IMG Updates 3 & 4

Here are updates #3 and #4 from IMG.

-Rob


IMG Link: http://www.mountainguides.com/everest-south08.shtml

IMG Everest Expedition
Dispatch #4
April 1, 2008

Good news from Kathamndu. Yesterday afternoon we had our briefing at the
Ministry and received our permits. This morning (Tuesday) Dave Hahn and
Justin Merle flew to Lukla by the fixed wing airplane, then to Shyangboche by
helicopter, where they were met by Ang Passang. This afternoon they will
do the briefing at the SPCC office in Namche and will pay for our Icefall
permits and garbage deposits. Tomorrow they will hike to Dingboche where
they will catch up with the expedition team. The team spent last night in
Deboche and today they are visiting Thangboche for an acclimatization day.
SO--tomorrow they will all be together. So far it sounds like everything
is going well with the group and aside from a few sniffles, everyone seems to be
acclimatizing normally.

Eric Simonson

IMG Link: http://www.mountainguides.com/everest-south08.shtml

IMG Everest Expedition
Dispatch #3
March 30, 2008

I am now back in Kathmandu after trekking up to Namche with the climbers and
trekkers. All team members have now reached Namche and everyone is doing
fine. The first group is getting ready to head to Thangboche today, after
a couple days of acclimatization in Namche and exploring the nearby villages of
Khunde and Khumjung. It was great to see our sirdar (Sherpa leader) Ang
Passang and some of his Sherpa team again. Right now we have about 20
Sherpas up at Base Camp working on building the camp. The SPCC (Icefall
doctors) are now at BC too, and may start work on the Icefall as early as
today. I flew back on the helicopter that we had chartered to fly in our
fourth load of supplies to Shyangboche. Ang Passang was arranging for this
load of food, duffle bags, equipment and oxygen to be loaded on yaks for the
trip to BC. We also sent some additional gear in yesterday by the Lukla
flights and it will be portered to BC. After moving over 30,000
pounds of gear we now have only about 2500 pounds of remaining gear to move, and
this should go in the next day or two.

On the permit front, after
all the anxiety of the last few weeks, we now have good news. Our agents
in KTM had another meeting yesterday with the Ministry and the Army chief who
will supervise the liaison officers and it sounds like everything is moving
forward. The Ministry has now accepted our permit payment this morning and
the formal briefing will be this afternoon. IMG guides Dave Hahn and
Justin Merle have stayed back for the briefing and when this is finished, they
will immediately fly to Lukla and head on up to join the climbers en route to
base camp.

So far so good--we'll keep you
posted!!

Eric Simonson

Update from Bob

Here's the latest from Bob - Looks like they are making good progress!
So far so good...

Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2008 12:31 AM

I am in Namche right now at 11,230 feet. The information we now have
is that we will not be allowed any outside communication until after May
10th. IMG can send some things out once they are approved by the
representative and military on the mountain.

the mini update is
that we are here for 3 days and have about 5 more days until we make it to base
camp.

feeling good, no problems, met my sherpa Karmarita (Karma)
today, climbing for 7 years 4 summits.
outahere

Hi everyone!

Rob & Kerry here - Just wanted to say a quick hello to everyone here back home. Kerry and I may have met some of you at Bob's going away party in DC - If not, nice to meet you! Kerry and I are new to walking up hill for fun, and climbed Kilimanjaro with Bob in 2006. Kerry will tell you Bob was a big help in getting us to the top! We've told him he would make a great guide!

We'll be keeping everyone up to date as best we can here with the "official" IMG updates. We'll post them here as soon as they come in. You can also sign up directly for them and follow the action over at the IMG site: http://www.mountainguides.com/everest-south08.shtml#team

If you can't get over to that site, no worries - I'll post all the updates here and send out an email when something new comes in. As Bob mentioned, if he is able to get a Sat call in I will post the updates here as well - and maybe some audio if we can get that to work too.

Take care everyone!
Good luck Bob!


Here are the first updates from IMG:

Team in Kathmandu and Heading for Lukla
March 25,
2008
I arrived yesterday in Kathmandu and am happy to report that
most of the team is now here too. The plan is for the first group to fly to
Lukla tomorrow (the 27th) and begin the trek to Base Camp. The guided teams led
by Kurt Wedberg, Ryan Campbell, Mike Hamill, and Casey Grom will start a day or
two later.
Ang Jangbu reports that the "Icefall Doctors" are now at
Base Camp getting ready to start work on the Khumbu Icefall Route. IMG now has
ten sherpas at BC working on our camp and all our gear is now moving to BC. We
still do not have the permit. Latest news is that the Ministry has forward their
recommendation to the Cabinet for final approval, which we hope to finally
receive in another couple days. In the meantime, we are full steam ahead to
start moving towards the mountain and acclimatizing.
—Eric Simonson, IMG
Director

The IMG Everest 2008 Expedition Begins
March 21,
2008
I have said before that every year is different when it comes
to Everest, and 2008 is shaping up to be no exception! Just when we were
celebrating the end of the civil war in Nepal and the prospects of nationwide
elections this spring, it seems that world events again conspire to make the
Everest season unpredictable. The recent instability in Tibet and the diplomatic
pressure that the Chinese have put on Nepal to close the south side of Everest
makes us remember that it is not just the weather, avalanches, and ice that we
struggle with, but also governments and politics. Knock on wood, it now looks
like we will get our Everest permits, with some conditions — we will likely have
to come down while the Chinese are summiting with the Olympic Torch from the
North side. The exact details will be forthcoming, and we will keep everyone
updated on this.
We have now sent three MI-17 helicopter charters to
Shyangboche and over 22,000 pounds of food, fuel, and supplies has been
transported to Pangboche and Gorak Shep, where it awaits deployment to BC. Ang
Jangbu Sherpa reports from Kathmandu that the oxygen shipment has arrived and
will be repacked for transport by helicopter and yaks to Khumbu Base Camp. Our
Sherpa team is ready to go to Base Camp and finish construction as soon as we
get the green light from the Ministry.
The IMG team travels to Base Camp
in several waves this year, with the main group flying to Lukla on March 27 with
the Expedition Leaders Mark Tucker and Ang Jangbu Sherpa. We expect that they
will arrive at Base Camp about April 7.
We'll look forward to sharing
our 2008 IMG Everest expedition experience with you!
—Eric Simonson, IMG
Director