Tag Archive for: Summit Day

Top of the World!

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

We are thrilled to announce that the 2023 Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest expedition team has successfully reached the summit of the tallest mountain on Earth, and safely returned to their tents at Camp 4! The team all reached the top between 10:30 AM and 12:00 PM NPT (local time) and enjoyed a magnificent summit day complete with sunshine, little wind, great route conditions, and the route (mostly) to themselves.

Congratulations to the team and and a heartfelt thank you goes out to our rockstar Sherpa team and support staff! This incredible feat would not be possible without them.

Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with today’s dispatch as he tries to find the words for a truly special day on Mount Everest:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in from the South Col (7900m/25,919ft) for the Madison Mountaineering Everest (8848m/29,032ft) and Lhotse (8516m/27,940ft) expedition team. We had a great summit today on Mount Everest! Best summit day ever that I can remember.

We started about 2:00 AM after a brief snowstorm here on the South Col, made our way up the triangular face to the balcony, up to the south summit, and up to the top of the world – summit of Mount Everest, about 9:30 – 10:00 AM. It was a glorious day! The best conditions and best route conditions that I can remember, perfect weather. It was warm, hardly any wind, hardly any other climbers on the mountain. We spent about two hours total, some of us, after summit just basking in the views, warmth and enjoying being at the top of Mount Everest. So, we had eight clients, four guides and 15 Nepal Sherpas get to the top today, including Aang Phurba Sherpa. And now, we’re all back safe in Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft)!

Our plan is to go to bed, we just had some dinner. Some of us are going to wake up in a few hours, and head off to climb Lhotse – a neighboring peak of Mount Everest, the fourth highest mountain in the world.

So, the perfect summit day! (I) can’t believe how lucky we were, it was so nice up there. So lucky in so many ways! It was a glorious day and glad we’re all back safe.

Tomorrow some of us will go to Lhotse, the rest of us down to Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft), and the following day down to base camp (5364m/17,598ft). All is well here on Everest! 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:

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Summit Push – It’s Time!

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

The 2023 Madison Mountaineering Everest expedition team is primed and ready to make their summit push on the world’s highest peak! In just a few short hours, the team will emerge from their tents, dawn their packs, and leave the South Col in the direction of Mount Everest’s summit ridge which will take them to the summit. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from the South Col:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Everest (8848m/29,032ft) and Lhotse (8516m/27,940ft) expedition team. Today is May 23rd and we are up here at Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft) on the South Col. We got up here yesterday afternoon and had a good nights sleep, a restful day recovering and preparing for our summit attempt tonight. So the weather looks great, probably the best day of the season coming up, fingers crossed.

The team is ready and our plan is to wake up in a few hours time and head out around midnight to make our summit attempt on Mount Everest! So we are doing our last minute preparations here, finishing our dinner, filling our water bottles, we’ll sleep for 2 hours before we get up and go.

Wish us luck! We’ll check in tomorrow.

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:

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Successful end to another season on Aconcagua!

The team atop the highest point in all of the America's!

It’s been another great season on Aconcagua for us! Our teams enjoyed spending time on the highest peak in the Andes and pushing to new heights. While not every climber we had made the summit, all had a fun and safe experience on the highest peak in the southern and western hemispheres. We pride ourselves on our small groups, high quality guiding / logistics and attention to detail throughout our program on Aconcagua. As noted in the recent Explorer’s Web Aconcagua article, the mountain is sometimes dangerous and fatal, so should not be underestimated. We look forward to returning to Aconcagua next season for more good times in the Andes mountains!

The whole experience you’ve assembled is just a total class act! So pleased to have this opportunity to spend some time with you on the mountain!” – Bill Chapman, 2023 Aconcagua

Above the clouds after an alpine start on summit day!

Above the clouds after an alpine start on summit day!

Breaking to refuel with food and water!

Breaking to refuel with food and water!

The camp hangout spot sitting below Aconcagua and alpenglow on the upper mountain!

The camp hangout spot sitting below Aconcagua and alpenglow on the upper mountain!

Guides, Garrett Madison, Ed Viesturs and Cacho Beiza working hard!

Guides, Garrett Madison, Ed Viesturs and Cacho Beiza working hard!

Taking in the views above camp!

Taking in the views above camp!

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:

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Aconcagua Summit!

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering Archive.

We’re ecstatic to announce that the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua expedition team successfully reached the summit of South America’s tallest peak and have returned safely and soundly to their comforts in Camp 3! While it was a long day, the team had great weather on the ascent, and was able to enjoy a hot meal before crawling into their tents this evening. Expedition guide, Ed Viesturs, checks in with this dispatch after a successful summit on Aconcagua:

Hello everyone! This is Ed Viesturs reporting for Madison Mountaineering. We’re back at Camp 3 (5989m/19,650ft) now, we had an amazing day!

We reached the summit (6961m/22,837ft) today after an eight and a half hour climb. We had spectacular weather – it was sunny, very little wind, and once we reached the summit, the afternoon (inaudible) kind of rolled in and we got a little snow and it got a little spicy. But all in all, it was a great climb! 13 hours round trip and we’re safe and sound back at Camp 3. We just had a nice hot meal, called guamen, and tomorrow we’re heading down back to base camp (4367m/14,327ft).

Thanks for checking in!

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:

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K2 Summit on a beautiful day!!

K2 Summit!! Garrett just called in this report from K2 Camp 4 on their way down:

Hey this is Garrett calling in for the K2 expedition team. We reached the summit of K2 today!! Second highest mountain in the world! We had a beautiful day. We left high camp about 9:00 PM and got to the summit about 6:30-7:00 AM – all members were on top. We had it all to ourselves, no other crews were up there. Beautiful day! We saw many other great peaks in the Karakoram. Wonderful views as far as the eye can see. Really a magnificent climb!

Right now we are all back at Camp 4. The last climbers are trickling back to Camp 4. Our plan is to rest up, have some soup, and then head on down to Camp 2 for the night. It’s a big push, another 4 or 5 hours from here but we’d really like to get down to Camp 2.

We had a great day, just wonderful weather up high, no wind, great team of climbers, Sherpa, and guides. We had a total of 8 clients on top, 3 guides, 9 Nepali Sherpas, and 4 Pakistani high altitude porters. Great day!

We are looking forward to a safe descent and being in Base Camp tomorrow. We will check soon.

Team on K2 Summit


Garrett Madison on the summit of K2


On the way to the summit of K2


On the way to the summit of K2


Heading up from K2 Camp 4


K2 Camp 4

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K2 Summit on a beautiful day!

K2 Summit!! Garrett just called in this report from K2 Camp 4 on their way down:

Hey this is Garrett calling in for the K2 expedition team. We reached the summit of K2 today!! Second highest mountain in the world! We had a beautiful day. We left high camp about 9:00 PM and got to the summit about 6:30-7:00 AM – all members were on top. We had it all to ourselves, no other crews were up there. Beautiful day! We saw many other great peaks in the Karakoram. Wonderful views as far as the eye can see. Really a magnificent climb!

Right now we are all back at Camp 4. The last climbers are trickling back to Camp 4. Our plan is to rest up, have some soup, and then head on down to Camp 2 for the night. It’s a big push, another 4 or 5 hours from here but we’d really like to get down to Camp 2.

We had a great day, just wonderful weather up high, no wind, great team of climbers, Sherpa, and guides. We had a total of 8 clients on top, 3 guides, 9 Nepali Sherpas, and 4 Pakistani high altitude porters. Great day!

We are looking forward to a safe descent and being in Base Camp tomorrow. We will check soon.

Team on K2 Summit


Garrett Madison on the summit of K2


On the way to the summit of K2


On the way to the summit of K2


Heading up from K2 Camp 4


K2 Camp 4

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Full climbing team has successfully summited Everest!!

Just moments ago our full climbing team successfully summited Everest at 8,850m (29,035ft)!! It is a spectacular day here with no wind or clouds in sight. 15 Sherpa, 7 climbers (Jim, Joel, Stuart, Nick, Lisa, Ankur, Jeff) and 5 guides (Garrett, Billy, Conan, Fred, Brent) are together at the top. The sun is shining and we are so very happy that our climbers have made it to the top of the world. Our team will take in the views and enjoy the moment before making the descent back down to Camp 2.

Garrett, Lisa, and Stuart will be climbing Lhotse today as well which continues the excitement. The Lhotse fixed lines were finished last night and our team will rest for a few hours at Camp 4 before making this second ascent.

Stay tuned, pictures to come!! 🙂

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Full climbing team has successfully summited Everest!

Just moments ago our full climbing team successfully summited Everest at 8,850m (29,035ft)!! It is a spectacular day here with no wind or clouds in sight. 15 Sherpa, 7 climbers (Jim, Joel, Stuart, Nick, Lisa, Ankur, Jeff) and 5 guides (Garrett, Billy, Conan, Fred, Brent) are together at the top. The sun is shining and we are so very happy that our climbers have made it to the top of the world. Our team will take in the views and enjoy the moment before making the descent back down to Camp 2.

Garrett, Lisa, and Stuart will be climbing Lhotse today as well which continues the excitement. The Lhotse fixed lines were finished last night and our team will rest for a few hours at Camp 4 before making this second ascent.

Stay tuned, pictures to come!! 🙂

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Complete success for climbing team on Aconcagua!

I am very proud to say that the Madison Mountaineering climbing team on Aconcagua had complete success!  All team members stood on the highest point of the Western & Southern Hemispheres together on January 22nd. Congratulations to the following climbers:

-Audrey Cadwallader

-Linda Wohlegemuth

-Walt Harris

-Ginna Kelly

-Peter Horsman

-Bernd Horsman

-Wenny Sanchez

As many climbers are aware, this season on Aconcagua has been a very tough one with severe storms preventing teams from reaching the summit.  As we approached the mountain on our trek into base camp, we encountered many teams that had not ascended past Camp 1 on the mountain, and were very discouraging.  The look of defeat in their faces and of time spent suffering at high altitude without any summit attempt made us wonder….We pressed onward.  After we reached base camp we received a weather forecast that suggested favorable weather, but only for a short time.  In order to take advantage of this, we accelerated our climbing schedule and put our team in a position to summit on the last day of good weather (January 22nd).  All team members pulled together to push the itinerary forward, with hard work and determination we succeeded in reaching our goal.

The day after we reached the summit the next storm cycle began with high winds and snow preventing any other summit attempts, we reached base camp on this day, and were informed by the park rangers that they were closing the mountain to climbers indefinitely because of landslides. We really lucked out with our weather window, and with a group individual climbers who pulled together as a team to make the summit become a reality for everyone.  Great job team!

The team is doing well and we are currently waiting in Penitentes for the road to open so we can drive to Mendoza. Because of the landslides the road is currently closed in both directions. We expect the roads to be opened shorty. Onward!

-Garrett Madison

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A picnic on the approach hike

A picnic on the approach hike.jpg

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Aconcagua from Plaza Mulas base camp

Aconcagua from Plaza Mulas base camp.jpg

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Aconcagua team on the summit!

Aconcagua team on the summit.jpg

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Climbers head up the Canaleta

Climbers head up the Canaleta.jpg

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Last rest break before the summit

Last rest break before the summit.jpg

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Peter climbing up the Canaleta

Peter climbing up the Canaleta.jpg

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Summit day!

Summit day.jpg

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The team at Camp 1 on the way up

The team at Camp 1 on the way up.jpg

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View of the Andes from 22,500′!

View of the Andes from 22,500'.jpg

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Summit of Antarctica reached!!

Today Garrett, Mike, Sam, Iñaki, and Todd reached the summit of Antarctica at 4,892 meters (16,050 ft). With clear skies our team enjoyed spectacular 360 degree views! A truly “magical” experience. Mount Vinson is more than 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) from the South Pole, making it the most remote of the Seven Summits. It was also the last discovered, last climbed, and last named of the Seven Summits. Mount Vinson is named for U.S. Representative Carl Vinson of Georgia, who served in Congress from 1935 to 1961 and was the former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. He was a influential lobbyist for government funding of American exploration in Antarctica. After an early morning summit push, Garrett and team were able to make it to the summit and enjoy the stabilized weather conditions which the team took advantage of. Now resting at Camp 2 with moderate winds, the team is preparing for tomorrows continued descent toward Union Glacier Camp.

Great job team!!

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Audio Dispatch from Garrett Madison ~ Sunday, December 6

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Garrett and team approaching the highest peak in Antarctica, at 4,892 meters (16,050 ft)!

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Summit of Mount Vinson!

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