Camp 2

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Everest team.  We are up at Camp 2 right now and everybody’s doing well.  We are taking a rest day and watching the weather.  We are also watching some teams come down off the Lhotse face after their summit attempts.  But the main thing is that we are just making sure that we’ve got a good weather window before we head up.  We may head up tonight or the following day.  We not exactly sure yet, still waiting for a couple of weather forecasts to come in.  But, everyone’s doing good here, the weather’s improving, and we are looking forward to a summit attempt here in the next few days!

Camp 2 on Everest - our advanced base camp

Now on their summit rotation, the team climbed from base camp (5307m/17,411ft) to Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft) today.  Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, provides today’s update via satellite phone from Camp 2:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Everest climbing team.  Today is May 17th, and we awoke at about 1:00 AM and left at 2:00 AM from base camp.  We had a beautiful, bright Moonlit night climbing up through the Khumbu Icefall on our way up to Camp 1 and then onward to Camp 2.  We all made it to Camp 2 today and had a leisurely afternoon.  We’re just going to reassess the weather forecast tomorrow, take a rest day, and then think about potentially moving up towards Camp 3 and Camp 4 on a summit attempt.  So, all’s well here in Camp 2, everybody’s doing great, and we’re tucked in after dinner getting ready for a nice night of sleep.  We’ll check in tomorrow.  ‘nite!

(photo:  Camp 2 from this season’s previous rotation)

Photo of Everest Base Camp with a nearly full Moon above the Western Cwm

Game time!  Our Everest main team is heading up tonight (Nepal time) for their summit rotation!  Stay tuned to these dispatches and our Amazon Alexa flash briefing for up to date coverage.  Meanwhile, the climbing group of Kenton Cool, Michael Lavelle,  are safely down to Camp 2 and descending to base camp tomorrow after their summit success!  Here’s Garrett reporting in just before turning in for some rest before the alpine start of 1:00 AM:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Everest team.  We are leaving tonight to head up to Camp 2 for our summit rotation!  This will be our final trip up the mountain for hopefully a summit here somewhere around May 21st, 22nd, or 23rd depending on the weather and route conditions.  Our team is doing great!  We had a team meeting today, got everything packed, organized, and we are excited to head up and see what lies ahead on Mount Everest!  Fingers crossed for good weather and hopefully a good summit!!

We are pleased to announce the following members of the 2019 Madison Mountaineering Everest expedition successfully reached the summit of Mount Everest (8,848 m / 29,029 ft) on May 16, 2019, at approximately 3:15 AM NPT (local time) and have returned safely to Camp 4 on the South Col.

# Name Country
1 Mr. Kenton Cool United Kingdom
2 Mr. Michael Lavelle United Kingdom
3 Mr. Dorji Gyaljen Sherpa Nepal
4 Mr. Kam Dorchi Sherpa Nepal
5 Mr. Tenji Sherpa Nepal
Photo of Advance rope fixing team of Sherap on the Everest summit May 14, 2019

With our advance team of rope fixing Sherpa safely back in base camp and the private group of Kenton and Michael positioned for the summit bid tonight, our main team counts down for their summit rotation from base camp.  Here’s Garrett’s audio dispatch and some awesome pictures from the Sherpa team near and on the summit yesterday as well as some views of Everest from the main group at base camp today:

Hi!  This is Garrett calling in for the Everest team.  Today Kenton Cool and climber Michael Lavelle have moved up to the South Col.  They’re in position and heading for the summit tonight.  Hopefully they will reach the top of Mount Everest tomorrow morning (!) and then be safely on their way down.  The rest of the team is here in base camp.  We’re all doing great!  We’re just getting ready to move up, hopefuly, in a couple of days time.  Looking forward to the next weather forecast, hopefully it will show the winds dropping after the 17th, 18th, 19th, or 20th.  So all’s good here in base camp.  We’ll check in soon.  Thanks!

Rope team near the Everest summit

Fixing the summit route

Madison Mountaineering rope fixing team on Everest summit day

MM rope team on summit day

Photo of Advance rope fixing team of Sherap on the Everest summit May 14, 2019

MM rope team makes first 2019 summits

View of Everest from pray flag point above EBC

Acclimatization hike above EBC to prayer flag point

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Everest team.  Today is a great day!  Our advanced team of rope fixing Sherpa, eight guys, all reached the summit today at 1:45 PM Nepal time and they are on their way down to high camp now.  So, the lines are in place, the route is open, and the first summits of 2019 on Everest have commenced!  Now we’ll start thinking about our summit strategy with our main team.  Kenton Cool and climber Michael are up in Camp 3 today on their way for a potential summit on the 16th of May.  Everyone else is doing great here in base camp.  We’ll check in soon.

(photo: Madison Mountaineering archives)

We are pleased to announce the following members of the rope fixing team of the 2019 Madison Mountaineering Everest expedition successfully reached the summit of Mount Everest (8,848 m / 29,029 ft) on May 14, 2019, at approximately 1:45 PM NPT (local time).

# Name Country
1 Mr. Siddhi Bahadur Tamang – group leader Nepal
2 Mr. Pasdawa Sherpa Nepal
3 Mr. Dorji Gyalgen Sherpa Nepal
4 Mr. Pasang Dawa Sherpa Nepal
5 Mr. Dawa Nurbu Sherpa Nepal
6 Mr. Ming Dorje Sherpa Nepal
7 Mr. Aang Phurba Sherpa Nepal
8 Mr. Sangbu Bhote Lama Nepal

Local expedition organization by Himalayan Guides Nepal, Treks and Expeditions Pvt. Ltd, Chandol, Kathmandu.

With the summit bids posed to start soon, our Everest team spent the day re-acclimatizing at base camp, while the Sherpa rope fixing team continued their hard work towards the summit.  Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, has this update:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Everest climbing expedition. Today our team was resting in base camp while our Sherpas, our advanced team of eight climbing Sherpa, were up at the South Col/Camp 4 (7925m/26,000ft) and were fixing ropes up to The Balcony (8440m/27,700ft) today. We are hoping for good weather tomorrow. Hopefully, they can continue fixing and maybe even make it all the way to the summit and have the route opened up on Everest here on the south side.

 

Everybody’s doing good; we went for a hike today in base camp.  Just been taking it easy, re-acclimatizing from the rest in Namche.  Fingers crossed for some good weather coming up in the forecast!!

(photo:  Madison Mountaineering archives)

Our Mountain Hardwear tents at EBC

Garrett reports, while the team is returning up to base camp from their drop back phase, Kenton Cool and climbing member, Michael, are heading up to Camp 2 to start their summit rotation:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for Everest team update.  Today we had a restful day in Everest base camp.  A couple of our members returned back from Namche, Chad and Wojciech.  And the other members are planning on returning to base camp tomorrow.  We will have at least a few days here before we think about heading up on our summit rotation.  Tonight, Kenton and Michael are going to head up to Camp 2 in preperation for a potential summit attempt somewhere in the next few days, weather pending.  All’s well here on Mount Everest!

Garrett rocking the Mountain Hardwear Absolute Zero Suit at Camp 2

Things are starting to wind up for the summit push!  Most of our climbing team will be heading back up to base camp tomorrow from Namche.  And as soon as the winds die down up high, preparations for the summit attempt will continue.  The next two weeks are what it’s all about!!  Here’s Garrett’s audio dispatch from base camp:

Hello, this is Garrett checking in for the Everest team.  All’s well here in Everest base camp.  Our Sherpa team is up at Camp 2, resting currently, waiting for the winds to die down and they are planning to make a carry up to the South Col on May 12th.  Our climbers are all resting down in Namche at the moment.  And everyone’s doing okay!  So all’s well here in base camp and we’ll check in again soon!  Thanks.

The view of Everest Camp 1

Camp 1

Our Mountain Hardwear tents at EBC

Our Mountain Hardwear tents at EBC