April 9, 2021

2021 Everest Panorama (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

IMG Expedition Leader Jonathan Schrock checked in with great news from Everest Base Camp.  Team 1 pulled into EBC at the six hour mark.  Everyone is happy to be at Base Camp with a full belly from Kaji’s cooking.  All members of the IMG Team, including climbers, trekkers and Nepalese staff have been tested for COVID-19 several times along the way to EBC and results have all been negative.  We will continue to be strict with our protocols.

Morning view of EBC with Everest (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

The early season weather is showing normal patterns according to Jonathan.  Calm, clear mornings; perfect for trekking and then slowly trending to slightly overcast with a breeze in the afternoon.

Trekking through Gorakshep (Jonathan Schrock)

Team 2 had a great day trekking from Pheriche to Lobuche Base Camp and everyone is doing well and settling in for a few nights.  The lodges we visit during the trek are great but there is something about moving into tents at Lobuche Base Camp and having our own kitchen and dining facilities.  Home cooking and quiet nights at 15,000 feet are just a couple of the things we love about these camps.

Tomorrow is a rest day for both teams and they will get moved into their tents and familiarize themselves with the IMG Base Camp!

Greg Vernovage

April 4, 2021

Pheriche with Lobuche Peak and Cho Oyu in the distance (Austin Shannon)

The IMG Teams are doing great in Pheriche, Lobuche Base Camp and Everest Base Camp.  Team 2 took  a hike up the hill behind Pheriche and are planning on moving up hill to Lobuche BC in the morning.  Team 1 also hiked back up towards high camp and are feeling great.  They will pack up and head to Everest Base Camp tomorrow.

At EBC, Ang Jangbu and the team have been busy.  They have now completed building the tent platforms and took advantage of the beautiful day to build the lower helipad.  Nice work!  We continue to celebrate the hard work of Sherpa Fura and Dawa Tenzing who secured out campsites at Camp 1 and Camp 2.

All is well in the Khumbu Valley and on Mount Everest!

Greg Vernovage

April 4, 2021

Looking towards Lhotse Face from Camp 2 (Sherpa Fura)

Ang Jangbu got a call through this morning from Everest Base Camp to let us know the internet is up and running and all is well up and down the valley.  Dawa Tenzing and Sherpa Fura had a great day climbing to Camp 2 yesterday to secure our campsites and recon the Icefall, Western Cwm and Lhotse Face.   They report that the Icefall is in good shape with a number of twists and turns as usual, but that it has (get ready for this) only ONE ladder right now.  “Can you believe that?!”  It is early in the season and we all know the Icefall will do a bit of adjusting and route changing as the season continues but having only one ladder is pretty remarkable.

IMG Senior Guide Karma Rita Sherpa (Greg Vernovage)

Ang Jangbu says that IMG’s 2021 Everest Base Camp is looking good and is all ready for the arrival of Team 1.  A big shout out to the Advanced Team under the leadership of Senior Guide Karma Rita Sherpa for all of their hard work getting the camp prepared!

Back down at Lobuche Base Camp, Team 1 took a trek today partway up to High Camp on Lobuche for additional acclimatization, and 5 of our guides  continued all the way to High Camp to evaluate the conditions and check the water source.  Everything looks good for the climb of Lobuche Peak in a few days, after the climbers first visit Everest Base Camp.

Looking up valley from Pheriche with Cholatse (left) and Lobuche (right) (Sonam Dorje Sherpa)

Team 2, led by Senior Guide Kevin Kayl pulled into Pheriche in excellent form and will settle in for a couple nights of acclimatization.  Tomorrow the team will take a hike up the hill behind Pheriche to get a better look at Lobuche Peak and Dingboche, which is just over the hill.  They will also say hello to the medical team at the Pheriche HRA clinic and hear more about acclimatization.

All is well in the Khumbu Valley and on Mount Everest!

Greg Vernovage

April 1, 2021

Team 2 at the Pasang Lamu Gate (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

We received  welcome updates overnight from both of the IMG Teams.  Down in Phaplu the Team 2 was up early looking at the weather and standing by for their helicopter flights to Lukla.  The team made a great decision to head out of KTM by vehicle in order to get to higher ground and clear skies, and they were rewarded with excellent weather and smooth flights.  After departing Lukla via the famous Pasang Lamu Gate, the trail slowly traverses and descends to the Dudh Kosi river at Phakding.  Getting to Phakding is a great feeling.  The river flowing along with cool and clean air is always a welcome feeling for the first day on the trail.  Team 2 will head uphill to Namche in the morning!

Up in Namche, Team 1 had a casual morning at the lodge before taking the short trek up to Everest View Hotel.  The clouds broke and the team got their first view of Mount Everest.  Team 1 is feeling great and will head to Phortse in the morning.

Ama Dablam, Lhotse and Everest (Greg Vernovage)

Karma Rita also checked in overnight with some photos of the progress being made at Everest Base Camp.  The advanced

Storage, dining and cook tents up at EBC (Karma Rita Sherpa)

team has been working hard!  They now have all of the big tents up including the cook tents, dining tents, storage tents, charging and comms tents.  They will now start carving out member tent platforms in anticipation of the teams arrival in just over a week.  It is great to see the Puja Alter ready to go.  We cannot wait to usher in the 2021 Everest/Lhotse Climbing Season with our entire team.

All is well in the Khumbu Valley!

Greg Vernovage

March 31, 2021

Phaplu heli (Jonathan Schrock)

All Teams were on the move today in Nepal.  Up in Phaplu IMG Leader Jonathan Schrock checked in at dawn to let us know the weather looked good after a night of thunderstorms, and that the team was ready to head for the Khumbu Valley.  Sure enough our charter helicopters were soon flying and they were off to Phakding (normally the first overnight on the EBC trek, beyond Lukla).  After a nice breakfast in Phakding, the team loaded up and hit the trail for Namche.  They enjoyed beautiful weather for the entire day as they climbed above the lowland haze and had great mountain views.  At Monjo they entered Sagarmatha National Park, then crossed over the classic high bridges over the Dudh Kosi River before tackling the famous Namche Hill.  They pulled into Namche feeling good and will explore the largest village in the Khumbu Valley tomorrow.

Back in Kathmandu, Ang Jangbu called to report that Team 2 was loading the SUV’s with gear and were ready to hit the road for Phaplu.  Air quality had improved slightly but the team decided to make the move to Phaplu where their chances will be better to catch heli flights up to the Khumbu Valley tomorrow morning.  The team will be up early tomorrow morning in Phaplu to check at the weather, and hopefully will soon be following Team 1 into the mountains.

We are so excited to be back on the trail in the Khumbu Valley!

Entering Sagarmatha Park at Monjo (Jonathan Schrock)

Greg Vernovage