What better way to start 2010 than by climbing Africa’s tallest mountain, and then going game viewing in the eighth wonder of the world, the Ngorongoro Crater. I am writing this dispatch from our hotel in the Crater, looking out on the sun setting and countless animals wandering across the grasslands of the interior of the crater.

It is a bit difficult to stay focused on this dispatch with that kind of a view, but here goes.

On January 4 at 7:15 am our entire group of nine stood on the roof of Africa, at 19,341 feet on Kilimanjaro. It was an incredible feeling to have us all on top together, especially after this unusual week on the mountain. Normally the beginning of January is one of the driest times of the year on Kilimanjaro. This year, we had almost daily rain and snow. While this made for some challenging days hiking, it made the mountain even more beautiful than its normal self, with snow covering the peak above 14,000 feet.

And our summit day was perfect - no wind, warm, and perfectly clear. This perfect day definitely made up for some of the earlier cloudy days, and allowed us to spend almost an hour on the summit, taking photos and celebrating our climb.

After our time on top, we raced down the peak, dropping to 12,000 feet the first night, and then to the park entrance at 6,000 feet the next day. We started our post-summit celebrations with the best pizza you can find in Tanzania, and have been celebrating ever since, with two incredible days of safari so far. The pictures of close encounters with elephants, giraffes, and cheetahs should speak for themselves. And we still have one more day of safari before catching our flights home, so we know there are much more animal sightings to come!

If you have ever dreamed of seeing Africa, and enjoy trekking, hiking, or climbing, join us this year for our Kilimanjaro Climb and Safari. Kilimanjaro is a completely non-technical hike done over 7 days, and Alpenglow has a success rate of over 90%. And safari-ing in Tanzania is an experience everyone should have in their life. We have two more trips to Kilimanjaro coming up in 2010, one in July and one in December. Check out the website for details, and join us this year!

-Adrian Ballinger, Alpenglow Expeditions

A snowstorm swept over the mountain leaving a pristine blanket of white as low as 12,500′. With impeccable timing, the storm broke at 8pm on the 3rd and by this morning at 7am the team stood at 19,341′ on top of Kilimanjaro with blue skies and no wind. They began their descent after some time on the summit and will check in with more info and images when they return to camp. Congratulations to all members of this remarkably strong team!

Lost baggage and an abnormally wet dry season isn’t getting this team down! They had a great New Year’s on the mountain with a better excuse than I have for not staying up ’til midnight! Everyone is feeling strong at 14,000′ and will proceed to their final camp at 15, 500′ tomorrow, where they will stay for two nights before their summit bid on the morning of the 4th. Although there is significantly more snow on Kili than normal, they should be able to climb as anticipated without the use of crampons. We’ll hear more after summit day!
-Emily

Yesterday, the team climbed from the gate of the Rongai Route at 6000′ to the First Cave Camp at 9000′ and will continue hiking today for about eight hours to Camp Kikelewa at 12,000′. With the snow line of this El Nino year being particularly low at about 16,000′, the views have been spectacular. Everyone is healthy and having fun and we’ll hopefully get another report soon!

I have spent the last four New Year’s Eves on the flanks of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and this year will be no exception. But there is a bit of a twist to this year’s trip. My sister Michelle will be joining the team and attempting the summit! This is her second foray to altitude (she summited Cotopaxi in Ecuador with me 5 or 6 years ago) - she performed fantastically last time, but swore she would never do it again. Luckily, selective amnesia has had its normal effect, and she is back for more. Since students from her class in the Bay Area will be following her climb, we will endeavor to blog more than normal. So follow along as we climb the tallest peak in Africa and go on safari. We fly in 2 days, which means Christmas day is a strange mix of celebrating with family, and frantically packing and organizing. The next post should be via satellite phone from Tanzania! Stay Tuned.

-Adrian Ballinger, Alpenglow Expeditions

We finally had a chance to post some photos from our most recent expedition to Mexico. It was a great trip with a great group. Despite really challenging conditions (ice and snow down to high camp level on Ixta, and 50-100mph winds on both of our summit days) the group persevered and everyone ended up standing on the summit of Mexico’s tallest peak, Orizaba, together. It’s always unusual to have an entire group on a summit together; even more so with difficult weather conditions!

To see photos of the expedition, click here

And sign up now for our 2010 expedition to Mexico! This is one of our most popular introductory expeditions, and for good reason. The peaks in Mexico are ideal for building high altitude climbing experience, and for exploring a fantastic culture, all in a one week trip.

Thanks to Marco, Sonni, Eszter, Micah, Josh, Cliff, Armando, Cato and Cristobal for a fantastic trip!

-Adrian Ballinger, Alpenglow Expeditions

Discovery Channel has finally announced the schedule for Everest- Beyond the Limit, Season 3. I promise I will not be featured, so you should be able to enjoy the show without distractions from me!

Premiere schedule in USA as follows:
Sun, Dec 27: 8-11pm EST (3 hour premiere)
Wed, Dec 30: 9-11pm EST (2 hour premiere, my summit is in show from 9-10)

Enjoy!
-Adrian Ballinger, Alpenglow Expeditions

After enduring extraordinarily high winds on Ixta, the team was given a break with mere 50 mph winds on Orizaba! Although the gusts remained high, the skies were clear, and the entire team was able to summit at around 8:30 am on Saturday after climbing 4200 vertical feet in about 7 hours. A tequila-fueled fiesta in Puebla hit the spot last night before traveling back to Mexico City today to catch flights home.

A bit of inclement weather has not stopped this team from charging ahead on Ixta! Team member, Marco, has a tracking device, if you’d like to check out where they are. Click or copy this link:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/gogl.jsp?glId=0R899zZpRpkqxhtxVXUZ8qKaTAiglkp4N

The Alpenglow team in Mexico began their trip by exploring Mexico City, followed by a day of travel to the mountains. They went for an acclimatization hike today up to 14,000′ and will sleep tonight in a hut at 12,500′. Everyone is healthy, happy, and strong with plans to get to High Camp (15,200′) tomorrow and the summit of Iztaccihuatl (aka Ixta, 17,154′) on Wednesday! We’ll let you know as soon as we get word on their summit bid.