Scott called a bit ago to report that the entire team is now in the remote, jungle village of Sugapa.  They made two flights to shuttle everyone out of Timika and also made a reconnaissance flight over the mountain, so they are back on schedule!

Sugapa is deep in the jungle and the team are all enjoying the cultural experience, as well as the lush flora surrounding town.  They will spend the night in the village and everything is on schedule for meeting up with fuel drums that should be flown in tomorrow morning (local time).

Scott says it looks busy at Base Camp, with a team led by a local outfitter who are refusing to hike out, and have a number of tents erected near the traditional Base Camp. They have been there for some days, while they try to negotiate passage through the mine, however mine officials are currently refusing to allow this.  Our team will try to land in a neighboring valley, so as to not crowd the encampment and to place our climbers closer to the climbing route.  If clouds prevent this, we have a nice Plan B spot just over a pass from the valley that should be more easily accessible.

Scott will call in an audio post shortly, so stay tuned!