Antarctica expedition is gearing up for departure!

In just over a month the Madison Mountaineering team will depart for Antarctica! This expedition will bring climbers to Vinson Massif, standing at 16,050ft. Part of the Ellsworth mountain range, Mt. Vinson is the highest peak in Antarctica, approx. 600 miles from the South Pole and over 1,200 miles from the beginning of the Antarctic Peninsula. A pristine land of ice, snow, and rock, Antarctica is actually a desert, with the least precipitation of any continent on Earth. Leading this expedition will be Garrett Madison, who is perhaps one of the best ‘expedition leaders’ in regards to balancing climber safety, reaching the summit, and having a great time throughout the program. The ascent of Mt. Vincent will be broken up into multiple stages, with two higher camps above our base camp. The average temperature is well below 0°F and occasionally the winds can reach up to 40 mph. Luckily this ascent will be in the summer season in the southern hemisphere with 24 hours of daylight in Antarctica. This epic adventure will begin in the Tierra del Fuego or ‘Land of Fire’ in Chile’s southernmost city of Punta Arenas, located on the straight of Magellan. Stay tuned as the Madison Mountaineering team prepares to launch this fall expedition.