July 14, 2013 Happiness is Denali in your rear view mirror. Actually, that’s not entirely true. There are some mountains you want to ‘have climbed’. There are other mountains that you truly want to climb. Denali falls in the latter category. The Alaska Range is special and spending time on Denali is always a […]
Archive: July, 2013
100% Summit On Kili
July 13, 2013 Sheldon call at 1 a.m. Pacific time this morning to tell that 100% of the team were standing on the summit of Kilimanjaro. And, that included her mom! Still lots of works remains. About 3 hours for the descent to Barafu camp, some repacking, clothes changing and lunch, and then it’s time […]
Denali Team Standing By To Fly
July 12, 2013 The call came from Greg this morning to tell us that the crew is back safe and sound at the Upper Strip on Denali. Weather should permit a flight out, soon. The crew will be flying with Talkeetna Air Taxi and that first glimpse of green is always pretty sweet. They’re at […]
Leaving For The Summit At Midnight
June 12, 2013 “At Barafu. Weather’s fine and everyone doing well, and my mom’s killing it. Leaving for the summit at midnight.†I love Sheldon’s calls – right to the point and everything we need to know. Phil Ershler
Kili Team Settled At Karanga Camp
July 11, 2013 “Team doing great. Nice day going into Karanga camp. Chicken with fries for dinner. Weather still nice.â€Â This was the conversation I just had with IMG Senior Guide, Sheldon Kerr, from Karanga Camp at around 13,500’ on the slopes of Kilimanjaro. That’s pretty much all we need to know. Oh yah, […]
Kili Team Up to 14,500ft.; Sleeping At 13,000ft.
July 10, 2013 Short and to the point sat phone call from Sheldon today. The team completed their climb up to 14,500’ and then headed down to the Baranco Camp at 13K. Weather good, everyone feeling well so no issues. That’s all we needed to hear. Tomorrow is Karanga Camp. The morning starts off with […]
Denali Team Heading For The Barn
July 10, 2013 Greg called in yesterday evening. They were able to get high camp cleaned up and packed up and then worked their way back down the West Buttress and descended the fixed ropes from 16K down to 15K and completed the descent to the 14K camp. 14K was a nice place to spend […]
All Is Well At Shira Camp
July 9, 2013 12,500 ft at Shira Camp on the Shira Plateau. Good day had by all. They’re getting higher now but everyone seems to be handling the altitude well. Sheldon’s voice message was short and sweet – Shira with everyone and everyone doing fine. That works for us. Tomorrow is up, around and […]
Denali Team Summits!
July 9, 2013 Greg phoned in about 11 am today, Seattle time. Yesterday was the day. All members on the summit. Back now at 17K and getting ready to get out of there. Nothing is better up high and the sooner they get to a lower altitude, the better. No running, no rushing but unhurried […]
Kili Team Reaches Machame Camp
July 8, 2013 First day is done. 4000 vertical feet completed and the team is at Machame Camp, elevation about 10,000 ft. They are right at the tree line tonight. Views of the stars and the mountain should be fairly spectacular tonight, with an impressive sunset and sunrise in the morning. And, tomorrow’s a […]