Our climbers on an acclimatization hike near base camp this morning. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

It was a busy day in base camp for the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua expedition teams! Three teams crossed paths on their respective expeditions, coming together for a barbecue and socializing before each team goes their separate ways. Blue skies allowed the teams to bask in the sunshine as they prepare to make their way up the mountain. With good weather tomorrow, they’ll be back on the move again up to Camp 1! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from base camp:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) expeditions – it’s January 11th.

Today three of our expeditions crossed paths here in Plaza de Mulas base camp (4367m/14,327ft) on the west side of the mountain. Our Vallecitos (6120m/20,080ft) and Aconcagua combo came down from Camp 3 (5989m/19,650ft), our Ojos del Salado (6893m/22,615ft) and Aconcagua combo spent a rest day here before moving up to Camp 1 (5060m/16,600ft), and our expedition on our normal itinerary that started on January 5th was doing the same thing today here in base camp.

We had a fantastic asado all together – that’s an Argentinian barbecue. And now we’re just all sitting down to dinner in one of our cozy dome tents.

So tomorrow, the Ojos and Aconcagua combo team and the regular expedition, we will all move up to Camp 1 tomorrow. The weather is fantastic and we’re looking forward to a good day! All is well here in Argentina and we’ll be in touch.

Our three teams on Aconcagua enjoying an asado (barbecue) today in base camp!

Our three teams on Aconcagua enjoying an asado (barbecue) today in base camp!

Guide Javier “Cacho” Beiza preparing asado!

Guide Javier “Cacho” Beiza preparing asado!


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.

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Flying to Plaza de Mulas base camp (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

The Madison Mountaineering Ojos del Salado and Aconcagua expedition team has arrived in Plaza de Mulas! Their previous acclimatization in Chile allows them to speed up their ascent, which they’ll look to start in the next day or two. Flying by helicopter today gave the team great views all around and with fresh legs as they unloaded their bags and settled into their tents for the night. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Plaza de Mulas:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ojos del Salado (6893m/22,615ft) and Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) combination expedition – today is January 10th.

Today we woke up early and drove out of Mendoza (746m/2,449ft), arrived at the Horcones River trailhead here at Aconcagua at about 8:00 AM. Then we hopped on a flight directly here to Plaza de Mulas base camp (4367m/14,327ft), which is base camp on this side of Aconcagua. We had a beautiful flight with excellent views of the famous south face of Aconcagua and the spectacular Horcones River Valley.

Usually, we would have to spend several days hiking up the Horcones River Valley in order to acclimatize to be at Aconcagua base camp. But, since we’ve already climbed Ojos del Salado, we were just able to skip that and fly here directly.

Tomorrow we will either take a rest day or start our ascent up the mountain by moving to Camp 1 (5060m/16,600ft). But, that will depend on the weather forecast.

Alright, all is well here at Aconcagua and we will be in touch tomorrow!

Our climber, Serge, disembarking at base camp (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Our climber, Serge, disembarking at base camp (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Plaza de Mulas base camp during an afternoon hike today (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Plaza de Mulas base camp during an afternoon hike today (Photo by Terray Sylvester)


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.

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Departing from the Atacama for Mendoza, Argentina!

One summit down, one more to go! The Ojos del Salado and Aconcagua expedition team has touched down in Mendoza, relaxed in the summer sun, ate good food, and are ready to hit the trail once again, this time towards Aconcagua. The team will fly by helicopter tomorrow morning to their base camp, marking the start of their second climb on this special, combo expedition. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Argentina:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ojos del Salado (6893m/22,615ft) and Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) combo expedition – today is January 9th, 2024.

Today we spent a rest day in beautiful, Mendoza (746m/2,449ft)! The temperature was just perfect after being up on the cold, dry Atacama Desert. We relaxed by the pool, packed, and prepared for our flight from the Horcones Valley trailhead to Plaza de Mulas base camp (4367m/14,327ft) tomorrow morning.

It was a beautiful day! We enjoyed the food and wine here in Mendoza and now we’re feeling recharged and ready to take on the highest peak in South America. So, all is well here in Argentina and we will be in touch tomorrow!

The team at our hotel in Mendoza!

The team at our hotel in Mendoza!

Dining in Mendoza!

Dining in Mendoza!

Fueling up with steak and wine before the upcoming climb!

Fueling up with steak and wine before the upcoming climb!


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.

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Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo by Ted Hesser)

It’s with great excitement to share that 100% of the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team has safely and successfully reached the summit of Antarctica’s highest peak and returned to their High Camp! The team experienced a steady wind throughout the day while climbing the ridge toward the summit, but having practiced cold weather self-care, the team put those skills to use so they could enjoy the climb. Congratulations to the entire team on an incredible feat in Antarctica! The entire team checks in with this celebratory dispatch from their High Camp after a successful ascent of Mount Vinson:

Hello! This is Garrett at High Camp (3536m/11,600ft) on Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) with the team. We are just back from the summit! We are extremely happy, just finished some macaroni & cheese, burgers, and veggies, and we’re going to say a few words to talk about our climb today.

(Garbled) from Mexico, coming down from the highest point in Antarctica! It’s another planet here. (Speaks Spanish).

Thais Herrera, (speaks Spanish).

Malu from Mexico! So happy to be here with this team and so grateful for the summit with it.

Hi everyone! This is Juan Francisco from Ecuador. I am so excited that we were able to summit! It was 100% success, we were all able to summit! It’s such a privilege to be in this beautiful group and to have this experience. By the way, (garbled).

Hi, this is Kat Gilson from Minnesota. Super stoked that we all got up there safely and no injuries. We had a beautiful summit, (garbled). It’s awesome to climb with all of these people!

Ahoy! (Speaks foreign language).

Hey! Josh Garrison here. This is my third of the seven summits with Garrett here, pretty cool! We’re just trying to keep the mission up in front of us of raising awareness for the (garbled). Wonderful summit but keep those guys in your hearts and in your prayers. See you on top next time!

Hello, everyone! This is Benny. We made the top today, it was awesome! We’re all here in the kitchen tent. We’re all super psyched, everyone’s happy, smiling, and healthy and thinking of our friends and family back home. Over and out!


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.

Instagram:

The team on the summit of the planet’s highest volcano!

The Madison Mountaineering team continues to relish in the recent memory of their successful climb on the world’s highest volcano, Ojos del Salado! Their next stop takes them to the Chilean coast where they can spend some time relaxing and eating good meals before they start to look ahead to their next objective, Aconcagua. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Chile:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ojos del Salado (6893m/22,615ft) and Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) combination expedition – today is January 7th.

Yesterday we had a fantastic climb on Ojos del Salado! 100% of the team summited, we had excellent weather to the top of the planet’s highest volcano and South America’s second-highest peak. Right now we are en route to Bahía Inglesa (10m/30ft), a nice little beach resort town on the Chilean coast. We’ll spend the night there and then we’ll start making our way to Mendoza, Argentina (746m/2,449ft) for our next climb, Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America.

All is well here and we’ll be in touch tomorrow!

Dawn on the slopes of Ojos del Salado at about 6,200 meters above sea level (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Dawn on the slopes of Ojos del Salado at about 6,200 meters above sea level (Photo by Terray Sylvester)


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.

Instagram:

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo by Ted Hesser)

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team has crawled into their tents at their High Camp and are ready to make a summit push! The team had excellent weather and climbing conditions as they ascended the fixed lines up several thousand feet of elevation gain towards their next camp. A much-deserved day of rest is in the plans until they once again emerge from their tents, only this time going for the summit. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Mount Vinson:

Hello! This is Garrett and Benny calling in for the Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition team. We are in High Camp (3536m/11,600ft)!

We had a great day climbing up from Low Camp (2774m/9,100ft) to High Camp on the fixed lines. Everyone on the team did well today. We had a beautiful day, great views all around looking out around the surrounding peaks here in AntarcticaMount Epperly (4359m/14,301ft), Mount Shinn (4661m/15,292ft). We rolled into High Camp, set up our tents, had dinner, got some hot water bottles, now we’re looking forward to a good night’s rest.

Our plan is to take a rest day and maybe go for the summit on January 8th. All is well here up at Mount Vinson High Camp! Check in soon.


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.

Instagram:

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo by Ted Hesser)

Cumbre! It was a perfect day for our Ojos del Salado and Aconcagua combo expedition team on their first objective. The team reached the summit of the highest volcano on the planet under perfect weather and looks forward to a day of rest ahead before they turn their sights to Aconcagua. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Chile:

100% summit success on Ojos del Salado today! We had a great climb in perfect weather to the top of the planet’s highest volcano, and the second-highest mountain in South America. We’re now resting in base camp and looking forward to our hotel near the beach in Bahía Inglesa tomorrow evening.


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.

Instagram:

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo by Ted Hesser)

After arriving in base camp the day prior, the team wasted no time on their move up Mount Vinson! From their base camp, the team heads up the Branscomb Glacier, having to navigate some crevassing along the way before reaching low camp. After assembling camp, the team refueled with a nice dinner all together. With more good weather in the coming days, the team will continue their ascent of Antarctica’s highest peak. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Mount Vinson:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition team. We are up at low camp (2774m/9,100ft). We had a great day climbing from Vinson Base Camp (2140m/7,020ft) up to low camp. We were in the clouds part of the day, but then the clouds parted! So we got some nice views of Mount Vinson and the surrounding peaks: Mount Shinn (4661m/15,292ft) and Mount Epperly (4359m/14,301ft).

We made  good time getting up here to low camp and then built our camp, set up our own kitchen tent. We had a nice dinner: some sausages, mashed potatoes, and broccoli, and a little chocolate and pineapple for dessert.

So everyone is doing great. There’s good weather here, very calm and (garbled).


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.

Instagram:

The team ready to move to their base camp on Ojos del Salado!

After a period of rest following several acclimatization climbs, the Ojos del Salado and Aconcagua expedition team is recharged and ready for their first objective, Ojos del Salado! The team has enjoyed the beautiful scenery and dips in the lake and hot springs, have packed their bags once again, and are en route to their base camp. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Chile:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ojos del Salado (6893m/22,615ft) and Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) expedition – today is January 4th.

This morning we’ve been packing up our camp here at beautiful, Laguna Verde. Our guests went for a dip in the lake and then a nice soak in the hot springs. Now we’re all ready to go, we’re going to head back up the hill behind us and drive a little ways to the southwest, then we’ll split off the carretera, and head up the valley off-road to Atacama Base Camp (5251m/17,227ft), which is base camp for Ojos del Salado. That’s at a little over 5,000 meters!

So, it’s a beautiful day here! Not a cloud in the sky this morning, a little bit of normal afternoon build-up right now, but since this is the driest non-polar desert on the planet, we don’t expect any precipitation. The weather forecast looks good for the next few days while we acclimatize a bit more, and then make our summit push on Ojos del Salado!

We’ll be in touch via inReach message over the next few days.


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.

Instagram:

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team arrived in base camp after a few days of anticipation while they waited out the weather in Union Glacier Camp! After touching down in the Ellsworth Mountain Range, the team excitedly got settled into their camp, ate dinner, and prepared for the move up to Low Camp. The team is in high spirits and ready to get the climb underway! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Mount Vinson Base Camp:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition number two of the season.

Today, our team arrived at Vinson Base Camp (2140m/7,020ft) and we got settled in, built our camp, had some dinner, and checked some of our gear, our equipment for the climb, and now we are off to bed. We had a beautiful flight over from Union Glacier Camp (700m/2,297ft), got to see lots of peaks on the way!

Everyone is in good spirits, feeling strong, happy to be here after a delay of a couple of days. But all is well here and we are really excited to get our expedition, our climb underway here. So hopefully we will be moving up to Low Camp (2774m/9,100ft) tomorrow. All is well here and we’ll check in soon from Mount Vinson!


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.

Instagram: