Tag Archive for: Askole

Crossing a creek swollen with snowmelt en route to Askole. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

The drive towards the trailhead which leads teams towards K2 base camp is only the start of the adventure! Our team has arrived in Askole where they’ll begin their trek tomorrow. But not after an exciting drive with multiple stream crossings, unloading from their Jeeps on one bank only to load back up on the other side. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch after another adventurous day in Pakistan:

Hello! This is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 (8611m/28,251ft) expedition.

Today we drove from Skardu (2220m/7283ft) to Askole (3040m/9,974ft). It was an adventurous and fun Jeep ride, had a couple of stream crossings where we had to get out and walk around, and let our drivers make it through to the other side before we got back in. (We) got to Askole here in the afternoon, had lunch, and have just been enjoying the camp, organizing equipment. We just finished our dinner, everyone’s doing well! We’re excited to start trekking tomorrow. It’s about a 20 kilometer day trekking to Johla Camp (3151m/10,338ft).

(We’re) excited to finally be underway here on the expedition and looking forward to the days ahead!

Luggage before being loaded on the Jeeps en route to Askole.

Luggage before being loaded on the Jeeps en route to Askole.

The team before departing from Skardu!

The team before departing from Skardu!

Along the Braldu River on the way to Askole! (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Along the Braldu River on the way to Askole! (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Siddhi, Garrett and Ryan posing for a portrait en route to Askole. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Siddhi, Garrett and Ryan posing for a portrait en route to Askole. (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:

The Madison Mountaineering K2 expedition team after arriving in Skardu!

The 2023 Madison Mountaineering K2 expedition is underway in Pakistan! Over the course of the last few days, our climbers, guides and Sherpa team arrived in Islamabad and are eager to keep the expedition moving. After a short stay at the team hotel and celebrating one climbers birthday, the team once again packed their bags and boarded another plane en route to Skardu. Tomorrow, the team will enjoy a rest day and do some sight seeing before continuing their expedition the following day to the trailhead where they’ll embark on this incredible journey towards K2. Expedition guide, Terray Sylvester checks in with todays dispatch from Pakistan:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the 2023 Madison Mountaineering K2 expedition – today is June 25th.

Over the last couple of days, our team arrived in Islamabad, and this morning we flew from Islamabad to Skardu (2220m/7283ft) up in Gilgit-Baltistan in the Karakoram mountains. It was a beautiful morning for the flight! We had great views of Nanga Parbat (8126m/26,660ft), and then off of the left side of the plane as we approached Skardu, excellent views of K2 (8611m/28,251ft), the Gasherbrums, Broad Peak (8051m/26,414ft) and other peaks in that zone.

We touched down, and then headed to our hotel, and spent the evening organizing and relaxing at the hotel. It’s pretty hot here, but we had a beautiful evening – beautiful sunset out over the Skardu valley – and then we enjoyed a nice dinner here at our hotel!

Tomorrow, we’ll take a rest day here in Skardu and then the next day we plan to drive to our trailhead at Askole (3040m/9,974ft) up in the mountains. So everything is going really well here in Pakistan and we’ll be in touch tomorrow!

The team preparing to board our flight from Islamabad to Skardu. Photo: Terray Sylvester

The team preparing to board our flight from Islamabad to Skardu. Photo: Terray Sylvester

The Madison Mountaineering K2 sherpa team, with two of our Pakistani staff. Photo: Terray Sylvester

The Madison Mountaineering K2 sherpa team, with two of our Pakistani staff. Photo: Terray Sylvester

A birthday celebration this evening for our climber, Yuri!

A birthday celebration this evening for our climber, Yuri!


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:

Big boulder blocking the Karakoram Highway!

Our 2022 K2 expedition has started!!  The team arrived in Islamabad on June 18th and drove by motor coach to the staging city of Skardu enjoying a small adventure along the way.  Here’s expedition leader, Garrett Madison, with the expedition’s initial dispatch:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 2022 expedition team.  Today is June 19th and we arrived in Skardu today after a drive from Islamabad.  The weather’s been bad the last few days, so all the flights from Islamabad to Skardu have been canceled.  So, we took buses and drove yesterday on the Karakoram Highway and reached Skardu around midnight.

There was a big boulder that came down over the road at one point and we actually had to walk across by foot and have new vehicles met us on the other side to transport us to Skardu.  It was an adventure to say the least!  A fun way to start the trip.

We’re just waiting on clearance here in Skardu, then we’ll head off tomorrow, hopefully by jeep, drive all the way to Jhola Camp (3151m/10,338ft), spend the night, and then start trekking the next day towards K2 base camp.

Everyone’s doing well, we’re excited to be here and looking forward to the journey ahead.

K2 team traveled by bus from Islamabad to Skardu

K2 team traveled by bus from Islamabad to Skardu

Climber Nelly and Ang Purba enjoy reaching Diamer, Pakastan

Climber Nelly and Ang Purba enjoy reaching Diamer, Pakistan


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 first day of trekking is done and the team is now at Paiju camp along the Braldu River on their way to K2 base camp.  Expedition leader Garrett Madison checks in via satellite phone from their shady camp:

Hello!  This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 and Broad Peak expedition.

Today is Tuesday, June 29th and we had a great day trekking from Jhola camp to Paiju camp today along the Braldu River.  We had lunch, made it to camp, relaxed in the shade, and then had a nice dinner, watched the sun go down with the light changing on all the surrounding peaks.  Now we are just getting settled in for bed.

Everyone’s doing well and we’re excited to be on our way to K2 base camp.  We’ll probably arrive there in four or five days.  We are enjoying the trek, the scenery, and the good company with all of our Pakistani and sherpa friends.

We’ll check in soon.  Thanks!

(photo:  Madison Mountaineering archives)

If climbing K2 or Broad Peak is in your future, please contact our office, we would love to have you climb with us!


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 Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my Madison Mountaineering flash briefing.

Instagram:

– our Garmin inReach Mini powered real-time tracking map:

The K2 trekking is complete.  The team had a marathon day by finishing the trek and then 4-wheeling for seven hours (!) to Skardu.  Here’s expedition leader Garrett Madison’s update:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the K2 expedition team.  Today is July 26th and we finished our trek out from K2 base camp to Askole and then we rode by jeep for seven hours from Askole to Skardu.  We are very happy to be in Skardu and to have a nice lodge with a hot shower.  And everyone’s doing great.  We’re gonna take a rest day tomorrow and then fingers crossed for good weather, hopefully fly to Islamabad the following day.

(photo:  Madison Mountaineering K2 archives)

Jola

It’s all on foot from here!  Careful not to wake other team members, K2 expedition leader, Garrett Madison quietly calls in this early morning expedition update from the last town, Askole, Pakistan, before the trek begins on foot this morning.

Hello this is Garrett calling in for the K2 Everest [it’s early] team.  We are in Askole (3040m/9,974ft.).  We had a great drive by jeep from Skardu to Askole yesterday.  It was a very scenic jeep ride, very rugged with some narrow river gorges.  But we made it to Askole, had a nice dinner, and setup our camp.  Now we are getting ready today to head off towards our first day trekking to Jhola (3151m/10,338ft).  Everyone’s doing great.  We’ve got good weather here and we are looking forward to getting the trek underway!

Now passing the remote Askole settlement at the foothills of the Karakoram wilderness, our K2 team is in good condition and excited for the adventure ahead. Our Madison Mountaineering K2 International Expedition has five climbers for K2 plus 2 guides, 1 camera man and 1 base camp chef, and we are traveling with and sharing some resources with another K2 Expedition led by Kari Kobler from Switzerland. The two expeditions combined have sent in an advance group of about 300 Pakistani porters and about 100 horses to carry equipment and supplies. In addition to the advanced group of porters and horses, both expeditions combined also have an additional 300 Pakistani porters and more than 100 horses traveling into K2 Base Camp with the climbers. There are just under 100 permits issued for western climbers and supporting Nepalese Sherpa’s for 2016 for the four 8,000 metre peaks in the Karakoram region that include K2, Broad Peak and Gashaburm 1 and 2. There is only about 45 climbing permits for K2 for 2016.

We are excited to be connecting climbers scaling the worlds highest peaks to physicians, researchers, emergency teams, friends and family in near real-time using the first and only fully integrated remote physiological monitoring platform capable of doing so this season on K2. As a part of this ascent, this project represents the collaboration of three leaders in wireless technology and communications – WiCis-Sports, Thuraya, and OCENS, – to stream vital sign and location data within seconds to any internet-enabled device anywhere in the world. With the goal of advancing the availability of scalable, continuous monitoring for those participating in extreme outdoor adventure sports, this project goes well beyond to keep explorers everywhere well within reach.

Thank you Stuart for the photos and update!

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K2 Hotel in Skardu

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Getting ready to leave the K2 hotel

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Driving from Skardu to Askole

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Our team had 15 Toyota Landcruisers full of people and supplies. Trucks went ahead with other supplies. One of the rivers had a fairly good mudslide causing our trucks to get stuck

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One of the many bridges on the drive from Skardu to Askole

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A cooked chapatti

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The drive 130 km from Skardu to Askole took about nine hours

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A Toyota Landcruiser overheated and needed water after each steam

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Drive in from Skardu to Askole was very narrow and steep in many parts

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The trek in to K2

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Preparing dough for chapattis

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Cooking chapatti

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