Beautiful early morning sunrise ascent of the classic Traverse du Entreves on the Italian / French border with the Italian Face of Mont Blanc lit up by morning alpenglow behind us. Our climbers  Irena & Aparna are having a wonderful time and will continue to explore the beautiful Chamonix valley in the French Alps.

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K2 2016 Climbing Season Recap:

Our K2 2016 team made a great effort to climb the peak but it was not meant to be. We are thankful that nobody was injured in the avalanche that came down from high on the mountain on July 23rd and took our Camp 3 and Camp 4 deposit off the mountain.  This avalanche resulted in the cancellation of the climbing season for all teams on K2 in 2016.  We have enjoyed our time in Pakistan and feel very lucky to have experienced this incredible mountain range, the Karakorum.  Please read the National Geographic article here for more information on the recent K2 climbing season.

To Higher Places!

Garrett Madison

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Amazing Youtube video by Petr Jan Juracka with beautiful drone shots of our 2016 K2 ascent.

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Below please also enjoy 2016 K2 climber Takayasu Semba’s photo’s from the expedition.

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Our summer 2016 Mont Blanc expedition is underway with climbers exploring the beautiful Chamonix valley in the French Alps. Chamonix is where the first winter olympics were held in 1924 and is also considered the ‘birthplace’ of climbing.

Yesterday Irena & Aparna climbed the Cosmiques Arete ridge.  Guide Jayson Simons-Jones will teach alpine mountain skills in preparation for Mont Blanc in a few days time. Right now Chamonix is in the midst of an above average heatwave, and this allowed our team to make a completely crampon free ascent of this alpine classic mixed rock snow and ice ridge climb (II+ AD / 5.6)

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Irena & Aparna enjoying a rare quiet day and beauty spot for lunch at 3600M on the super Classic Cosmiques Arete.
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Climbing the Aiguille du Toule 3600M on a perfect bluebird summer day on the French / Italian border
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This past week our climbers had an action packed two day climb of Mount Rainier in Washington State. Starting at an elevation of 5,400 feet at Paradise our team, led by Garrett Madison, made the three hour ascent with gear to Camp Muir (10,188). Camp Muir is a high altitude refuge for all climbers and provides a staging point between the Muir Snowfield and the Cowlitz Glacier.

After setting up camp and eating a delicious dinner, our climbing team prepared for the long night of climbing ahead. After waking up at 11pm to a full moon, we gathered our gear and roped up before heading off toward the summit. As the hours passed we worked our way across three ladder crossings over large crevasse’s. Nearing the summit we were pleasantly warmed up by the sun breaking over the distant horizon with a spectacular red and orange sky.

All members of our team successfully made it to the summit and had a wonderful time on the mountain. We look forward to returning to Mount Rainier again in 2017!

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Our summer 2016 climbing programs here in the Pacific Northwest are off to a great start with another beautiful summit of Mt. Baker! This 3 day climb takes you to the top of an active glaciated stratovolcano in the North Cascades of Washington in the United States. At an elevation of 10,781ft (3,286 m) our climbing team reached the third highest point in Washington State with views of many of the notable mountains scattered across the horizon.

Pat Timson, a highly accomplished alpinist, guided this climb and was able to share over 25 years of experience as our climbing team made their ascent to the summit of Mt. Baker.

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