team Dug In At High Camp

December 7, 2009

Phill called in yesterday to tell us that the team is dug in at High Camp (13,000ft) waiting out the cold, the clouds and the wind. It looks like the weather is going to turn and give them a chance at the summit today…Everybody is feeling strong and ready to stretch the legs.

January 2009 Team just beow summit. Photo Ted Fairhurst

If they do summit today they’ll head on down to Vinson Base Camp tomorrow.

Think warm thoughts…

Tye Chapman
Operations Manager

Vinson Team Taking Rest Day

December 3, 2009

Phil called in a bit ago and said that all is well on the ice. They carried to High Camp yesterday and are enjoying a day off today. They’ll head up to HC tomorrow and spend the night and if all goes as planned they’ll touch the top on Saturday. Everybody is doing great so we’ll wait for the call from Phil over the weekend…

High Camp - Stock Photo Jason Tanguay

Stay tuned…

Tye Chapman
Operations Manager