International Mountain Guides: The American Classic on Everest

IMG at a Glance

The core facts of what IMG is and what they deliver in 2026.

Company Background

Eric Simonson founded IMG in 1986 after building a reputation as one of the first American guides working extensively on Mount Rainier and in Nepal. He was on the 1982 American Medical Research Expedition on Mount Everest — the expedition that produced some of the earliest physiological research on climbers at extreme altitude — and by 1986 had enough mountain experience and enough frustration with the commercial guiding landscape to launch his own company. IMG’s first operations were on Mount Rainier and the Cascades, with expanded international programs following through the late 1980s and into the Himalayas in the early 1990s.

The company’s first Everest expedition ran in 1990. From that point through 2026, IMG has returned to Everest annually (with only a small number of cancelled seasons in forty years — notably 2014 after the Khumbu Icefall avalanche that killed sixteen Sherpas and 2015 after the Gorkha earthquake closed the mountain). Across 31 expeditions, IMG has put 605 clients on the summit, a cumulative total that places the company among the highest-volume summiting operators in the industry. The consistency is as meaningful as the total — IMG has not suddenly appeared in the last decade as a response to commercialization. They built the modern commercial Everest model, more or less, and then kept running it.

Eric Simonson remains CEO and Owner after the retirement of his longtime partners. His day-to-day role has shifted toward mentorship — training the next generation of IMG guides and managers — though he continues to oversee program direction. The operational leadership on Everest rotates among senior IMG guides and the Sherpa sirdar team. Among the most notable institutional distinctions: National Geographic Adventure Magazine once ranked IMG the best guide service for the Seven Summits, with the editorial line “Pick a big peak and bag it, be it Everest, Kili, or Rainier…” IMG guides have also received heroism awards for rescues conducted on Everest over the decades.

IMG is a Washington State Limited Liability Company. “International Mountain Guides®” is a registered trademark. The company is accredited by the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) and publicly affiliates with the Washington’s National Park Fund and Leave No Trace. These affiliations are not marketing — they shape operational decisions around environmental stewardship, guide certification standards, and public-land permit relationships in ways that cheaper operators typically do not invest in.

Operating Model

IMG’s operational approach on Everest can be summarized in three structural choices: a personal climbing Sherpa for every client, a radio-integrated communications system, and a conservative turn-around culture backed by senior IMG directors who oversee every program.

Staffing: One Personal Sherpa Per Client

Every IMG Everest client is assigned a personal climbing Sherpa for the expedition. The Sherpa climbs with the client through rotations, fixes ropes, carries loads to high camps, and accompanies the client on summit day. This is a 1:1 ratio in practice on summit night — meaningfully different from the “Sherpa-supported” model used by budget operators where clients may share Sherpa support or only have a dedicated Sherpa for the final summit push. IMG’s Classic program does not assign a separate Western guide per client; the Western IFMGA guides serve as lead guides overseeing the overall team, while the 1:1 relationship is climber-to-Sherpa.

Communications: 24/7 Radio Monitoring

Each IMG climber-and-Sherpa team is issued a handheld VHF radio, and IMG operates continuous 24/7 radio monitoring whenever climbers are on the mountain. Check-in times and locations are required and logged. The company also maintains satellite phone communication capability at Base Camp and critical high camps. This is a detail that matters more than it sounds: on a mountain where decisions need to be made in minutes (turn-around calls during bad-weather summit pushes, medical evacuations from Camp 2 or Camp 3), the quality of real-time communications infrastructure is often the difference between coordinated response and improvised chaos.

Oxygen Strategy

IMG uses 1,800-liter oxygen bottles — sufficient for approximately 10 hours at 3 liters per minute, the typical summit-day flow rate. The specific bottle allocation per climber varies by program tier, but the Classic program provides enough oxygen for a standard summit push with margin; the Hybrid program and any upgrades include additional bottles. IMG also provides Summit Oxygen brand masks and regulators as standard equipment. Clients who want higher summit-day flow rates (4 LPM or higher) or who want guaranteed sleep oxygen at Camps 3 and 4 can add additional bottles as an upgrade — this is the single most common upgrade IMG Classic clients add.

Decision-Making: The Director Layer

The distinctive element of IMG’s on-mountain decision-making is the director oversight layer. Senior IMG directors — longtime guides with decades of Everest experience — oversee every program and have final authority on major calls. This is a cultural feature as much as a structural one: IMG’s turn-around discipline has been tested repeatedly across four decades, and the institutional memory includes the hard lessons that only come from having been on the mountain when something went wrong. IMG does not allow members to climb solo on Everest. Every IMG climber operates within a team structure with radio contact and leadership oversight at all times.

Sherpa Welfare and Continuity

Ang Jangbu Sherpa leads IMG’s climbing Sherpa team. On their own website, IMG describes the Sherpa team as “among the best paid, best led, best equipped, and best trained in the business” — a claim that is difficult to verify independently but is generally corroborated by the broader Everest community. Alan Arnette and other industry commentators have historically cited IMG as an exemplary employer on the Sherpa welfare dimension. The practical evidence is team continuity: many IMG climbing Sherpas have worked with the company for ten or more years, which is materially longer than the industry average and indicates an employer the staff want to keep working with. This matters to clients for two reasons: long-tenured Sherpa teams are better-coordinated on the mountain, and the team’s experience has not been lost to turnover every few seasons.

Medical Infrastructure

IMG climbers have access to the HRA Base Camp Medical Clinic (Everest ER) during the season — a shared resource used by multiple Everest teams but a meaningful piece of safety infrastructure. IMG lead guides typically hold Wilderness Medical Training or higher qualifications. A Gamow bag (portable altitude chamber) and emergency oxygen are available at Base Camp. Helicopter evacuation from Camp 2 and below is coordinated through IMG’s local helicopter partners, though evacuation costs are billed to the client’s insurance.

Peaks and Programs

IMG runs a broad international program portfolio beyond Everest. Climbers considering IMG for Everest should know the company’s depth also makes it a strong choice for building an 8,000-meter resume on other peaks with the same operator.

The company also runs Ama Dablam in Nepal, Mount Elbrus in Russia, Mount Khuiten in Mongolia, Cotopaxi and Chimborazo in Ecuador, Mexico volcanoes, Bolivia climbs, and trekking programs to Everest Base Camp, Machu Picchu, and the Cordillera Huayhuash. Mount Rainier and Denali programs in the Cascades and Alaska form the North American backbone — Rainier is where many IMG Everest clients do their formal preparation climbing. This portfolio is strategically relevant: a climber who starts with IMG on Rainier, progresses to Denali, climbs Aconcagua or Cho Oyu for higher-altitude acclimatization experience, and then attempts Everest is working with the same operator, the same guide culture, and often the same lead guides throughout. That continuity is difficult to replicate with single-peak operators.

2026 Pricing and What’s Included

IMG offers two primary Everest programs in 2026 — Classic and Hybrid. The tiers are not upgrades of each other; they are different products with different guide structures.

What’s Typically Included

IMG’s pricing includes expedition logistics (permits, base camp services, food, in-country transportation from defined start point), Sherpa support, group oxygen and regulators, fixed rope and ladder contributions through the Icefall Doctors, base camp medical support through Everest ER, and 24/7 radio communications. Consultation with IMG staff during pre-expedition preparation is unlimited and included. Base camp infrastructure includes heated dining tent, kitchen tent, communications tent, and individual sleeping tents.

What’s Not Included

Standard international operator exclusions apply: international flights (Kathmandu is the arrival point), Nepal visa fees, hotel nights in Kathmandu before and after the expedition, personal climbing gear (roughly $6,000–$12,000 for a full 8,000m kit if starting from nothing), climbing insurance with helicopter evacuation to at least 6,000m, trip cancellation insurance, personal oxygen upgrades beyond the standard allocation, and Sherpa summit bonuses ($1,500–$3,000 per climber, paid in cash as customary on Everest). Personal climbing Sherpa upgrade beyond standard Classic allocation is also priced separately.

Realistic All-In 2026 Budget

For a Classic IMG Everest expedition in 2026, a realistic all-in budget is approximately $65,000–$75,000 once flights, gear, insurance, summit bonuses, and typical upgrades are factored in. For the Hybrid program, budget $90,000–$105,000 all-in. Climbers should build their financial planning on the all-in number rather than the headline price — this is industry-standard across all operators, not specific to IMG.

Cancellation and Contract Terms

IMG’s specific 2026 cancellation schedule is provided to clients in the expedition contract and is not published on the public website. Climbers evaluating IMG against other operators should request the full cancellation schedule in writing before committing a deposit. Based on industry norms and IMG’s published position, key things to verify with the company directly:

• Tiered refund schedule. Most international operators use a schedule tied to days before departure — larger refunds further out, smaller refunds closer in, zero refund inside 60–90 days. IMG’s schedule is consistent with this pattern, but verify the exact tier dates.
• Deposit policy. Deposits are typically non-refundable at international operators. Ask specifically about deposit refundability versus later payments.
• Operator-side cancellation. What happens if IMG cancels the expedition? The 2014 and 2015 seasons were both cancelled — how did clients who had paid full expedition fees receive refunds or future credits? This is the most revealing question to ask, because it exposes how the company treats clients when the failure is not the client’s fault.
• Medical cancellations. Almost no operator refunds for HAPE or other medical issues on the mountain. This is standard. It is why trip-cancellation and trip-interruption insurance is non-negotiable on an 8,000-meter expedition.
• Permit-related cancellations. Nepal’s permit fee increased from $11,000 to $15,000 in September 2025. Ask how permit fee changes between booking and expedition are handled — passed through to the client, absorbed by IMG, or addressed through the contract’s price-change clause.

The 2014 and 2015 cancellations are the relevant historical reference. IMG’s handling of those seasons (offering future-season credits and partial refunds, depending on when in the expedition the cancellation occurred) has been generally well-regarded within the climbing community, but the specifics vary by client situation and are worth discussing directly with IMG before signing.

Safety Record and Philosophy

Across 31 Everest expeditions between 1990 and 2025, IMG has run one of the stronger safety records among high-volume Everest operators. The company does not publish a comprehensive public fatality accounting (few operators do), but the broader climbing community tracking and the Himalayan Database records indicate IMG’s client fatality rate is at or below the industry average — in a category where the industry average is not zero.

The 2014 Khumbu Icefall avalanche killed sixteen Sherpas (not specifically IMG staff in all cases) and led IMG to cancel the season along with most other operators. The 2015 Gorkha earthquake avalanche at Base Camp similarly affected all teams on the mountain and led to the 2015 season cancellation. These are peak-wide events rather than operator-specific incidents, but IMG’s response to both — prioritizing staff and client welfare over summit pushes — reflects the turn-around culture the company has cultivated.

The philosophical position IMG states publicly is that the number of climbers on Everest has grown to the point where “there are an increasing number of climbers on Mt. Everest that do not belong there, or who are poorly supported, so that if they have a problem, it might soon become your problem.” IMG’s response to this environment is the communications discipline, director oversight, and Sherpa staffing model described earlier — not marketing, but operational choices that give IMG climbers more infrastructure in a scenario where another team’s emergency becomes everyone’s problem.

Per Alan Arnette’s 2026 analysis of Everest fatalities, 23 of the 26 climbers who died on Everest in 2023 and 2024 were with operators charging below the median expedition price. IMG is a median-priced operator at the Classic tier and above-median at Hybrid. The price-safety correlation is not perfect — expensive operators also have incidents — but IMG sits on the right side of the correlation, consistently.

Pros and Cons

Who This Operator Is For

Frequently Asked Questions About IMG

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