Berg

Hear Wally's Call from Africa

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Climb high, sleep low; that's our principle and that's what we're doing today, as we traverse at the base of the Breach Wall towards the great Barranco Camp—you heard me talk about it earlier this season.

Hope you can hear me in the wind up here. We've had beautiful weather—the best of the year. But, up at this elevation the clouds have moved in a bit and we have a pretty good wind going.

This group—I've been calling "the good omen team"—they're still feeling a propensity to have good omens occur at every turn of the trip. But, I have to take some of the good luck factor, put it aside, and also give them credit for them being, besides a very strong team, a very smart team: they like the Berg pace. The first time I've ever climbed with anyone on Kili—I think an entire group—that all stay behind me. They keep the Berg mountaineering pace; they enjoy it.

Yesterday's rest day/acclimatization day, the spirit of it was competitive in regard to who could sit around and be the most inactive: playing cards, reading books, sitting in the sun, doing some photography. A few of us took a hike out to the Shira edge, but that hike itself was very mellow. This is what's going to get us up this peak—this is a very strong, able, and, I'll have to emphasize, smart team.

Things are setting up very well for us to have an excellent summit day, day after tomorrow. And I'll continue to keep you posted on how that goes.

—Alpine Ascents Guide Wally Berg, MountainZone.com Correspondent